Tuesday, Sept. 17, the College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly Senate met and passed two bills, reforming the fall elections process and purchasing COVID-19 testing kits.
The senate also heard a special presentation from College Senior Network Engineer Mary Bull on the PATH registration system, as well as the Q1 Finance Presentation from Chair of the Finance Committee Sen. Matt Swenson ’26 and SA Secretary of Finance Jacob Stein ’25.
Special Business
Bull spoke at this week’s meeting to discuss the newly implemented PATH registration system. She shed light on the reasons for making the switch, citing software crashes with the old Banner system, as well as PATH’s areas for improvement.
Although the Office of the University Registrar ultimately had the final say on which new system to use, the decision to use PATH was made in collaboration with IT. The administration adopted PATH for its ability to produce more data on class availability and demand, with the goal being to create a more equitable registration process.
Bull also cited that major software issues were ultimately what led to Banner being replaced.
“In 2022 there were some horrible, massive crashes, and so they really wanted to emphasize that, that is the reason that we moved away from it,” Bull said.
Although the University Registrar is still sifting through the data from last semester’s registration, they did have some information on waitlists, a new component introduced with PATH.
“They said when people waitlisted classes, the system sent out 4,000 invitations to the student body saying ‘You’re not eligible to register in a class that you waitlisted,’ and about 50% of those were accepted,” Bull said.
She also said that the percentage of people getting a full classes schedule with their primary cart was in “the high 80s.”
The data also showed that students at the College are much more engaged with revising their schedules between the months of June and August, especially compared to other schools that use PATH, including Yale and Brown University. Bull said that this is most likely not a reflection of the nature of the student body, but rather of class seats compared to these bigger schools.
Class of 2026 President Zoe Wang ’25, M.P.P. ’26 asked whether the two-week waiting period between a student submitting their primary cart and getting their schedule can be shortened to minimize stress.
Bull said that would be possible from an IT perspective, but the two-week waiting period was implemented by the University Registrar.
“The explanation that I’ve heard of why the longer period is great is because it gives you time to talk to your advisor and talk to professors about the classes that you might want to take,” Bull explained.
Overall, Bull was satisfied with the PATH software but sees room for improvement by taking that data and using it to expand class sizes and seat availability.
Swenson and Stein delivered the Q1 Finance Presentation, which provided a breakdown of the Recognized Student Organization budget for Fiscal Year 2025. RSO is starting with $749,096 this year, $224,096 less than last year. $135,000 will be allocated to the media council, funding the various publications on campus.
Stein also presented the data on the allocation of funds by the Organization Budget Allocation Process. In 2022, OBAC approved 74% of the organizations that applied for funding from the College, with 71% of those funds being spent. In 2023, OBAC “got far more strict with its enforcement and requirements” with approval dropping to 60% and spending jumping to 80% of available funds
With more organizations complying with funding guidelines, approvals have now rebounded to 64% and spending has stayed high at 82%.
“So the takeaway is that things are moving in the right direction with OBAC,” Stein said.
New Business
Sen. Connor Cheadle J.D. ’25 and Sen. Connor O’Neill J.D. ’25 introduced The Going to the Grads Act of the 332nd Student Assembly. The act is co-sponsored by Arts and Sciences graduate Sen. Morgan Brittain, Sen. Vedant Singh MBA ’25 and Sen. Seyda Celci MBA ’25.
The bill aims to facilitate senate meetings at other locations throughout the College, particularly at graduate school locations. The legislation is proposing $300 to fund light snacks and other accommodations.
Sen. Ashlynn Parker ’26 introduced The Deep Breathing Stickers Act, proposing to allocate $180 from SA Reserves to purchase 500 stickers. The aim of the stickers, the bill says, is to encourage mindfulness and mental wellness on campus.
Old Business
Senate Chair Sen. Hazel Vineet ’25 introduced The COVID Emergency Response Act II, which the senate moved directly to the Old Business section and passed with unanimous approval.
The bill allocated $2,800 from SA Reserves to purchase 400 COVID-19 FlowFlex Rapid Antigen Tests from the Prescription Shoppe.
The tests will be located and distributed at the Earl Gregg Swem Library and the Raymond A. Mason School of Business library.
SA Attorney General Elijah Poetzinger ’25 said the senate cannot use the unanimous consent process (voting by acclamation) for most bills and amendments. Instead, they might be able to suspend the rules before voting by unanimous consent.
Poetzinger then advised the senate to vote on the bill by roll call before the issue was resolved.
The T-Shirt Purchasing Act II, sponsored by Class of 2026 Sen. Spencer Krivo ’25 and introduced the week prior, was renamed to The Swag Purchasing Act.
The bill had been tabled on Sept. 10, and Krivo asked to table it for one more week by moving it to the Old Business category, allowing SA committees to discuss at their weekend meetings.
The senate also passed the Fall Election Info Session Reform Act, sponsored by Vineet, Swenson and Class of 2025 President Matthew Hwang.
The act amended the SA Code to resolve a discrepancy between the SA Code and SA Constitution.
The bill amended this error by calling for SA to hold information sessions 21 days before the fall election. Previously, the Code called for the sessions to be held four or six weeks prior to election day for both semesters.
The bill also removed the option of mandatory asynchronous sessions, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing it as no longer necessary.
Ultimately, the Independent Elections Commission will be tasked with determining the format for all of the information sessions.
Executive Updates
Sloane informed the senate that she held her first cabinet meeting of the year Sunday, Sept. 15. She also shared that her cabinet secretaries will now regularly attend senate meetings.
She also reminded the senate that the College’s board of visitors will meet from Wednesday, Sept. 25 to Friday, Sept. 27. She noted that much of the meetings will be open to the public.
O’Neil noted that he had received complaints regarding high prices for parking fines at the College of William and Mary Law School.
Also at this week’s meetings:
- Director of Student Leadership Development Anne Arseneau ’89 MA.Ed ’92 notified the senate that Zane Peters J.D. ’26 has been elected as chair of the SA Review Board.
- Arseneau also notified the senate that there had been one campaign violation in the current rounds of SA elections, with one candidate posting on Instagram before campaigning started.
- She also noted that the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has been asked to send one student senator to join the chamber, but has not yet done so.