Three topics were discussed at the General Assembly held on Nov. 27. The first topic was the furniture policy challenged by the HACK Res Ed group. The second topic was Global Vice President Patrick Wee’s plan to travel to NYU New York to restructure the Global Student Council — a student group consisting of global representatives from the three NYU campuses. The third topic was about lack of student participation in the GA during the fall 2016 semester. The DAO tea student interest group served tea to participants.

HACK Res Ed is a committee under the Office of Residential Education, led by Residential College Operations Manager Jordan Stone. The committee, comprised of Residential Assistants, reviewed the Outside Furniture Policy. They presented the current policy, which is modeled after the policies at NYU New York. Currently, desk chairs without upholstery, non-halogen lamps, media stands, bookcases and nightstands are allowed in students' residences. Dirty and damaged furniture is not allowed because of concerns about pests and mold. For furniture on the Highline, students can borrow bean bags and lawn chairs from the B buildings of each residential college. In addition, picnic tables are on order. No installations are allowed on the Highline as the path has to be kept clear for access by emergency services. Student Government will attempt to promote these policies to students, as they believe that many students are not aware of these rules.

For the second topic of the GA, Wee explained the current structure of the student government across all of NYU. Wee argued that the current structure does not give sufficient representation to NYUAD students, so he proposed that the Student Senators Council add more seats for NYUAD. Wee also suggested that the Global Student Council should have more power to make decisions. He will discuss the possibility of restructuring with his fellow Global Student Council members in New York in the first week of December.

During New Business, Wee raised a concern about the lack of student participation in the GA and that only Executive Board members are regular participants. Although the GA expects representatives from student committees to attend, most of these representatives have not shown up to the recent GAs. One of the suggested causes was that with an increasing student body, students might feel less of a personal need to address campus-wide issues. In fact, Assistant Director for Student Life Vic Lindsay noted that at GAs a few years ago, 40 to 50 students would attend. This topic will be discussed in future meetings, as Student Government President Rend Beiruti regarded this as a serious problem that, if treated insufficiently, could lead to the student body perceiving the GA as unable to make serious binding decisions on the behalf of students.