2026-02-03 SGA Senate Meeting Minutes

February 3, 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
  • Leslie Greenwood – MCC Student (online)
  • Desirae Charles – MCC Student
  • Calvin Gantt – VP Diversity

Minutes

Call to Order (2:15 pm)

  1. Roll Call (see attendance above)
    Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a roll call to start the senate meeting.
  2. Land Acknowledgement
  3. Approval of Minutes
    1. Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a motion to approve the January 27, 2026, Student Government Association Minutes
    2. Senator Breedy moved, seconded by Senator Smetanyak
    3. A vote was taken
    4. Be it resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approves the January 27, 2026, minutes as written

 Reports

  1. President Burno

    Good afternoon everyone, I hope you are all doing well. This past week, on Thursday, January 29th, I had the opportunity to interview a new candidate for student government alongside several members of my team. This was an exciting process, and we are always eager to welcome new additions who are passionate about getting involved. Later that same day, I also had the opportunity to meet with MCC staff alongside Vice President Rizzuti and Chief of Staff Pottinger. During this meeting, we collaborated and brainstormed ideas for a potential clothing drive. I really enjoyed this discussion, as we are always looking for meaningful ways to increase our involvement and better support the MCC community. Overall, this week was very productive and rewarding. It was great to see our continued efforts toward growth, collaboration, and finding new ways to positively impact the MCC community.

  2. Vice President of Governance Rizzuti

    No report for this week

  3. Student Trustee Werven

    No report for this week

  4. Chief of Staff Pottinger
    No Report for this week.
  5. Public Relations Senator Keech

    Hello everyone I’ve had a productive week and have been working on canva, figuring out how to fulfill my role as public relations senator. Besides that I’ve been working hard to prepare for the upcoming student to student meetings.

  6. Public Relations Senator Smetanyak

    No major updates to report this week. I remained available for student concerns and continued to stay informed on ongoing SGA initiatives.

  7. Student Relations Senator Breedy

    The second week of the Spring Semester went very well. Classes are off to a strong start, and I’ve been able to settle into a productive routine. My course work load has been high, yet manageable, and I’m feeling confident about staying organized and engaged as the semester progresses. This week also gave me time to think about how I want to contribute more actively to SGA. I’m particularly interested in increasing our visibility on campus and strengthening our connection with the student body through tabling events. We aren’t set on dates yet, but I plan to get back to you all once we get those sorted out.

  8. Clubs and Organizations Senator Reeves 

    I had a great first week of classes and feel really good about how the semester is starting. I was able to get organized early, meet my professors, and settle into my schedule, which helped ease a lot of first-week stress. I’m looking forward to staying on track and being more involved as the semester continues. We will be holding our student-to-student meeting on Friday from 1–2 PM, and I’m excited to connect with students, hear their concerns, and create a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing.

  9. Student Life Advisor Oriel

    Jodi congratulated all the students who were chosen as SUNY Chancellor’s Award recipients.  She thanked the SGA members who would be traveling for SUNY Advocacy Day and would be advocating for additional funding for MCC Childcare, Workforce Development, and Optics.  President Burno was selected to be the community college representative on the steps of the capital building to advocate for food pantries specifically for the food lockers like the ones MCC has.  Jodi reminded the students to take pictures and video for social media.  And not to forget to take Tiberius.

New Business

  1. Ginny Geer-Mentry – MCC Association (MCCA) Budget Timeline
    Teri Best handed out a document that included the timeline.  This timeline is available to anyone.  There is an open Association board meeting on 2/26, with a vote on the budget taking place on April 23rd.  Ginny asked that if the SGA supports the budget proposal that they draft and pass a resolution in favor.
  2. Calvin Gantt – VP Diversity- Campus Climate Survey
    Calvin began by thanking the SGA, on behalf of President Burt-Nanna and the ELT, for their representation at Advocacy Day and their work in advocating for additional funding for MCC.  He went on to talk about the Campus Climate Survey and encouraged participation as this is used in planning for the next Stretegic Plan.  He asked for suggestions on the best way to promote and encourage the student body to participate.  SGA members offered a couple suggestions.

Old Business

  1. There was no old business.

Speak to the Senate

  1. There were no students registered to speak to the senate

Adjournment

  1. Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a motion for adjournment.
    Senator Breedy so moved, second by Senator Smetanyak
  2. Meeting was adjourned at 2:37 pm.

Respectfully submitted