JHU SGAThe 114th Session
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Senate General Body Meeting #14 — Minutes (11/11/25)

Minutes / Senate · minutes · 113th session · dated November 11, 2025 · updated November 12, 2025

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This document is from a previous session and is kept for the record. It may have been amended or replaced since.

113th Johns Hopkins Student Government Association

Senate Meeting #14

November 11th, 2025 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17

AGENDA

  1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Absentees:
      1. Excused: Avi Liu, Mamadou Thiam, Omotola Alaofin, Rebecca Wu, Tarini Basireddy
      2. Unexcused:
    2. Present

  2. Convening Business (60 min)

    1. Presentation and Discussion with Office of International Services
      1. https://www.slido.com/
  3. Representatives from OIS Ms. Dacia Gauer and Mr. Jim Brailer introduced themselves.
  4. Ms. Gauer shared their office’s objectives including immigration status. They also handle international students’ documentations and send email updates via iHopkins, also enrollment information via sis. They also provide advising services via drop-in call hours, virtual appointments, and emails.
  5. They also provide live webinars and their recorded versions for incoming international students. They send emails for updating immigration status monthly. OIS also reaches out to students individually based on the current immigration updates.
  6. OIS’s travel guidance advises students to carefully consider international travels depending on their visas. There have been a number of federal changes which may cause confusions at times. They encourage students to carefully think about their travel plans. Regarding international student’s travel status, there will be a webinar dedicated to this matter.
  7. They provide emergency contact resources in case students need additional support at the border protection.
  8. Students asked about the transition process from undergraduate to graduate and post graduate schools. OIS responded the staffs remain the same and F-1 or J-1 status to H-1B transition will be covered in the webinar on November 18th 4:00PM to 5:00PM. The webinar for OPT was recorded and is posted on the website. ois.jhu.edu They also have academic training webinar recording for J-1 status students.
  9. OIS created a page dedicated to the recent federal immigration actions. There is a list of different changes applied. The information is not only targeted for the students but also all JHU employees.
  10. They also reported that the immigration related agencies for OPT and VISA such as USCIS remain active even during the government shutdown.
  11. Every international student has a tax filing obligation. Each spring, OIS invites US tax experts to host a webinar. There is also a JHU Tax Office where they can access Sprintax (free tax filing platform for non-U.S. residents).
  12. Tips for international students are as follows: check out their jhu emails for any updates, rely on OIS for J-1 and F-1 related advices for particular issues, be aware of scams.
  13. They shared the contact information. They also reported that the advising video meetings are not recorded, and there are multiple advisors available at the same time slots.
  14. Amy asked how leave of absence would affect international students’ visa status.
  15. The OIS officer responded the leave of absence can have some effect on their immigration status. Personal leave of absence or military reasons mean their immigration status is terminated for that duration. But if the student is requiring medical reasons, they can be eligible for reduced course load authorization which can keep their immigration status active. The office advises students to get qualified for LOA, if not, they are advised to have meetings with OIS advisors.
  16. Mr. Brailer addressed the fear among the international students. He emphasized that OIS is here to best support the students. He also indicated that the leave of absence is treated differently in each country. They advise students to rely on OIS for any matters since the amount of information available online can be overwhelming for students. He underlined the uncertainty of future federal decisions. He addressed that federal changes of enrollment such as during the COVID required OIS to take time to fully understand the federal decisions before they could provide accurate guidance to the students. Thus, he advises students to reach out to OIS and if any events come up OIS will do their best to communicate these decisions as precisely as possible.
    1. Presentation and Discussion with SNF Agora
      1. https://www.slido.com/
  17. Srigori indicated that questions must be submitted via slido and cannot be anonymous.
  18. Dr. Han introduced herself to the senate. She is a professor at JHU and oversees SNF agora institute. Agora institute’s objective is to encourage people to debate differences and harness the resources to address issues around the world. The Discovery department is dedicated to bringing in a wide variety of people to the institute. Dialogue is dedicated to hosting events such as Democracy day and guest speaker events. They also invite faculties to be a part of the dialogue. The design pillar is dedicated to use scholastic research to inform the world.
  19. They run a visiting fellows program. Minimum of 10 fellows with a wide range of perspectives are selected to do a work of discovery and dialogue. They had high school civic teachers, META representatives, and artists to represent values of democracy in previous academic years. Dissidence programs involve people from different countries representing different perspectives.
  20. She addressed democracy dissonance means there would be controversial perspectives which is a core part of SNF agora’s missions. They use research to address these issues to create spaces for different perspectives. Agora tries to have people participate in discussions in wholesome ways.
  21. They try to figure out how to engage people in their work towards peace building. When they work on issues that do not have formulaic answers they seek research and scholastic views.
  22. She stated the institute tries to draw people of controversial and different perspectives to bring in different opinions and whom we can hold accountable for peaceful solutions.
  23. In January and February, newspapers spread the visiting fellow applications. When the application is sent out, there is a thematic call for specific fields. Last year there were 89 applications and the Agora board invited experts to review these applications. They make decisions in April, and once the fellows are appointed, their fellowship lasts for 1 academic year.
  24. When Dr. Han started, there was a student engagement program where about 50 students were involved in the process. However, it died down after covid due to insufficient number of participating students. She addressed that if SGA can help them revive the program that would be greatly appreciated.
  25. Their basic principle when controversial issues come up is to turn to the scholarship sources. They engage subject matter experts to make decisions on how to engage any speakers.
  26. The fellows are subject to academic appointment. They have academic freedom and are subject to all university rules and have their speech protected. Agora does not see speech as an individual domain. They see it as an interpersonal act. Their speech is interrelated to their relationship to their community. They review how their role is positioned in our community.
  27. A senate asked what is the best way to address concerns and how students can know when these issues are addressed in the institute.
  28. Dr. Han responded Agora policy indicates that when the institute receives feedback they try to respond in a countercultural way since they are trying to address the gap between the reality and ideal.
  29. Andrea asked if there is any threshold for someone to be disqualified.
  30. Dr. Han responded that peace building literature noted when you have people who have taken actions that are morally questionable it is not to separate but engage with people who have expertises in the field. This view is what SNF agora tries to base off of.
  31. Zaynab asked reasons behind no response to the emails about Johnnie Moore.
  32. Dr. Han responded that the agora receives a large amount of comments and concerns. They try to find authentic ways to pull particular fellows with other expertises with countering perspectives.
  33. Dr. Han addressed Agora’s commitment is to create safe space but also to bring in conflictual work to forge common life together.
  34. A member of the public inquired what accountability SNF agora would take when Johnnie Moore is charged with international war crime.
  35. Dr. Han responded that SNF agora would take accountability but is not able to answer specifically how at this moment. They try not to pretend there is a formulaic answer when the situation is countercultural and controversial which the institute constantly finds challenging.

