The second Chatham Student Government (CSG) meeting on Thursday, Sept. 23, discussed how to increase access or awareness to student financial resources. 

Students raised concerns about whether or not students were being allotted proper funding for the Student Emergency Aid and Essential Services program. 

The CSG Senate and Dean of Students Chris Purcell acknowledged these concerns. While Purcell overall promoted the program, he said “we need to do better at finding additional resources to help students.”

The meeting discussed several options to improve the concern. Ryan Tahbaz ’23, executive president, believes an Instagram account for the program could emphasize qualifications a student needs to apply and increase the accessibility, rather than solely having it on the website. 

Attending student Fernando Soriano ’22 proposed that an additional service, like an Electronics Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, could be included and emphasized in this program. Eligible Pell-Grant students can use an EBT card to get food stamps or pay for internet costs, according to Soriano. 

Soriano also proposed a kick-off event to bring awareness to the diversity plan proposed by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.  He believes such an event would help energize students to have fun while discussing features they want implemented in the plan. 

Aiden Bobik ‘24 proposed an idea for a student budget based on his high school experience. Students would raise their concerns, develop projects and present them to the student body to vote. However, there was apprehension about the budget because other members were not sure how well funds could be evenly distributed to students’ priorities.

CSG meetings are held on Zoom every Thursday. The next meeting will be from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm Sept. 30. The Zoom link can be found on My.Chatham.edu.