In a jam-packed meeting, the Undergraduate Student Government senate heard five presentations and passed four bills Tuesday, including senate bill 144-12, a resolution that supported the mandatory institution of a sustainability training module for incoming students.

A 45-minute version of the module is accessible on TrojanLearn, but is not currently mandatory. The bill also “firmly recommends” the module be shortened to between 15 and 20 minutes.

Ashley Halim, the director of advocacy for the Environmental Student Assembly and a co-author of SB 144-12, said the optional training has received “tremendous positive feedback.”

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Of the 1,400 students that have taken the training, 270 have responded to a survey afterward, according to Halim. She said 97% of respondents said they strongly agree to having a greater understanding of how USC has become more sustainable and 93% would recommend the training to others.

“[The data] shows that students were not only passively consuming information, but are also actively considering how they can contribute,” Halim said. “Making [this training] more a part of the orientation process ensures that sustainability becomes a core value for all USC students.”

The senate also approved SB 144-13, which updated the senate meeting rules to incorporate updated open forum changes from SB 144-02 — that was set to expire Oct. 29 — into the 2024-25 senate meeting rules.

On top of allowing senators to respond to audience comments during open forum — a change first implemented by SB 144-02 — SB 144-13 adds provisions to “manage the time of senate effectively.” 

During the trial period, open forum did not have a time limit, but now, under SB 144-13, there will be a 15-minute time limit for open forum, with the option to add an additional 15 minutes by a majority senate vote. Audience members also cannot be called on more than once in an open forum session and senators are limited at two minutes of response each, under the new bill.

SB 144-13 also eliminated the ability of senators to limit the number of comments during open forum.

“For us as senators — to serve the student body — we shouldn’t be necessarily proactive and try to cover what the students are going to say,” said senator Patrick Nguyen, co-author of SB 144-13. “If someone is coming to share a concern during open forum, we should be willing to hear that.”

Senators also passed SB 144-14, which set USG’s 2024-25 election guidelines, 11-1, with senator Ali Bhatti in dissent. 

On top of standard updates to last year’s guidelines, the bill provided a distinction between public support and campaigning. Members of USG’s communications department, senate, judicial branch and executive cabinet are not allowed to campaign for other candidates. 

Susanna Andryan, USG’s chief justice and the author of SB 144-14, said the bill uses the difference between “I” and “you” statements to make the distinction.

“Saying ‘I support this candidate,’ would be publicly supporting, but saying ‘You should go vote for this candidate,’ that would be campaigning,” Andryan said.

The bill also created a more flexible appeal process in the days leading up to USG elections, due to complaints often coming to the judicial branch just before the voting period begins, according to associate justice Andrew Papazyan.

The judicial branch can now forgo a hearing and offer a plea deal if a complaint is filed less than five business days before voting closes. If less than two business days remain before voting closes and the accused rejects the plea deal and wishes to appeal, votes can be counted until a hearing occurs, even if that is after voting closes.

SB 144-11, which was approved unanimously, gave speaker of the senate Diana Carpio’s laundry stipend project $4,000 of legislative funding. The funding will give 80 students with access to WASH-Connect services $50 each to pay for laundry costs, Carpio said.

In discussion on the bill, senator Elija Barnes asked Carpio where funding would come from long term, since he thought legislative funding was typically used for trial periods.

“I hope to … [use] the donations from an [alum] or someone [else] who can make this project live on forever,” Carpio said.

During the meeting, USG president Bryan Fernández talked about projects, including the implementation of a new “town hall”-style open forum. The first iteration will be held at 6 p.m. on Oct. 29 at the Tutor Campus Center Forum.

The senate also heard reports from chief financial officer Chisom Obioha, who said USG’s funds are “pacing well” at between 18 and 30% utilization, and chief programming officer Hunter Black who said he has been working with Obioha to help programming assemblies prepare for spring funding applications.

Troy Nevil, the chair of the sustainability and campus infrastructure committee, presented upcoming committee projects including a textbook donation drive and zero-waste events.

The senate also heard a presentation from Nguyen, who talked about his upcoming projects including Financial Aid call wait-time transparency, dining hall allergen awareness and a legal aid workshop.