  36. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

  37. Public Input (3 min)

  38. Reports (5 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)
      1. Student Body President - Vishnu Dontu
      2. Student Body Vice President - Omotara Tiamiyu
      3. Secretary - Sumire Sumi
      4. Treasurer - Imad Ahmed
      5. Chair of Programming - Tyler Turner
      6. President of the Senate - Srigouri Oruganty
    2. Advisor Report (2 min)
  39. Non-Legislative Business (20 min)
    1. Closed Session SGA Appointments - Executive Branch
  40. Shabnam Rezai and Justin Pokrant were appointed as the KSAS senators.
  41. Ella Chon and Srika Popuri were appointed as the sophomore class senators.
  42. Peter Jackson was appointed as the senior class senator.
  43. Seán Durkis-Dervogne was appointed as the WSE senator.
  44. Ali Asghar Kassamali, Sajiv Harikrishnan, Jacqueline Kim, and Peter Tarpley were appointed as RSO senators.
  45. Honora Muratori was appointed as Women and Gender Minority Caucus Representative.
  46. Sophia Baleeiro was appointed as Student Athlete Caucus Representative.

  47. First Reading (15 min)

    1. JHU Thank You Cards Funding Bill Fall 2025 - Chair Jason
  48. Bill was passed.

  49. Second Reading (10 min)

  50. Cohort Time (30 min)
    1. Preparing Questions for Construction
    2. Time to work on individual initiatives

Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 9:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate.