Student Government convened for a relatively short meeting Wednesday night where the governmental body confirmed a new chief of staff and $11,000 in funding requests. 

Rachael Barnes, current senior director of student services, was unanimously approved by the Senate to fill the recently vacated chief of staff position.

The former chief of staff, Jacob Zirkelbach, stepped down earlier this month to instead fill the position of election commissioner. 

Last week, Vice President Cody Smith initially told the senate that they would not be filling the position of chief of staff, but President Cody West said Wednesday that it would be foolish to leave one of the seats on the cabinet vacant for the rest of the session.

Barnes said she will continue to do the duties of both positions once appointed and will “make sure provide to tools and necessary resources for all of cabinet.”

Additionally, Barnes said, her main goal of chief of staff will be to help facilitate the transition between administrations.

Other appointments confirmed during the Senate meeting Wednesday included that of Myah McCoy who will serve as the new graphic designer for Student Government. 

Internal legislation for the meeting also included passing recommended finance changes to Chapter 11 of the bylaws. 

Changes included delivering finance requests more than $1,500 to the vice chair of finance compared to the speaker of the Senate.

Finance Director Steven Valentino said that the change is “not a removal of power” but rather saying the “vice chair writes a bill versus the speaker.”

Additionally, the Senate approved the FY 2019 Priorities and Criteria. With just minor changes made, Valentino said that the new P&C establishes a cap for campus publications and the level at which they are funded. 

Campus publications are now just eligible for up to requests of 1,000 copies per issue, with a maximum of $5 per copy from Student Government allocations. 

Lastly, Student Government approved $6,790 in funding to the Arab Students Association for its Arabic Night and $4,400 to Cardinal Eats for its printing costs this semester. 

Student Government will convene next Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union for a joint meeting with members of the Ames City Council.

Meetings are also available via live stream on its Facebook page. Wednesday marked the first meeting broadcast with a new equipment funded partly, $17,000, by Student Government last semester for use in the Memorial Union.