Student government leaders are planning new initiatives for students that they hope to have fully available in the next few months such as Swipe Out Hunger, access to free printing, and a program that reimburses students for test fees.

“I’m really excited for the new initiatives coming to student government in the next few months,” said SG Vice President Lily MacDonald. “All our members work hard to produce quality initiatives and events for all students to enjoy.”  

Swipe Out Hunger

The Swipe Out Hunger initiative would allow students to donate their unused prepaid food swipes to students in need.

Currently, when students do not use all of their dining hall swipes during a given period, the swipes expire and cannot be used in future semesters.

Swipe Out Hunger aims to assist students who may have difficulties sourcing their next meal while simultaneously preventing the waste of food swipes. At the moment SG leaders are working on how students would donate their meal plan swipes and are working with Chart Wells to figure out how the logistics would work. 

“The House this year has passed nearly 20 more pieces of legislation than it had last year at the same time,” said Boca Raton House Speaker Reilly Bridgers.

Free printing

SG representatives also hope to give students the opportunity to print for free on campus. Most campus facilities that offer printing services require students to prepay for printing by loading funds onto their Owl Card.

SG leaders hope to mitigate the cost of printing with their up-and-coming free printing program, which would provide students with a set amount of pages that they would be able to print for free during the semester. 

“Starting out there would be free printing options in the Boca Raton library 24 hours section and the student union. Students will likely have a 10 page limit per day,” said Boca Raton Treasurer Kirk Myers.

Test Program

The new testing reimbursements program that was recently implemented allows students to be reimbursed for up to 50% of the cost for graduate school admission test fees through SG.

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and Law College Admissions Test (LCAT) are examples of tests that would fall within the eligibility for a refund. 

“Based on the exam students may be able to apply multiple times for reimbursement if it’s more common for a student to take it multiple times in a semester,” said Boca Raton treasurer Kirk Myers. 

Students can apply by filling out the Testing Support Program form, located in the FAU Student Government page on Owl Central.

Students must be logged in to their FAU account to submit this form.

Current Initiatives

SG has already funded initiatives such as Owl Ride, Parking Citation Forgiveness, and Owl Perks.

Former Student Body President Celine Persaud started the Lyft Ride-share program in which students can enroll and receive a discount of up to $15 per Lyft ride for two rides a month.

The Parking Citation Forgiveness program provides students a chance to donate non-perishable goods and as a result, receive a $25 parking citation fine waiver.

Owl Perks, which provides students with discounts at local businesses off-campus has grown in participation since last semester. Since Dec. 2021, over 12 new businesses have agreed to offer exclusive discounts to students when they provide their Owl card. 

A full list of current SG initiatives can be found here.

André Rajoo is a Political Reporter for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected]