On Wednesday, Mar. 4, the University of Massachusetts Student Government Association (SGA) held its fourth meeting of the Spring 2026 semester in the Cape Cod Lounge of the Student Union at 6:45 p.m.
The meeting began with Chair of the Academic Oversight Committee Cass Melo urging the Senate to take notice of the Wi-Fi issues occurring on campus.
Melo explained that while the current assumption of UMass Information Technology (IT) is that the “Wi-Fi here is perfect, there are no issues,”
According to Melo, SGA found that Wi-Fi issues across campus are prevalent. Students reported having no access to Wi-Fi during hockey and football games, classes and inside dorms.
She said that UMass is currently doing “nothing, but we are trying to change that.”
Senator Derin Gollu believed that since the Wi-Fi in the UMass Student Union is good, IT may not realize the Wi-Fi issues across other areas around campus.
“I live in Orchard Hill, and I was trying to watch a movie before and couldn’t connect,” Gollu said. “I had to use my cellular data. It’s tough.”
Gollu also said he has coded a website where visitors can scan a QR code that takes note of their location and Wi-Fi connection, while uploading all the data to a singular webpage. The Senate is trying to use this website in the future to collaborate with IT and bring more attention to this issue.
Chair of the Ways and Means Committee Darren Truong also presented on the Fiscal Year of 2026 Student Activities Trust Fund (SATF) fee increase. The presentation focused on the potential effects the ballot measure could have on the SGA, registered student organizations (RSOs), student agencies and campus programming.
Truong said the Ways and Means Committee reviews more than 270 budget requests each spring semester.
“Some RSOs figured out that if they overinflated their budgets, they would still receive more money even after cuts,” Truong said. “That led to a cycle where organizations kept requesting larger budgets, which in turn resulted in larger cuts.”
According to Truong, roughly 75 RSOs request large portions of the available funding.
Truong added that many high-cost organizations focus on recreation, cultural programming, social events and travel, which tend to require larger budgets.
“This isn’t necessarily to [take] a jab at them, this is just saying out of our whole RSO allocation pool, we do have a finite amount of resources and I think it’s worth having those conversations,” Truong said.
“That’s not to say we shouldn’t be funding student organizations. We should be because they provide valuable experiences for students on campus,” Truong said.
Truong added that increasing funding caps for student organizations in the future could require raising the SATF fee.
The Senate also considered a motion to appoint Rachel Morina to the position of Secretary of Registry.
After a few minutes of questioning, Senator Madalyn Lamour raised concerns about potential bias in the nomination, questioning if SGA President Michael Borowski and Morina had previously known each other before the election.
Borowski explained that she was interviewed and nominated just like any other SGA member would be.
The motion to elect Morina passed after further deliberation.
The Senate also appointed Sophia Butusova as Secretary of Public Relations and Joshua Svirsky as Chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Services.
The meeting concluded with Borowski and Naulivou discussing their meeting with Garett Distefano, the director of UMass dining services, to discuss the new dining hall UCard Policy.
“We were assured that nobody was being turned away for a matching UCard on account of their identity,” Borowski said.
However, Borowski said there have been multiple reports of staff members questioning students about their identity when it does not appear to match how they look on their UCard.
Borowski urged Senators to report these incidents as soon as possible so the information can be passed along to the administration.
“If you or anyone you know has had this happen to them and has had to haggle, barter or otherwise fight to get into the dining halls, please talk to us immediately so we can forward that information,” Borowski said.
The next meeting of the Undergraduate Senate will be held on Wednesday, Mar. 11 in the Cape Cod Lounge at 6:30 p.m.
Tiara Leo can be reached at [email protected].
