As the spring semester hits its midpoint, the Student Government Association begins its election season. Election time is all fun and games, but once they are elected by the students, they have to hit the ground running. The future university-wide president and executive vice presidents only have a few weeks to begin working toward their campaign promises.
The 90th administration started off on solid footing banking on the success of the 89th to push it forward. But, alas, it was quickly plagued with the hidden curses of the previous administration. From unfilled Senate seats to law enforcement programs, to what was basically a civil war, this year, SGA was fundamentally dysfunctional.
But with a new administration coming in, bringing new and fresh ideas, it’s time that we look to the future. What does the 91st administration need to do to be successful? Besides the usual things such as dealing with financial aid and advisement, SGA has to tackle a few things.
GILEE
The fundamental issue that tore through the 89th administration’s spring semester, the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange has been on the 90th administration’s backburner. After a heated protest, it’s shocking that there still hasn’t been an official opinion from SGA. It’s time that a decision is reached and a resolution is passed.
Perimeter Campuses
This particular issue crushed the current administration for the majority of its tenure. The Perimeter campuses have felt like they’ve been disrespected by the Downtown campus, and in many ways, it has been. It will be up to the future administration to truly unite the university. The idea of “Two Systems, One School” has to end with this administration.
Streamline Events
SGA is known for hosting multiple events throughout the year, chief among them being Constituency Day. The events are so massive and planning happens so far in advance that often times it takes over months of productive time. SGA needs to improve at planning events; they have an entire committee for student engagement, so it should use it.
Professionalism
The members of SGA are student leaders, but they often act like high schoolers. They yell over each other on a regular basis, ignore guest speakers and stray off their set meeting agendas. SGA meetings often begin late and end even later. Students often complain that SGA doesn’t really do anything, but if they acted like their positions, then maybe they’d actually get work done.
Student Engagement
If you ask a random student in Unity Plaza what they thing about SGA the response you will probably get is, “What does SGA do?” SGA has a serious issue of engaging students. They need an inclusive campaign to spur interest. SGA is supposed to be about the students, but without student engagement, they will continue to fall short.
All these aspects combined will give the 91st administration a solid footing for the year.
