As the fall semester comes to a close, SGA is ramping up its efforts to increase both its accessibility and its visibility.

On Nov. 27, SGA hosted an open student forum in the Connelly Cinema, and on the following night, Nov. 28, it hosted Pizza with the Provost in Dougherty Hall’s West Lounge. Both of the events were open to all students and were dialogue-intensive as part of SGA’s latest effort to ensure that it is aware of and prepared to address any and all concerns the student body might have. 

“I think the really great thing is that there are so many problems, and student government is a relatively new organization, and we only have had this structure that we have now for like 2 years,” Matt Clarkin, Class of 2021 Senator, and Speaker of the Senate said. “So it’s really cool that now we have all of these people, which is not something we had last year or the year before that. We’re really ready to tackle these issues, and drag them out of the dark, from student’s mouths, and try to put them on the desks of administrators and faculty.”

In fact, it was one those more recent editions to SGA that made the open student forum possible. According to Clarkin, SGA’s Engineering Senator, and Campus Climate Committee Chair, Ayodele Awotunde, organized the entire event. As Chair of the Campus Climate Committee, Awotunde is representative of SGA’s dedication to increasing its outreach. And as important as Awotunde’s role is, he’s just one of many new members in recent years who have been asked to help assuage specific problems across campus. 

As part of SGA’s recent restructuring, the organization now has three branches: executive, legislative and judiciary, just like the federal government. The executive branch is composed of the President, the Vice President and 6 other officers, such as the Chief of Staff and Director of Finance. The legislative branch is the largest and consists of 34 senators who represent schools (Business, nursing, etc.), graduating classes and various student life organizations. And, lastly, the judicial branch, which is composed of one chief justice and three associate justices.

SGA also created a new website to accompany its restructuring. Its website  features a robust student resources section where students can find the following resources and information: SGA’s constitution and mission statement, diversity, equity and inclusion information and resources, Nova Van On Demand–the University’s newest late on demand night shuttle–information, a budget appeal form for club leaders, a judicial review form, a student suggestion form, shuttle information and FAQs. Those interested in not only learning more about SGA, but also getting involved will be particularly pleased, as the website features a page on exactly how to become involved.