The 14th Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association convened in the HUB on Wednesday evening when it held its 10th meeting of the semester.

The meeting began with a special presentation by Senior Director of Campus Rec Laura Hall.

Campus Rec has had some notable accomplishments during the past year that Hall elaborated on. Hall said 240 Penn State students have learned how to swim during the past year thanks to Campus Rec. Hall elaborated on how fundamental this skill is and discussed how powerful it is that student instructors were able to reach their peers in such a valuable way.

Hall also announced that Penn State club sports have donated more than $410,000 to THON and contributed about 23,000 hours of community service.

During the last academic year, 1.6 million students have swiped into campus recreation facilities. More than 36,000 new participants took group exercise classes located at various facilities around campus.

Speaking about the future, Hall discussed how Campus Recreation plans to renew the Stone Valley Recreation Area, finish the Esports Lounge, create a new natatorium and tennis center, as well as a center for student well-being. The partnership between student leadership and Campus Recreation during this time is crucial.

Associate vice president and senior associate dean for undergraduate education Yvonne Gaudelius gave the second special presentation for the night.

The presentation focused on “One Penn State 2025,” an initiative that came to fruition in the fall of 2016 when Provost Dr. Nicholas Jones assigned a task force to look at the future of online education on Penn State’s World Campus.

“One Penn State 2025’s” vision is to, “build on our strong traditions of working as one university to provide world-class education and drives us to be a more integrated, flexible and responsive institution. By 2025, seamless online access to curricula and processes will be embedded in all Penn State and Commonwealth campuses.”

The initiative will help reimagine student learning and support services across all of Penn State’s campuses. Some necessary changes may be made to legislation and revenue models to fit with the vision of “One Penn State 2025”.

Before delving into the night’s legislation, the assembly confirmed Andrew Woodman as the Director of Peer Conduct Advisors and swore him into the 14th assembly.

Legislation

The evening’s legislation began with an introduction to Bill #15-14, Funding of Test Week Booklets.

In the 6th assembly, UPUA began a partnership with The Princeton Review to host Test Prep Week. The week provided students with free preparation books for the MCAT, LSAT, GRE, and GMAT.

UPUA announced during this evening’s legislation that they shall fund the book order for Test Prep Week 2019. This year, Test Prep Week will be hosted from November 18 to 22 at various locations around campus. UPUA looks to find $7,170.00 for Test Prep Week 2019. This piece of legislation has been recommitted to the Academic Affairs Committee and will be brought back later for further discussion.

Next, members proposed Bill #19-14, which is aimed to increase interactions between UPUA and other organizations on campus. The goals of Bill #19-14, Support of Monthly Meet and Greets, has previously been discussed and organized in the 12th Assembly in conjunction with UPUA, the Out-reach sub-committee, and the Student Life Committee. This resolution was passed unanimously.

The monthly meet and greats will be implemented to promote positive relationships and increase engagement with the student body. The first meet and greet will be held on Tuesday, November 7 at 5 p.m.

Last, the assembly passed Resolution #20-14, Support of Pennsylvania Act 77 of 2019. Act 77, a bipartisan compromise, takes effect for the April 2020 primary election and creates a new option to vote by mail up to 50 days before an election. Voters can then also permanently receive a ballot by mail.

The resolution passed with a vote of 27-16.

The assembly adjourned at 11:10 p.m.

Editor’s note: In the interest of transparency, Andrew Woodman is an Onward State staff writer and has previously covered UPUA.