Correction, Feb. 24 at 1:36 p.m. — The date that the updated treasurer's manual will go into effect was originally misprinted. It will go into effect on Monday, Feb. 24. Elon News Network regrets this error.

The Student Government Association held a special session business meeting on Sunday, Feb. 23 after the normal meeting was canceled on Thursday due to snow. Three bills were addressed and passed at the meeting.

Included on tonight's agenda were edits to the treasurer's manual, something that executive treasurer Amanda Yaffa and the finance board spent Winter Term working on. 

The amendment — which required a two-thirds — majority passed 31-0. The new manual changes how organizations request funding.

"We are so excited," Yaffa said regarding the bill. "This is actually a really big change for us."

The bill goes into effect Monday, Feb. 24.

SGA also passed S.B. 20-2.4 — authored by Jonathan Stettler — that allocates SGA reserved funds to renovate outdoor spaces around campus.

"We're trying to make our outdoor spaces more friendly, we have one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation," Stettler said.

The bill allocates $330,000 towards two oversight committees on the project — the student and iconic art committee and the outdoor spaces equipment committee.

The student iconic art committee will receive $30,000 while the outdoor spaces equipment committee will receive $300,000.

What the funding specifically goes towards hasn't been decided, but Stettler said projects like shading patios and working with Campus Recreation and Wellness to erect more outdoor sports equipment were discussed when drafting the bill.

The committees will have until May 31, 2022, to implement these outdoor spaces.

S.B. 20-2.3 was passed with a majority vote. The bill — authored by Robbie Miley — allocates funds to provide Open Educational Resources.

OERs are educational materials such as textbooks. The bill allocates $50,000 to the Academic Technology Committee from the SGA reserve fund. 

Miley said that this allocation would save students money if a class utilized OERs.

A faculty member can apply for a $1,000 grant to implement OERs into there classes. While this is a one time grant, a faculty member can apply for multiple grants for different classes.

Miley expects 50 faculty members to opt into OERs.

Executive Vice President Louisa Sholar said in regards to the legislation passed "this is probably the most important meeting of the year."