As the middle of the semester approaches, members of the University’s Student Government Association (SGA) reflect on the year thus far and plan for the remainder of the semester.
SGA is the governing body of all the student clubs and organizations on campus; currently, there are over 100, however, more continue to be added each year. As a whole, SGA works to support university events both promotionally and financially. In total, there are seven committees that compose the SGA Senate: Academic Affairs, Advertising, Elections & Recruitment, Events Programming, Budgets & Special Event Funding/Sport Club Funding, Human & Community Relations and Student Affairs. Each committee is imperative in keeping the association thriving.
“So far this year has been great. We just brought in our new freshmen senators and it seems as though they are adjusting very well. Currently, we are focusing on planning two of our biggest events: Pep Rally/Homecoming, which is Oct. 23 and 24 and also the Big Event which is happening in November,” said Chris Walsh, a senior public relations and journalism major and the Vice President of SGA. “Along with these events, we are also doing the Annual Giving Tree in which MU provides gifts for families in need during the holiday season.”
The Big Event, which occurs on Nov. 7, is a community-wide service project that aims to provide the residents of Monmouth with helpful community service.
Each year, approximately 400 members of the University take part in giving back to the surrounding areas. Activities include working in food pantries, cleaning up the environment, and other services that better the Monmouth area.
Kara Snyder, a junior chemistry major and President of SGA, noted that with a number of events approaching, SGA is busy, but added that the year is off to a great start. She noted that SGA’s purpose is to improve the University for the benefit of the students.
“Constantly we are trying to reform and improve what we do in hopes that this will positively affect the students,” said Snyder. “For example, the budgeting process is always improving and we are continuing with that. Also, working closely with Gourmet Dining to develop a positive relationship is also a priority of ours.”
Walsh added that SGA has a litany of other goals for the semester, most of which will improve the University experience.
“For the rest of the semester, we will continue to help Gourmet Dining get acclimated on campus, planning our events, meeting with interest groups to get them club approval and trying to find solutions to some of the issues that students have on campus,” said Walsh.
Keith Lee, a sophomore political science major and a member of SGA’s Events Programming Committee said that the association’s main priority is to make sure the events run as smoothly as possible.
“Our plans for the future include having very successful events and making sure we make every student’s experience at Monmouth the best it can be,” said Lee. “We are consistently working to fix any issues on campus to ensure the satisfaction of the students.”
Emely Diaz, a sophomore political science and history major and co-chair of SGA’s Academic Affairs Committee, noted that one of SGA’s responsibilities is to cater to the student body, which includes improving various events.
“SGA has been extremely busy yet productive this year,” said Diaz. “Plans for this year are basically improving on all of our events to make sure they are effective and fit what the student body wants and in general to make sure we are catering to the student body and making the Monmouth experience the best it can be.”
SGA has been responsible for overseeing many changes made on campus, a responsibility that comes with great pressure, as it is difficult to please every student of the University.
“The biggest challenge SGA faces is being able to represent the entire student body effectively,” said Vincent Welch, a sophomore business major and sophomore senator of SGA. “It’s hard because there are so many of them and so little of us but we are chosen for a reason and we are here for the benefit of our peers above all else.”
Additionally, Walsh added that he hopes to make more students aware of the important role SGA plays as part of the university.
“Some of the challenges that we face are getting other people to understand what we do as an organization,” said Walsh. “One of our goals is to have students get a better understanding of SGA and the things that we try to do and achieve to make Monmouth a better place for students and faculty.”
