The student council convened on Wednesday, January 25.  They were informed by Vice President of Student Affairs, Darren Fullerton, of new budget cuts due to redelegated government funding.  2.5 million dollars will be expedited from MSSU state funding in 2017.  By February 1^st, more budget updates for following semesters will be announced by Governor Jay Nixon.

Two prominent new scholarships have been made available to eligible students.  Donations made by the disbanding organization Joplin Tomorrow has been transformed into $750,000 in scholarships.  Also, David and Debra Humphrey’s have made a $1 million contribution set to disperse over the next ten years in quantities of $100,000 of assistance per year.  To learn more about the Humphrey scholarships, refer to page one.

The finance committee heard petitions from two different student organizations on upcoming organizational conferences.  Forrest Bunter, senior music performance major and president of the local National Organization for Music Education (NAFME) chapter, approached the committee first.  He requested $930 for a NAFME conference for networking professionals. 

Sigma Tau Delta International English Society provided a similar request.  Jessica Witman, senior creative writing major and president of the MSSU Sigma Tau Delta Chapter, approached the committee in hopes of gaining the $1,000 needed for their organizations upcoming national conference.

Both Sigma Tau Delta and NAFME believe they have much to gain from professional networking and workshops provided by these conferences.  The organizations will have to wait until next week after a final vote has been made by the council on the approval or denial of funding.

The student council is now accepting applications for membership positions.  Applications can be found in Fullerton’s office in the Billingsley Student Center room 347.