{"id":368635,"date":"2026-08-11T18:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T18:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/368635\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T18:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T18:58:16","slug":"four-on-campus-living-changes-made-by-ums-student-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/368635\/","title":{"rendered":"Four on-campus living changes made by UM\u2019s Student Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Student Senate meets in the Storm Surge Room on March 18, 2026. \/\/ Photo credit: Emil Salgado Vazquez.<\/p>\n

Student Government bills from last year\u2019s legislative session have received Dr. Pat Whitely\u2019s approval and will bring swift changes to UM \u2014 all connected to the on-campus living experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very proud of these senators that sought out areas of improvement from their constituents and worked to find a solution,\u201d Trinity Vodovoz, the Speaker of the Student Senate, said.<\/p>\n

The University of Miami\u2019s Student Senate gave The Hurricane an exclusive look at bills that were approved from last year\u2019s legislative session.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elimination of fees for incorrectly addressed packages<\/p>\n

The area where students will feel the most immediate relief is in the elimination of UPS fees for incorrectly addressed packages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As one of two farewell bills introduced by former Senior Class Senator Branden Damus, a Spring 2026 graduate, this bill addresses \u201cundue financial and mental stress\u201d on students at a time when affordability is a major issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharging students an administrative fee for incorrectly addressed packages, often due to circumstances outside their control, was an unnecessary and student-unfriendly policy,\u201d Damus said. \u201cEliminating this fee will make the package process fairer and remove one more unnecessary burden for current and future University of Miami students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of immediately charging students, Housing and Residential Life staff will help educate students on the correct mailing format, while addressing repeat issues through an \u201ceducational process.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Walkthrough videos of all on-campus housing<\/p>\n

Before graduating, Damus managed to push a second bill through. This one pushed HRL \u2014 in collaboration with Student Affairs Marketing \u2014 to produce photo and video walkthroughs of every residence hall and apartment. These walkthroughs are scheduled to be available for students participating in the 2027\u20132028 housing selection process.<\/p>\n

Damus says he was inspired by his own experiences as an incoming undergraduate student, and he wanted current and future UM students to have greater transparency during the move-in process.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents were being asked to choose among a wide range of housing options without having clear, realistic visuals of the spaces they would actually be living in,\u201d Damus said. \u201cI am grateful that they will now have the information needed to make housing decisions that are best for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

More printer availability<\/p>\n

Students living in Lakeside Village this year can expect improvements to their printing demands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A bill authored by Sophomore Class Senator Katie Wang will install a new UPrint printer in Lobby D, which Vodovoz says will improve access for Lakeside residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents should not have to walk so far just to print a quick assignment,\u201d Wang said. \u201cI hope this makes life a little easier for Lakeside residents and serves as a starting point for more printer access across campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chopsticks available in dining halls<\/p>\n

Finally, the University will introduce a pilot program for reusable chopsticks in Mahoney-Pearson and Centennial Village Dining Halls. According to Vodovoz, approximately 250 pairs will be available while Dining Services evaluates logistics \u2014 including cleaning procedures and durability \u2014 before determining if the program should become permanent.<\/p>\n

The Asian American Student Association\u2019s Senator, Natalie Wu, says she hopes this legislation will address student concerns over a \u201clack of proper utensils\u201d in the dining halls.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur dining halls do a great job highlighting different cultures through their food, but that means serving dishes like noodles, sushi and dumplings that are traditionally eaten with chopsticks,\u201d Wu said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping this pilot program fixes that gap and gives more students a chance to fully engage with the food they\u2019re eating.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a new legislative session begins for the Student Senate, the legislation taking effect could prove symbols of the Senate\u2019s effectiveness if they are successful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to highlight that the Student Government listens to the students\u2019 concerns and we try our best to be students\u2019 advocates,\u201d Vodovoz said. \u201cThank you to the administrative and respective departments that made these initiatives possible. This is just a snapshot of the work the Senate does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students who want to bring questions, comments or concerns to the Senate are welcome to attend their weekly meetings at 4:30-6:30 P.M. on Wednesday in the Shalala Student Center\u2019s Senate Room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Student Senate meets in the Storm Surge Room on March 18, 2026. \/\/ Photo credit: Emil Salgado…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-368635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}