The 18th Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) met for one of its final meetings of the fall semester on Wednesday night. With the revision of the UPUA elections code on the agenda, the judicial board gave a brief presentation about their various roles within UPUA.

With no old business to attend to, the assembly moved into new business.

New Business

First up for the evening was Policy #02-18: Revising the UPUA Elections Code. UPUA members have collaborated on the proposed updates for the past several weeks, and the suggested changes were all compiled in this brief.

Major changes to the election code include expanding the ways UPUA can publicize its election. Additionally, the code was updated to reflect that the election must begin to be publicized at least 20 days before the election. Previously, it was only five days prior to the election.

Additionally, while campaigning for the UPUA election is prohibited in academic buildings, a clause has been added stating that candidates can campaign during meetings of recognized student organizations (RSOs). Candidates must receive permission from the student organization and give a 24-hour notice.

In the UPUA election, students will now vote for the University Faculty Senate student senators. Currently, student senators are the academic college representatives in UPUA. In the upcoming election, these positions will be separated, allowing students to be involved in University Faculty Senate without being involved in UPUA and vice versa.

Policy #02-18 passed unanimously.

These revisions, along with multiple other small changes, will now go to the judicial board for review to ensure that they are fair and equitable.

With the main event of the evening out of the way, Bill #34-18: Creation of the FAFSA Updates Information Campaign was brought forward. There are several significant changes coming to the 2024-2025 FAFSA form, which are expected to leave many students and their families confused. The bill would allocate funding toward a social media campaign containing information about the changes along with contact information for the Office of Student Aid. The total cost of the social media campaign would be $90.

Bill #34-18 passed unanimously.

The last bill of the night was #35-18: Sponsoring the 2023 Penn State Black Caucus Ashe Awards. As part of UPUA’s co-sponsorship program, the student government often partners with other student organizations and provides various amounts of funding to them. Penn State’s Black Caucus will host its annual awards on December 8 to recognize the achievements of students, host student performers, and give students of color a place to be celebrated and uplifted.

The bill would allocate $1,400 to sponsor a photographer and photo booth for the 2023 Black Caucus Ashe Awards.

Bill #35-18 passed unanimously.