There are very few instances when business facing the Government of the Student Body Senate is forced to take a back seat to other matters, but Wednesday night’s meeting may well see just that occur.

GSB President Brian Phillips, senior in political science, said senators will still be focused on bills, but the meeting will also be a fantastic chance for them to get to know Iowa State’s leader – President Gregory Geoffroy.

“This is a great opportunity for him to say ‘hi’ and for senators to meet him and express their concerns,” Phillips said.

“It’s designed to be more of a casual conversation – I doubt he’ll bring up anything specifically.”

Phillips said some of GSB’s cabinet members have the privilege of working with President Geoffroy on a regular basis, but most senators don’t get to work with him at all.

“Senate doesn’t get a lot of face time with upper-level faculty members, so this will provide a good opportunity for just that,” Phillips said. “This just shows that the faculty care about the students.”

In an e-mail, President Geoffroy confirmed that he will “discuss issues facing the university to give students an opportunity to hear perspectives on the future of Iowa State and the importance of student leaders and role models while inspiring the group to represent the student body at Iowa State.”

After the president’s address, GSB will return to form by hearing a number of bills, including the second read of the Keep Iowa State Beautiful campaign.

The bill may raise some eyebrows because of its broad nature, but Phillips said the overall nature of the bill has quality objectives.

“I think the [Keep Iowa State Beautiful] committee has worked hard to develop more of a targeted program, which includes working with a lot of student organizations,” Phillips said.

“The committee is very new, and we haven’t had anything like it to my knowledge, so with anything like that it’s all about getting a direction before you can start initiating tangible plans.”