On Wednesday, Student Senate officially announced it would have a new treasurer. Former treasurer Raymond Dunaway had to step down due to unspecified personal issues, giving way to Parliamentarian Ashleigh Thomlinson.

Thomlinson served as the treasurer of Senate in the 2013-14 school year, making her an easy choice to serve in the interim. She will also fill the void left by Dunaway at the head of the finance committee.

The main business handled in the meeting was a vote on the addition of nine benches to be placed around campus. The capital improvements committee suggested the additions and Senate allocated the funds with only one no vote.

Later, Senate broke into subcommittees where the finance committee heard an appropriation request.

The psychology club requested funds for a conference they will attend at Lindenwood University.

“It is an undergraduate psychology research conference,” said senior psychology major Chase Starr, who was representing the psychology club. “It is tailored to students at the undergraduate level.”

Starr will be presenting his own research at the conference, while the other attendees from Southern will use it as a learning and networking experience.

Senate will also accept applications for student senators until Nov. 24. A number of current senators will either graduate or step down after the fall semester, opening up seats on the body.

“We want to go through applications before finals so we will already have a pool to select from going into the spring semester,” said Vice President Brooklyn Lampe.