Farewell UWGB

Hey all,

I would like to first start off by thanking all of the students who supported SGA in one way or another this past academic year.We are useless without you and we appreciate your input. I have enjoyed my time representing the students and I hope I served each and everyone of you well. I would like to wish everyone who is graduating good luck on wherever life takes you! As finals week approaches best of luck in your studies. As I usually say, enjoy each day that you are here at UWGB, because we all know how fast it goes by. I hope you all stay connected with your SGA and continue to support the new administration in their endeavors throughout the incoming academic year. The organization is in good hands as Heba Mohammad and her administration begin their terms in office tomorrow morning.

Once again it has been an unforgettable year and it will only continue to improve!

thanks so much and farewell… well I will be around next year so if you see me say hi!

Riley Peterson

Class of 2013

Former Student Government President 2011-2012

Welcome Back UWGB!

Hello Everybody,

Welcome back to spring 2012, we are very exciting to get back into the swing of things and would simply just like to wish everybody a great semester. Keep your eyes open for more updates to come throughout the semester.

Sincerely, Riley Peterson

UWGB Student Government President

Semester End Updates

Greetings UWGB Students, Staff and Faculty,

I would like to start this final post of the semester off by wishing you all good luck on finals and a happy  holidays. Too make this short and sweet I would just like to mention that the Childcare Open forum was a great success and we will be having an assessment done  by Encompass in January. If you don’t know Encompass, they are a childcare provider in Green Bay. We hope their expertise will guide us in the right direction so that we can offer childcare to all of you in the near future. Like I have said before, this is not something we want on this campus, its something that we need. Keep your eyes open for updates regarding this topic because it will be very busy next semester.

Our Student Senate recently has approved a resolution by our Environmental Affairs committee to implement a solar project in Residence Life using our sustainability fund that you students contribute to each semester. The solar panel, after an assessment, will cost roughly $20,000 and will have a 19 year payback period. We would like this to be the first step in creating a sustainable living dorm in Residence Life as well.

In the University Union, SGA will be looking to implement a composter to make use of our organic waste in all aspects of the University. Rick Warpinski will be looking at composters in the next week with students in Milwaukee to get an estimate on cost and implementation period.

SGA is currently working on creating an ice rink this winter break to be useful next semester by all UWGB members. This is of course weather permitting and will be located near the University Union and KPH. This will be a fun recreational activity offered along with many more this incoming semester by your UWGB Student orgs and awesome staff .

Students, you are kindly reminded that if you do smoke, please be sure to be 30 feet from the building entrance. This is not only the law, but an act of respect towardspeople nearby. Public safety will be enforcing this statute along with cracking down on cigarette liter. We have this beautiful campus, lets keep it that way!

We will continue our support for the CP Center of Green Bay and will be setting up in the Union next semester to collect support! More information can be found on the SGA Website at www.uwgb.edu/studgov or http://www.cp-center.org/

I hope everybody has a great break, I will be releasing more information over break and throughout this next semester.

Thanks for the ongoing support!

Riley Evan Peterson
University of Wisconsin Green-Bay
Student Government Association President
608-547-3016
 
P Think Green. Please don’t print this message unless it’s really necessary. Thank you.
 
 

Act 35, Budget Lapse, and SGA Updates

Hello again everybody,

I hope everyone is doing well as we get into midterms here at UWGB. As of today, November 1st, Act 35 goes into effect in the state of Wisconsin. As most of you are aware, this will allow anyone who seeks permit and is approved, the right to carry a concealed weapon in most public places. System legal, UWGB Administration and your Student Government Association have all passed legislation that will make it the Universities policy to remain a weapons free campus. We feel that our UWGB Police Department is trained to deal with these situations and will do so effectively. Act 35 was signed by Governor Walker on July 8th and came into effect today. To receive more information about Act 35 visit the UWGB Public Safety website, The State Department of Justice, or the UW system website. Now to give you all the brief rundown of what this law means on our campus.

First off, there will be no firearms or weapons allowed in any campus buildings. This includes all of the academic buildings, the University Union, The Kress Events Center, and Residence Life. This policy will allow you to have the weapons in your private vehicles with a permit. Public safety urges you to hide the weapon and remove it from the ammunition if you choose to  store them in your vehicles. Guns will also not be allowed at any special events on campus. The only people allowed to have weapons on campus will be Public Safety officers and any outside vendors or workers who have received the chancellor’s approval. Public Safety would like to emphasize to students that this is a zero tolerance policy and will be dealt with accordingly. 5x7 inch signage has been posted on every external doorway across campus, please do not remove them. If you do see a weapon on campus, please do NOT approach or challenge the individual. Proceed to the nearest phone and call public safety at either extension 2300 or 911. Public Safety is trained to deal with these situations and they deal with them very well. According to Police Chief Thomas Kujawa, this is an evolving law and we can expect some change in the near future. UWGB has had limited issues with weapons in the past and we expect that trend to continue so students can continue to live and learn in a safe environment.

