New Senators, New Voting Plan and Resignation Mark Busy Senate Meeting

By Lucienne Burns | February 23, 2026

Senators met last Wednesday (2/18), where Senator Sean Metcalf presented on incorporating voting machines into the meetings.  Photo Credit: Lucienne Burns | The ASP

Four new senators were sworn in at last week’s Student Association (SA) Senate meeting, in addition to discussions of a new digital voting method, new plans for dining, a short appropriations agenda and a mid-meeting resignation. 

A quorum was met at the meeting with 37 senators in attendance. 

Marcos Perez, Colton Vinette, Damean Teagle and Raengel Farmer were all sworn in by Chief Justice Halimah Lawson at the beginning of the meeting as senators, prompting celebratory remarks from the Chair and Vice Chair. 

Senator Sean Metcalf presented to the senate about working towards digital voting software for efficiency reasons. He stated that the senate will potentially incorporate the Meridia voting machines in ways that can accommodate the body’s specific needs. 

"With the senate, we are going to go with the bare, bare minimum of what we need to do,” Metcalf said. “So why do we need this? It will alleviate a lot of confusion…we spend countless minutes going around the room doing a roll call vote.”

The new voting software would give each senator a clicker machine, specifically assigned to them, with three options for voting — yes, no, and abstain — turning a long, roll call vote into an instant process. 

Senators presented questions such as how this system would work in terms of voting unanimously on a bill and public accessibility to voting records, which Metcalf noted will be noted in the minutes, and the votes will be available on an excel sheet for public reference, respectively. 

Along with plans for a new voting system, Chair Troy Serao also presented new changes coming to the Campus Center next year, as a member serving on the University Auxiliary Services (UAS) Board. These changes include an all-you-can-eat, food court-style dining option, changes to meal plans and discount dollars, and a new vending company. 

“Overall, in terms of students, our lives are going to get easier, and meal plans are going to be cheaper, so things are good overall,” Serao said.

Serao also mentioned structural changes coming to the Campus Center regarding Jamal’s, but insisted the dining location is not going anywhere — it is just being moved to a new location to accommodate demand. 

“The Jamal’s location will be moved out to the center of campus,” Serao said. “They currently have the smallest kitchen and the most load, so they’re going to be moved.” 

The meeting additionally included a series of votes on funding requests for student organizations. 

Prior to this, the appropriations agenda began with an initial budget line transfer of $8,000 from the supplemental line to the new and unfunded line, as it was running low. The bill, S.2526-132, passed the senate 35-0-1. 

All clubs in attendance had appropriations bills approved for their respective budgets, consisting of Big Sister UA (S.2526.133), Aikido Club (S.2526.134) and the African Student Association (S.2526.135). 

President Trevor Pettit’s executive report consisted of updates on the ongoing Supreme Court justice applications, Parkfest and the status of Dippikill. 

According to Pettit, there was an administrative error with the nominations, where some of the applicants received duplicate emails and some applicants did not receive anything. The updated process is set to take place next week, in collaboration with the chief justice and deputy chief justice. 

As for Parkfest, Petitt outlined the schedule for revealing artists and stated the dates tickets will become available and their pricing. 

The supporting artist will be revealed March 1, which is also the day tickets will go on sale to UAlbany undergraduate students for $10 each. 

The headliner will be revealed on March 3. For graduate students, alumni and non-undergraduate students who pay the student activity fee, the ticket price will be $20. For students from other universities, the price of tickets will be $25, and the general public tickets will cost $50. 

“Moving on to Dippikill, the term sheet is very close to finalization,” Pettit said. “There was some pushback from the university and alumni based on the terms we presented, but after some back and forth negotiation, we were able to rectify all concerns and landed on terms that, in my eyes, are very advantageous to the Student Association." 

The term sheet is currently under its final legal review, with its next steps are to pass the Dippikill Board, Board of Finance, and then the senate, with a tentative vote planned for either the meeting on March 4 or the meeting on March 11. 

In addition to a senator's resignation announced in the chair’s opening remarks, a senator resigned during the legislative agenda, following a vote on a committee reassignment bill. 

The bill in question, S.2526-105, would remove a senator from the Committee on Constituent Relations due to attendance issues at committee meetings. The senator, present at the meeting, objected to the bill, stating that on the committee attendance sheet, senators are allowed two unexcused absences. 

“Yes, I missed the first two meetings unexcused,” said Senator Gina Smith, additionally mentioning that she did not want to disclose the reasoning for the absences. “I do not see myself missing any meetings in the future.” 

The chair of the committee, Grace Augenstern, responded by mentioning that attendance has been a recurring issue. 

“This particular member has had attendance issues throughout the entire academic year, and has had attendance issues in previous academic years with the CR committee,”Augenstern said, explaining her vote in favor of the bill. “But it gets to a point — we have appeals, and I need a quorum.”

The bill passed 16-3-18, and following the vote Senator Smith announced her resignation and announced she would send a formal email at a later time. 

Chair Serao acknowledged the resignation in the meeting’s closing remarks. 

“I take resignations very personally…it is not what I like to see happen, but the thing that I dislike the most about my job is that at the end of day have to make hard decisions to better the senate, to make sure the senate remains operational, and to make sure, therefore, that the committees remain operational,” Serao said.