Election season is now in full swing in our state and also here at our university. Last week, the SGA Elections Committee successfully conducted its fall student Senate elections. We had around 50 candidates run for 25 seats. The results of the elections can be found at www.vcusga.com. Congratulations to our new student senators!
As senators, it is your job to advocate for your fellow students, to speak out for those who can’t and to push for improvements where needed. The SGA has been gaining incredible momentum these past few years and as senators, it is your responsibility to create and embrace a culture of professionalism while maintaining respect for one another. I have confidence that all of you will remember to respect one another, never lose sight of your responsibilities to the students, and keep egos to a minimum. This is your opportunity to selflessly make a difference.
The SGA is co-sponsoring a debate on the Virginia marriage amendment at noon Tuesday in the Commons Plaza. This debate is about the amendment to the state constitution that is on the November elections ballot. This is an extremely important issue that affects all citizens of our commonwealth. I encourage you to attend. Free lunch will be provided courtesy of the College of Humanities and Sciences. For more information, visit our Web site or contact Kiffy Johnson, special assistant for student affairs, at students@vcusga.com.
The SGA met with representatives from the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia last week. They discussed many important issues such as how VCU’s average time for completing a bachelor’s degree is six years while the national average is five years; why VCU is at 95 percent of its adequate funding base while some schools are only at 80 percent and others are at 110 percent; and reform to the Virginia Community College System, which was designed in the 1960s. SCHEV seeks to promote development of an economically sound, vigorous, progressive and coordinated system of higher education. We hope our work with SCHEV will help lower tuition, promote awareness of educational opportunities and offer assistance to students for meeting the academic challenges of college. For more information contact Maggie O’Brien, special assistant for political affairs, at politics@vcusga.com.
The SGA met with Henry Rhone, vice provost for student affairs, last week to improve the VCU diploma. Currently the diploma only states the student’s degree and not the student’s major. For example, it only says “bachelor of science” or “bachelor of art” as opposed to “bachelor of science in sociology.” Last semester the student Senate passed a bill to change this, and this semester we’ve finally been able to implement it! Our spring graduates will be able to have VCU diplomas that proudly display their degree and major.
SGA now has podcasts! Visit www.vcusga.com and click on “Podcasts” to hear important updates on your issues from your student representatives. Our first pilot podcast talks about our work in trying to provide free legal music downloading to students. We hope to record podcasts every week about issues such as parking, VCU e-mail reform, escort service reform, dining and academic advising. For more information visit our Web site or contact Peter Moody, deputy assistant for communications, at communications@vcusga.com
I encourage all of you to visit our new “Campus Safety Watch” page on the SGA Web site. This page includes safety resources from in and around VCU to help keep students safe. We also have a new “Rumor Mill” discussion board that allows students to communicate directly with University Police. Post the rumors you hear and VCU police will tell you the real deal!
Thanks for reading this week! Feel free to contact me anytime at SGAPresident @vcu.edu. Until next week, stay sharp.
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