SGA revises constitution

2/7/08

By Catherine Story
Business Manager

SGA members are revising their constitution in order to make up for waning student interest.

The new constitution removes the House of Representatives and the Student Senate. Instead there will be the executive board, elected representatives, and club representatives.

“Running the SGA if there is a lack of student interest will be easier,” Jonathan Maciel, SGA President, said about the changes to the constitution.

“The only other real change is that the treasurer has to be approved by the business department,” Maciel, a senior, said. This will help to ensure that the treasurer is qualified for the work that the job entails.

During budgeting the treasurer is responsible for organizing most of the meetings and providing SGA members with information about each club’s proposed budget. Currently SGA does not have a treasurer.

The SGA receives the student activity fee that students pay as part of their tuition. That amount is $94 per student. With 1415 students enrolled this fall the total amount is $130,600.

“$80,000 to $100,000 of that goes to CAB” Maciel said, “President Moore decides how much CAB gets each semester.”

SGA gets to divide the remainder between the clubs on campus and any student interested in holding an event on campus who can provide reasonable proof of planning as long as the SGA has the money.

“A couple of years ago a student got bands to come to campus,” Maciel said. Students propose these kinds of events every so often but they are not always organized enough and SGA does not always have the funds.

SGA just recently came back into session after disbanding due to lack of interest. Maciel emphasized the importance of student participation on campus.

“Every decision made on campus comes from a committee,” Maciel said, “and each of these committees has student representation.”

“I couldn’t even begin to list the committees that students are in,” Maciel said.

Maciel did however give a short list including the committee in charge of construction projects, the strategic planning committee, the library committee, and the committee involved in renovating the academic center.

“The number of people on each committee comes from administration,” Maciel said.

The administration often gives specific criteria for committee members. They will ask to have a number of commuters, non-traditional students, and residents.

“The school is also planning on holding a dining hall forum sometime in the next month” Maciel said.

“It’s hard to know what students are looking for if students don’t say what they’re looking for,” Maciel said. Steve Smith, Food Service Director, is planning the dining hall forum. He will also be a speaker during the April 31 SGA meeting.