At the March 6 Students’ Associations meeting, senators were addressed by Wellness Center Director Shari Landmark, heard public comments and approved the Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

            Shari Landmark

Landmark gave a breakdown of how general activity fees, or GAF dollars, are used to help support the Wellness Center and its daily operations. For the 2022-2023 academic year, GAF was set at $10.79 per credit hour. 

Landmark went into a more specific breakdown of how the $10.79 per credit hour is divided within the facility. $3.37 is allocated for operations, $0.17 for group fitness instructors, $0.41 for intramurals, $0.19 for competitive sport clubs, $0.06 for H.E.R.O.H., $1.91 for maintenance and repair and finally, $4.68 is set aside for debt services from both renovations in 2006 and 2016. 

Operation expenses include course facilities, any software to keep the Wellness Center app running and purchasing equipment. Landmark said there is $50,000 set aside in the operations allocation that will be used for upgrading equipment.

With last year’s GAF dollars, the Wellness Center opened the eSports lounge, bought a hack squat machine, six sets of Olympic plates, 10 treadmills, added a skateboard rack and will have the bike repair station up and running by the end of this month. 

Landmark also announced the next major project for the Wellness Center.

“We are planning to remodel upstairs, the locker rooms that lead over to the pool,” Landmark said. “We are going to add two additional restrooms upstairs and then remodel bathrooms in the Student Health Clinic and Counseling Center.”

As of now, Landmark said they are exploring the idea of phase three in 2026 when the 2006 debt drops off. There is interest in expanding the fitness floor, adding additional courts and adding another pool. 

“We are kind of dreaming and looking forward,” Landmark said. 

          Public comments 

During public comments at the Students’ Association meeting, multiple people addressed the Senate on behalf of Diversity Liaison Harley Fischer, voicing their support for Fisher and the future of the diversity liaison position to be paid and to become a chair position on the SA board. 

Cierra Sazue, president of the American Indian Engineering Society, came out to show her support for Fischer.

“Throughout the school year, I’ve watched Harley work diligently to unite students on campus through outreach, connection and collaboration,” Sazue said. “Because of Harley’s work as a diversity liaison, I have watched student groups on campus specifically promoting diversity flourish.”

Dallas Kelso, president of the American Indian Student Association, also voiced her support for the “significant amount of effort” Fischer has put into this position since its creation. 

“I think this position has a lot more potential to serve us good on this campus and also the community … so moving forward thinking about this, please remember that at SDSU, one of the core values is also diversity,” Marge Collins, director in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Accessibility, said.  

         Committee Reports 

During President Blake Pulse’s committee report, he shared a message by request of the Board of Directors regarding a possible ethics violation by Sen. Hunter Eide.

“I received a complaint from a member of the corporation raising concerns for a possible code of ethics violation against Sen. Eide,” Pulse said.

It was announced at the meeting that Sen. Eide had resigned from the Finance Committee but will still continue his campaign for SA President. 

FY2024 budget

Slight changes were made to the Fiscal Year 2024 budget before being unanimously approved by the Senate. 

The Office of Multicultural Affairs budget was increased by $3,000 due to an allocation error in the original spreadsheet. The Armed Forces Association was approved for a $1,800 increase and $3,000 was allocated toward funding the diversity liaison position if it were to become a chair position next year.