The 15th Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association met virtually Wednesday night for its fourth spring semester meeting.

The meeting began with a special presentation from O. Richard Bundy, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations. 

The second presentation of the evening came from Nora Van Horn and Claire Kelling from the University Park Student Fee Board.

Van Horn and Kelling spoke about the possibility of implementing an environmental sustainability fee. The fee, which is only in the idea stage at the moment, is supposedly going to cover student-driven sustainability projects. The Student Fee Board will have more information on it in its own meetings.

Following reports from UPUA President Zach McKay, Vice President Lexy Pathickal, and liaisons, the assembly moved into its old business for the evening.

Old Business

UPUA revisited Policy 12-15 under old business for the evening. Under this policy, UPUA specified that in the event that another spring break gets canceled in the future, the Elections Commission will have discretion over scheduling the date of the election. 

Typically, UPUA’s election takes place on the Wednesday 13 academic days after the conclusion of spring break. This year, UPUA Elections will take place on March 31. 

The policy passed unanimously.

New Business

In the first piece of new business for the evening, UPUA confirmed two new at-large representatives, Carter Gangl and Rayna Alexander, for the remainder of the 15th Assembly.

The next piece of legislation up for discussion was Bill 15-15. The bill will provide funding to continue UPUA’s support of First-Gen Advocates and will create school supply packs for students. First-Gen Advocates is a Penn State organization that aims to promote awareness, advocacy, and mentorship for first-generation college students. There will be 700 packs made, each containing various school supplies such as pencils, a folder, a notebook, and more.

UPUA allotted $5,053 of its budget to Bill 15-15, which passed unanimously.

The next piece of legislation that was up for debate was Bill 16-15. The bill will fund 50 Lyft code subsidies that students can use returning to Penn State for the spring semester from University Park Airport. The code, UPUASPRING2021, will be valid starting on February 12 and ending February 19.

UPUA allotted $750 of its budget to Bill 16-15, which also passed unanimously.

The final piece of legislation discussed was Resolution 47-15. The resolution focused on supporting the reinstatement of alternative grading to the Spring 2021 semester. UPUA will promote graphics and foster communication about alternative grading through social media and with the assistance of the Commonwealth of Student Governments and the World Campus Student Government Association.

Resolution 47-15 passed unanimously.

Following executive and committee reports, the meeting adjourned at 9:34 p.m.