January 27, 2026
2:15pm, Forum 3-130, Downtown Campus Room 200B, Zoom
In Attendance
Student Senators
- Senator Maddilyn Keech
- Senator Elle Reeves
- Senator John Breedy
- Senator Rusty Smetanyak
President
- Lisa Burno
Vice President of Governance
- Margherita Rizzuti
Student Trustee
- Parker Werven
Chief of Staff
- Abigail Pottinger
Office of Student Life
- Advisor: Jodi Oriel
- Faculty Advisor: Mark Sample
Visitors
- Dana Williams – MCC Student
- Ginny Geer-Mentry – MCC Association
- Courtney Weimar – Community Relations
- Veronica Chiesi Brown – Community Relations
- Ryan Messenger – Academic & Student Affairs
- Tamara Walker – VAPA Dept. (online)
- Leslie Greenwood – MCC Student (online)
- Corey Maltsev – MCC student
- Reid Phillips – MCC Hospitality Club (online)
- AJ Manandhar – MCC Student (online)
- JMZ Architects (online)
- Sarah Pantaleo – Student Success & Advising (online)
- Eric Wheeler – Veteran Services
Minutes
Call to Order (2:20 pm)
New SGA Senate Meeting Structure:
Welcome back, everyone! We hope you enjoyed a restful and rejuvenating break. We are excited to begin this new semester with you and look forward to working together in the weeks ahead.
Over the winter break, your SGA leadership team took time to reflect on how the meetings function and how effectively they serve the student body. Through this process, we identified opportunities to improve both participation and efficiency. As a result, we have implemented several important changes to the structure of SGA Public Senate meetings.
These adjustments are designed to create more space for student voices, encourage broader engagement during weekly meetings, and ensure that the official business of the Senate is conducted in a timely and organized manner. By streamlining procedures and clarifying the flow of each meeting, we aim to foster an environment that is welcoming, productive, and respectful of everyone’s time
- Roll Call (see attendance above)
Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a roll call to start the senate meeting. - Land Acknowledgement
- Approval of Minutes
- Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a motion to approve the December 9, 2025, Student Government Association Minutes
- Senator Breedy moved, seconded by Senator Smetanyak
- A vote was taken
- Be it resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approves the December 9, 2025, minutes as written
Reports
- President Burno
Good afternoon everyone, it’s so good to be back and see you all again. I hope you all had a restful break. Although this past week was slow, it was still very productive. As the spring semester has just begun, I’ve been getting back into the routine of classes and my student government responsibilities. In addition, on the morning of Saturday, January 24th, I had the opportunity to attend an Advocacy Day training, which was extremely helpful. It was an informational session that covered what Advocacy Day is and the business we will be conducting. This training left me feeling confident and well prepared for the day. I’m very excited to get this semester up and running and am looking forward to everything my team and I will accomplish this year.
- Vice President of Governance Rizzuti
I’m really happy to be back on campus after winter break, and honestly, it feels so good to be back. Over the break, we stayed active, and I was able to truly refresh my mind and reset, which helped me come back feeling focused and ready to start fresh. Returning to MCC and Student Government has been energizing — I missed the sense of community, teamwork, and connection that comes with being involved on campus. Being back in meetings, seeing familiar faces, and getting back into the flow of the semester has reminded me how much I love what we do and the impact we can make together. I’m feeling motivated, excited, and ready to build on everything we accomplished last semester while continuing to grow and make this one just as meaningful and successful.
