On Nov. 12, 2025 Student Senators and Winona State University community members enter the Kryzsko Solarium and prep themselves for the meeting ahead. Beyond the normal roll call, approval of last week’s meeting minutes and approval of the day’s agenda, there were more matters to be discussed.
Within organizational reports, only the Communications Director, ASO Director and Executive Assistant spoke pertaining to past events, current events and upcoming events that were happening.
There was, however, a guest speaker at this Senate meeting. A representative from Delta Phi Epsilon came to request funding for a leadership conference in January.
Beyond this, Academic Affairs has been working on their Dean’s Advisory Board (DAB) policy motion that they intend to bring in front of Senate at their Nov. 19 meeting. The Academic Affairs Chair, Brooklyn Bothe intends to bring forth changes to an out-of-date document with the intention of helping communication between Student Senate and the different colleges at Winona State.
“Our goal with the whole process is to improve communication between the Colleges/DAB’s and Student Senate. My committee (Academic Affairs) and I would love to just make everything more seamless,” Bothe said.
Some of these changes include DAB reviewing their constitutions once a semester, signing them and then returning it to the Academic Affairs Committee, having Academic Affairs become a contact point between DAB’s and Senate and adjusting wording throughout the entire DAB document.
The proposal from the Equity and Inclusive Excellence committee during the Nov. 5 Student Senate meeting regarding pronouns on student ID’s has been approved and is going into effect starting in Spring 2026.
During this Nov. 12 meeting there was also discussion of different proposals happening throughout the Minnesota State system to respond to the current complex economic situation many institutions are facing. However, many of the short-term and long-term solutions are still in the early stages of being discussed and reviewed.
Senator Jeffrey Duffield, who reported on behalf of the Finance Committee at the Nov. 12 Senate meeting, discusses how these discussions of changes in the Minnesota State system are attending to the overall needs of many institutions and are trying to find a way to keep the whole system, but also individual institutions, sustainable economically.
“As the landscape of post-secondary education continues to evolve, risk management and procedural strategies must also adapt. So, while some proposals (like that of potentially setting a common tuition) are being discussed as ways to keep competition between universities fair, other proposals might focus on how universities can or should equitably support each other within the system,” Duffield said.
The potential setting of a common tuition, where schools in the Minnesota State system all share a tuition rate, may lead to a more fair competition between universities. Though, this change is still not directly overhead and will require more discussion amongst universities.
“For the most accurate insight, I would encourage students to refer to the Minnesota State system’s fiscal affairs office. Some ideas (such as that of a common tuition proposal, to the extent of my knowledge) are still at the very earliest stages of consideration, while other internal actions are already being made to address more immediate challenges. I thank both Winona State University and the Minnesota State system for their data transparency policies and encourage students to stay informed,” Duffield said.
Duffield also provided information for students who wish to learn more about current fees and tuition procedures, planning and Winona State’s annual budget.
Minnesota State – 5.11 Tuition and Fees and Minnesota State – Procedure 5.11.1 Tuition and Fees (for
relevant system policies and procedures).
Minnesota State – Financial Planning and Analysis (for system data, packets, and presentations).
Annual Budget | Winona State University (for WSU’s own data and presentations).
During the committee updates, construction plans were mentioned, and events were brought up, including a Cultural Café on Nov. 19 in the KEAP Center to celebrate Indigenous culture.
Near the end of the Nov. 12 meeting, there was also a resignation letter that was read aloud by Student Senate President Sophia Crowe. Due to this resignation, there are now four open seats in Student Senate due to various reasons.
“Ideally, we want to have all of our seats filled, so our current plan is to hold what’s called a “supplemental election” prior to the start of the Spring semester,” Crowe said. “This will allow us to fill the four empty seats on Senate and create the opportunity to have a complete Senate with all of the student representatives present!”