Roughly a week and a half ago, Scott Walker and his administration proposed a $1.1 million budget lapse. About 38% of this will be falling on the UW system. This goes to show how education remains to be a declining priority in our state. As we see these cuts continue, we can expect to see a rise in tuition as well…. a cut much larger than the 5.5% increase we seen this year. Chancellor Harden claims that he has received no good explanation for the lapse and he is continuing to gain more information on it. In the meantime, Chancellor Harden would like to emphasize to students and staff that we can handle these cuts and he is doing everything he can to avoid cutting faculty and staff. While the cuts are not final, Harden states that we will continue to do everything possible to protect the students and their educations. As your Student Government Association President, I urge you to engage in recall elections this incoming January. Scott Walker has taken the collective bargaining rights away from our faculty and staff, passed legislation to make voting harder for college students and has constantly been putting large budget cuts on our educational institutions. I am not attempting to sway your vote in a certain way with this blog, I would simply like to urge students to get involved seeing as this election could critically effect your education.

Our next Student Senate meeting will be November 7th at 5:30 in the 1965 Room. As always we welcome all students to sit on on these meetings.

On a brighter note, I hope everyone had a great Halloween and thanks again for taking the time to read the President’s Blog. I will be releasing a childcare open forum date in my next blog along with information on environmental sustainability projects within SGA. Everyone have a great week and good luck on midterms!

Riley Evan Peterson
Student Government Association
President
UWGB 2013
608-547-3016
WGBX “Let It Roll”
 
P Think Green. Please don’t print this message unless it’s really necessary. Thank you.
 
 
 

October Progress and Plans

Greetings UWGB Student Body and Faculty,

I hope everyone is enjoying the year so far. Student Government will be having a meeting in the 1965 Room at 5:30 this evening. To mention some agenda items, we will be attempting to pass a resolution that will accept a set of bylaws within our constitution that will grant our Environmental Affairs Committee, that I select and the senate approves, the responsibility to govern the Environmental Sustainability Fund that all of us students contribute into. We will be looking to put to work roughly $18,000 this semester and will be open to student and organization input, along with faculty expertise. This is the first year that this fund is active and we are very excited to take another step towards making UWGB a true ECO-U institution. We will be having a discussion with Kress Center officials regarding a faculty proposal brought to us by Chancellor Harden, to allow faculty and staff to utilize the facility at restricted times. The proposal does not require an increase in your seg fee and if approved, the process will be monitored to ensure that students remain the number one priority.

Another topic we feel passionate about is securing and implementing a child care facility on our campus. As some of you may be aware, we are the only UW School at this point that does not provide this service. We feel that our large amount of non-traditional students along with out staff and faculty, would greatly benefit from having the convenience of having their children cared for on campus. We are looking to develop a high quality child care facility with passionate employees in an educational environment. This task will not be easy and we are looking for a large amount of student input. We will be hosting a childcare open forum in the near future to gauge the amount of student and faculty interest, a date will follow soon.

As you all may have noticed, the concealed carry law that has taken place in Wisconsin has not hindered our current gun policy, System Legal, our Administration and recently our Students, have made it known that we do not want guns on our campus. We have a great Public Safety on our campus that has kept us safe in the past and will continue to in the future. Signs have been posted on all doors of academic buildings and entrances connected to the University Union stating that firearms will continue to be prohibited in campus and Residence Life buildings.

One last announcement, any students who are interested in learning more about your Student Government Association, we will be holding an open house this Wednesday night in our SGA office suite. The offices are located in the bottom floor of the University Union across from the American Intercultural Center. Free Pizza and beverages will be provided.

Thanks to all for the great student and faculty support! check us out on Facebook for additional updates and events!

Riley Evan Peterson
Student Government Association
President
UWGB 2013
608-547-3016
WGBX “Let It Roll”
 
P Think Green. Please don’t print this message unless it’s really necessary. Thank you.

 

Senate Meeting 9-12-2011

Hey UWGB!

To make this short, I would just like to take a minute to invite the student body to our first meeting this Monday at 5:30 in the 1965 Room. We would like you to come in and see how we operate in SGA. This would be a good opportunity to meet the Senate and Executive Board together. I hope everyone is enjoying their first week here at UWGB! I look forward to meeting you this Monday night!!!