- Student Trustee Werven
As you may recall, in the past semester we helped create and facilitate the Student-to-Student Communication Committee where we conducted a comprehensive survey of the student body. In short, the purpose of this effort was to better understand how students prefer to receive campus news, updates, and important information, along with gathering feedback on a range of general student experience topics. In the meantime, we’ve gathered all the results, with the help of Institutional Research, and transformed them into a plan of action. The number one platform voted on by the students was the MCC tile! We took a sharpshot of what media students would like to help produce on the platform as well. We saw lots of interest in photography, writing, and social media posts though there were others to consider as well. I’d like to say the boring part is over… because now we are finally forming the platform and our co-chairs are extremely excited to share that with you. Over break, we partnered with Colin Canfield, Specialist for Instructional Technologies, who helped us bring our research to life by programing a new tile on the MCC campus home menu. Lots of ideas, planning and zoom meetings later we were able to get a great concept on how we wanted to implement the student’s ideas on the tile. So far, we are in beta access as we just got into the tile creation. We have a ton of support in creating this for the students and is a high priority for many. We look forward to continuing to work alongside Colin and everyone that has helped us this far. I look forward to our next meetings with the Student-to-Student Communication Committee when we find dates that work for our committee members so we can go from there. Outside of the committee et all, I’m beyond happy to bring structure back to my schedule as the spring semester already has begun. I already feel like the workload is noticeable after week one, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Being involved on and off campus everyday makes me happy and gives me purpose. This semester I’ve made a goal for myself to make it to more of our sporting/club events and to talk to more students outside of class. I want to take my leadership to the next level and leave MCC a little bit better than it was before. Whether it’s sharing MCC’s resources to others, supporting friends or people I don’t quite know yet, I know what I must do to be a person some might look up to for support when they really need it. Theres many exciting things ahead which I am happy to share when the time gets closer like attending Advocacy Day and the National Legislative Summit in addition the amazing plans on campus. I’m proud to be attending MCC for another great semester, so let’s brush off the dust and get to work.
- Chief of Staff Pottinger
No Report for this week. - Public Relations Senator Keech
I have been busy since the last meeting. I have been working hard with the student-to-student communication committee, and I am excited to see it come to life. Over the break I also went to more Student Government training. I will be posting on the Instagram weekly so stay tuned on there too.
- Public Relations Senator Smetanyak
This week, I drafted a detailed SGA resolution to approve and allocate funding for the Muslim Student Association’s campus-wide event. The resolution included the funding request, event purpose, scheduling and location details, and a clear justification for approval based on student engagement, accessibility, and alignment with SGA funding policies and campus-wide involvement goals.
- Student Relations Senator Breedy
This week marked my first week back on campus following winter break. I focused on transitioning back into the semester, reviewing upcoming responsibilities, and reconnecting with ongoing Student Government initiatives. I attended scheduled meetings and communicated with fellow student leaders to ensure everyone is aligned with goals and expectations for the spring semester. Additionally, I began planning priorities for the upcoming weeks, including outreach, events, and continued collaboration with campus departments. Overall, this week served as a productive reset and preparation period for an active and successful semester ahead.
- Clubs and Organizations Senator Reeves (read by VP Rizzuti)
First off, welcome back. She hopes everyone had a great first week back to school. Over break, she was able to catch up on much-needed sleep and spend time hanging out with her friends, giving her a chance to reset after the last semester. Coming back refreshed, she is excited and looking forward to seeing what this semester holds.
New Business
- JMZ Architects & Quent Rhodes (Facilities) spoke regarding the Master Plan
- Resolution for fund request of $2,761.66 for the Muslim Student Association
RESOLVED, that by the Senate present and voting, $2,761.66 from the Student Government
Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a motion to approve the resolution. Senator Breedy so moved, seconded by Senator Smetanyak.
Discussion: Muslim Student Association has completed and met the requirements set forth by the Student Government Association and the Office of Student Life and Leadership.
A vote was taken, and the resolution passed.
Be it resolved, the senate present and voting hereby approves the funding request for the Muslim Student Association effective January 27, 2026, at Monroe Community College.
Old Business
- There was no old business.
Adjournment
- Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a motion for adjournment.
Senator Breedy so moved, second by Senator Smetanyak - Meeting was adjourned at 2:47 pm.
Respectfully submitted