2008 Woodie Awards
Student Govt. to prep for elections
Andy Baker
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
SCSU's Student Government Association (SGA) is preparing for its general elections, which are in December and April.
The December election will fill the 10 available college senator seats. College senators represent each of the five colleges at SCSU, with two senators representing each college.
The April elections elect the at-large senators, who represent the student body as a whole, and the president and vice president of the SGA.
The college senators and the at-large senators represent different people and interests, but they attend the same meetings every Thursday at 5 p.m. and vote on the same issues.
SGA's chair of urban affairs Michael Jamnick said only 6.23 percent of the student body voted last year, a number Jamnick said SGA would like to see increase.
"Students should vote in these elections because the members of Student Government represent the students to other entities like the campus administration, city council and the Legislature," Jamnick said.
Each of the 10 college senator seats is open in this election, and the colleges of fine arts and education don't have any representatives in the senate.
Second-year at large senator Mark Kociemba said that SGA strongly encourages students to run for these open positions or at least to vote in the elections.
"It's important that we have a full body," Kociemba said. "We decide a lot of important things, like how to spend (students') money."
Although some students may not realize it, SGA has impacted school policy on behalf of students.
Among the most common student concerns addressed by SGA are tuition rates, textbook prices, campus safety issues and allocation of money to student organizations.
Every year, each of Minnesota's state colleges sends three student government representatives to the state Capitol and on to Washington, D.C. to voice concerns to legislators who can make the necessary changes.
Last April, SGA's proposal for a "safety bus" passed in a referendum. Starting January 17th, students will have a safe form of on-campus transportation between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
SGA is also responsible for the addition of cameras to the blue emergency call boxes on campus.
Every year SGA sends a mass e-mail out to all SCSU students informing them about the upcoming elections and how to vote."[The voting process] is pretty simple," said Kociemba.
SGA plans to set up several kiosks in Atwood Center and Garvey Commons where students can vote electronically. "Voting takes less than five minutes," said Kociemba.
Any student can run for office in SGA, provided they meet the requirements outlined on SGA's web site. To become an SGA member, a student must be enrolled with a GPA of 2.0 or higher and have a clear academic and disciplinary record. College senator applicants must have declared a major in one of the five colleges.
As long as students meet these requirements, they can to SGA's office in Atwood Center to fill out an application.
The December election will fill the 10 available college senator seats. College senators represent each of the five colleges at SCSU, with two senators representing each college.
The April elections elect the at-large senators, who represent the student body as a whole, and the president and vice president of the SGA.
The college senators and the at-large senators represent different people and interests, but they attend the same meetings every Thursday at 5 p.m. and vote on the same issues.
SGA's chair of urban affairs Michael Jamnick said only 6.23 percent of the student body voted last year, a number Jamnick said SGA would like to see increase.
"Students should vote in these elections because the members of Student Government represent the students to other entities like the campus administration, city council and the Legislature," Jamnick said.
Each of the 10 college senator seats is open in this election, and the colleges of fine arts and education don't have any representatives in the senate.
Second-year at large senator Mark Kociemba said that SGA strongly encourages students to run for these open positions or at least to vote in the elections.
"It's important that we have a full body," Kociemba said. "We decide a lot of important things, like how to spend (students') money."
Although some students may not realize it, SGA has impacted school policy on behalf of students.
Among the most common student concerns addressed by SGA are tuition rates, textbook prices, campus safety issues and allocation of money to student organizations.
Every year, each of Minnesota's state colleges sends three student government representatives to the state Capitol and on to Washington, D.C. to voice concerns to legislators who can make the necessary changes.
Last April, SGA's proposal for a "safety bus" passed in a referendum. Starting January 17th, students will have a safe form of on-campus transportation between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
SGA is also responsible for the addition of cameras to the blue emergency call boxes on campus.
Every year SGA sends a mass e-mail out to all SCSU students informing them about the upcoming elections and how to vote."[The voting process] is pretty simple," said Kociemba.
SGA plans to set up several kiosks in Atwood Center and Garvey Commons where students can vote electronically. "Voting takes less than five minutes," said Kociemba.
Any student can run for office in SGA, provided they meet the requirements outlined on SGA's web site. To become an SGA member, a student must be enrolled with a GPA of 2.0 or higher and have a clear academic and disciplinary record. College senator applicants must have declared a major in one of the five colleges.
As long as students meet these requirements, they can to SGA's office in Atwood Center to fill out an application.