Thanks!

 

Riley Evan Peterson
Student Government Association
President
UWGB 2013
608-547-3016
WGBX “Let It Roll”
 
P Think Green. Please don’t print this message unless it’s really necessary. Thank you.

 

Welcome to Fall 2011

Greetings UWGB!!

I hope your move in days have gone smoothly and you are getting prepared to kick off another exciting year. There is going to be a lot going on in the first few weeks with programming. Check the Union and events website periodically for upcoming events and promotions. I would like to invite the Student Body to attend the first student senate meeting of the year taking place on September 12th in the 1965 Room at 5:30pm. For those of you who are not aware, the 1965 Room is just past the Common Grounds Coffee House in the University Union. Also Junior Nellie Schafer would like to invite all the Students to become part of the Student section at tomorrows Women’s Soccer game. The game starts at noon, but students will be meeting in front of the Kress Events Center at 11:40. Attending athletic events on campus is a fun way to get involved and meet a lot of awesome people.

I would like to remind students that the University bus service known as U-Pass is also up and running. With your student ID you can ride the bus for a .25 cent swipe that will become free to you once paid for at the end of this quarter, by SGA, Public Safety and the parking crew. Today was free Saturday which means the bus service can be utilized for absolute free. The SGA Poster sale kicks off this incoming Wednesday 9am-4:30pm in Phoenix Room A and will go until Friday. The UWGB Shopko night will be this Tuesday 10pm-12am at the East Townn Mall Shopko, Green Bay Metro will be shuttling students free of charge as well. These are just a few great events to help kick off the season. There will be plenty more to come this semester as well.

The Student Government Association is located in the Univeristy Union across from the American Intercultural Center. Come in and say hello. We are always looking for student input and new members to join the Senate.

Thanks and best wishes on the inoming school year!

Riley Evan Peterson
Student Government Association
President
UWGB 2013
608-547-3016
WGBX “Let It Roll”
P Think Green. Please don’t print this message unless it’s really necessary. Thank you.

 

Summer Progress

Hey All,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers. SGA and Public Safety have always contributed and funded the U-pass program on campus….Well we will continue to do so this year, but their will be some changes to it. After negotiations with Green Bay Metro the new policy will included a .25 swipe upon entering the bus. Now this means nothing to students and faculty. This service will continue to be free as the cost will be shared equally by SGA and Public Safety. We made these changes do to the lack of usage that we were seeing in the past years. The New Policy if used the same amount as last year will save the two organizations around $10,400, The last agreement cost us $35,000 with unlimited usage for the year. We are hoping to get more bang for our buck this year while we reduce environmental impact. We have also included a free Saturday which will apply to Students, Faculty, and even Community Members. There is a possibility of making stops at high volume student locations such as, Wal-Mart, Festival Foods, the Farmers Market, and Bay Park Square. If this is implemented students will be able to shop in the community and we can begin to get UWGB and the community on the the same page.  Like I said the discussion with GB Metro is still continuing and we will update you on any changes as they occur.

Dave and I will be attending the Student Representatives meeting in Madison on August 18th and 19th to get some information and training for the incoming school year. We are excited and looking forward to meeting students and making progress. We will be at Focus this year so any new Freshman I will be meeting you all in the Kress Center and we will be assisting with move in day. I will get you some information on Zimride as we figure that out and like always we are located in University Union across from the American Intercultural Center, check us out.

This is it for now!  Thanks Students and Staff!

Riley Evan Peterson
Student Government Association
President
UWGB 2013
608-547-3016
WGBX “Let It Roll”
P Think Green. Please don’t print this message unless it’s really necessary. Thank you.


Greetings

Hello Everybody welcome to the Presidents blog for the 2011-2012 school year. On this blog you can be in direct contact with me and pose questions and issues that you would like me to bring up at executive board meetings and senate meetings. I am an easy person to contact and am willing to arrange meetings in my office or in the coffeehouse if you ever need. I am here to serve you the students and you’re my priority. We will be arranging an SGA open house early next school year with food and refreshments and I will be addressing all who attend on some of the stuff I am looking to accomplish. Me and the rest of the Student Government are already busy at work as we hit the end of the school year. We meet every other Monday in the 1965 Room at 5:30 and our meetings operate to allow any students to attend. Im looking forward to the position and working with the student body, faculty, and administration this incoming semester.

Thanks!

 

Riley Evan Peterson
Student Government Association
President
UWGB 2013
608-547-3016                           
WGBX “Let It Roll”