USC's student senate passed over 10 pieces of legislation, including a resolution to honor Nathaniel “Nate” Baker's memory and a recommendation to improve Self Service Carolina's course planning software at its weekly meeting on Wednesday.
The senate passed a resolution, introduced by Sen. Lester Lewis, to honor Nathaniel “Nate” Baker's memory. Baker was a USC student who passed away after being struck by a pickup truck last Wednesday.
The resolution states "we honor the memory of Nathaniel "Nate" Baker, celebrating the joy he brought to our lives and the impact he made during his time at this university."
The senate passed a finance bill allowing $13,150.59 in allocations to student organizations. The allocations include $5,339.11 for Uncensored America, $5,034.30 for Shandon College Ministry, $999.99 for Shandon College Ministry, $75 for Exercise is Medicine, $140 for Gamecock Bhangra Club, $325 for Gamecock Bhangra Club, $42.72 for Palmetto Place Ambassadors and $1,194.47 for the Mock Trial Team.
Self Service Carolina suggestions
The senate also passed a recommendation, introduced by Sen. Grant Dworzanowski, to improve Self Service Carolina's course planning software.
According to the recommendation, Self Service Carolina previously offered a schedule planner tool in 2023 that helped students register for classes by allowing them to build and personalize potential course schedules. In 2024, that tool was removed and replaced with the "Plan Ahead" feature, which the recommendation says is also used at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
The recommendation states that this new software is less detailed and does not include the same advanced options for filtering and planning.
"This recommendation is basically to bring back Schedule Planner or find something similar," Dworzanowski said. "It's to let the university know that students do care about this, they miss the old schedule planner software- and they'd like to either bring it back or find something similar to it."
Additional legislation passed
The senate also passed a recommendation, introduced by Senators Jacob Whisenant, Donnie Lapsley and Aaron Freer, to improve the transparency of Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center occupancy data.
According to the recommendation, the USC offers real-time occupancy data for Thomas Cooper Library and Russell House to help students manage their time and avoid crowded spaces. However, the recommendation states that the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center — one of the most heavily used campus facilities — does not provide the same data. It also states that because students swipe their CarolinaCards to access the gym, real-time usage and occupancy trends are already being collected.
"This is a recommendation to Strom Thurmond to allow students and staff to have access to wether or not they're super busy or not busy at all at any given period of time," Whisenant said. "This isn't out of the ordinary, the university already provides with the Waitz app, for both Russell House and Thomas Cooper Library."
The recommendation says that sharing this data would help students plan more effectively, ease crowding on gym equipment, and improve the overall wellness experience. It recommends that the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center make the information open to the public, either by working with the Waitz app or creating a similar internal system.
The senate also passed a recommendation, introduced by Speaker Pro-Tempore Sy'Mone Miles, Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee Matthew Frye and Sen. Brooke Walker, to implement permanent donation mailboxes on campus for student organizations.
The recommendation says student organizations use temporary cardboard boxes for donation drives, which can be missed or damaged. It says that the boxes aren’t placed in busy areas and the drives don’t get much attention, limiting the university’s ability to support the campus and nearby communities.
To address this, the 117th student senate recommends that USC allocate funds for two permanent donation mailboxes — one on Greene Street in front of Russell House and another in front of the Leadership and Service Center — to better support philanthropic initiatives.
"These donation mailboxes would then be used through 25Live. Just as organizations would reserve a table for tabling, they could reserve the mailbox for their organizational drive," Miles said.
Another passed piece of legislation, introduced by Lewis, was a resolution to welcome Sarah Rumely Noble as USC's 12th head volleyball coach.
Other passed legislation includes a bill requiring business professional dress for interviews by the Powers and Responsibilities Committee to maintain Senate integrity, a bill updating the timeline for the Vice President’s staff, and a bill allocating funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The Senate also approved changes to the legislation certification process, revisions to Chapter 3 of the Student Government Codes, a recommendation allowing the Finance Committee to allocate funds, and a bill removing limits on allocation request submissions.
The next senate session will take place on April 16 in the Russell House Theatre at 5:30 p.m. All students are welcome to attend these meetings.