Included on the agenda for the Oct. 11 Student Government Association (SGA) meeting was support for a finals week passing period and an announcement about an emergency blood drive.

The proposed initiative for finals week would look to reduce the existing two-hour period of testing time to one hour and 45 minutes, with the remaining 15 minutes set aside for students to go from one class to another. University Affairs Committee chair and junior of finance and entrepreneurship Joel Philpott outlined the proposal.

“This is to allow students to get to their classes without being late or having any overlap [between exams],” Philpott said.

Many issues were covered at the meeting, including how the passing period initiative would affect finals for students. Vice chair of the Professional Affairs Committee Jenna Moore brought forth faculty insight into the conversation.

“There is concern with the finals not being two hours long,” Moore said. “The Faculty Senate will have a lot of push back to reducing the time. We encourage our students to reach out to their professors if they are going to be late.”

After finishing discussions on the future of the potential passing period, major announcements were made, including one about an emergency blood drive.

“[The American Red Cross] has several blood types that they have less than a day on hand for,” SGA secretary Kate Appleman said. “The goal is to get 200 units of blood.”

With hospitals running at full capacity due to COVID-19, the need for blood has only grown.

The drive is set to be held Oct. 18 and 19 at the Student Recreation Center.

For more information about the Student Government Association, visit their website.