This year students – three from Georgia State’s Atlanta campus and one from the Clarkston campus – are running to become the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Speaker of the Senate.
The Speaker’s specific duties include oversight of all proposed legislation, supervision of ad-hoc committees and voting in the event of a tie, along with other responsibilities listed in the Student Government Association Constitution. The Speaker will also assume the role of the Office of the Executive Vice President (EVP) if that office become vacant for any reason.
Student must have a minimum 3.0 GPA to run for any SGA Executive Officer position, including the Speaker, and 2.75 GPA or higher to maintain the position. Executive Officers must be enrolled in at least six credit hours at the campus where he or she holds office for the entire duration of the term.
There six slots allotted for Speakers, one to represent each university campus.
The Speaker of the Senate position was added to Georgia State’s SGA in 2016. Prior to its addition, the Executive Vice President served in this role.
Question
- What is your platform?
- Which three words best describe you?
- What issues do you want SGA to address during the upcoming school year?
- What makes you the best candidate for this position?
DEVANTE HILL, Atlanta Campus
Platform
Support
– the Atlanta Campus Senate in all their pursuits of excellence on behalf of the student body.
– Support the interests of the students and hold the senators accountable to their constituents.
Enable
– The student body to have a better way to communicate their concern for the Campus by providing a more open forum for discussions of constituent’s topics.
Report
– report back to you the updates and improvements the Senate has accomplished.
– Require reports from all the meetings students attend to increase transparency for those that attend meetings on behalf of the students.
Volunteer
– Volunteer my passion, my energy and my time to complete the duties of this office.
– Volunteer all information easily, efficiently and excellently
– Encourage more volunteers to get and remain involved with SGA
Establish
– A stronger trust and loyalty between the Georgia state Atlanta Campus and the Senate.
Which three words best describe you?
Three words describing me: Goal-Oriented, Sharp, Determined
Issues to address
Campus security outside of closed locations on campus (parks, streets by GSU classrooms, etc); a compromise for a better, more local, more inclusive plaza; SGA meeting information easier accessible to students
What makes you the best candidate for this position?
I am the best candidate for this position because I firmly believe in the students of this university and their voice is most important. The senate should have all intention of satisfying the needs of the student body and I will use my position to make sure their concerns are taken into serious consideration.
DUC LE, Clarkston Campus
Platform
My main theme is to bring senator closer to student in order to listen to student’s problems and help solving their problem. Senator should be a friend that every student know about and count on, actually. I tend to post a list of senators and their duties published in Student Life office and there should be a certain time in week that student can meet directly with Senator.
Actually, SGA meetings are important as it keeps Executive Boards updated and it can be improved much better if all the report, plans are well prepared and the communication line is clear. Suggestions or demands from Executive Board should be conducted and announced punctually. That bridge between Executive Board and Senators in SGA meetings is what I want to serve as.
I learn that senator may see some aspects of problem that Executive Board doesn’t, and what Executive Board perceives is somehow larger than what Senator may see. Each perspective gives a different result. And the sum of all these perspectives will give a more comprehensive picture of problem. I will try to provide SGA meetings a health communication line where all participants can listen to each other and more importantly, can learn from each other. Any time, a person raises an issue, all other people in meeting are encouraged to speak out. Each person should have a certain time to speak. In College Wide meeting, every senator is encouraged to attend and give a speech.
Which three words best describe you?
Development, dedicated, humorous.
Issues to address
Student, especially freshmen, often encounter many problems while studying or adapting to college environment. It could be problems relating to cafeteria, student service, library… Not all of them are too serious to discuss with faculty and not all of them are small enough to forgive. Student often find it easy to talk to Student senators. The thing that SGA needs to address during next school year is to bring senator closer to student. The name of senator, position, contact and duty must be published to entire student body. There should be more choices for food in catering and price of some food should be more reasonable. Activities should be more advertised to student body.
What makes you the best candidate for this position?
Speaker of senator position requires certain management skill, communication and a good understanding of student’s demands.
I believe that I can serve as a good speaker of senator as I count on my previous experience and my knowledge of student’s demand. I used to serve as a committee member of PAC in Spring 2016 for helping Service Activities. I serve as Wellness and Service Director in the next two semesters ( Fall 2016 and Spring 2017). My previous positions involve frequent interaction with committee members, plan management so I believe that I can possess a senses of communication, management skill and a good understand of what student expect from college. I believe that I satisfy the requirement of this position and what might makes me different is that I desire to contribute back to community.
