Before each semester, VCU sends out bills to students
detailing how much it’s going to cost to attend the
university that semester.
The bills include a $45 activity fee that is disbursed
to various student organizations.
The Student Government Association is the body
in charge of the appropriation of funds raised through
the activity fee. To keep track of where the funds are
going, the SGA has put together a policy agenda.
This year the SGA has a budget of $624,400 to
allocate to different campus organizations, according
to the 2007-2008 Student Activity Fee Budget.
The SGA released their mid-year progress report
Dec. 4, 2007, informing the student body on how the
SGA’s plans are developing. Some plans have made
progress, some have made none and some have changed
drastically since they were first put on the list.
“We talked with students to make sure we would be
representing their concerns,” SGA President Jessica Lee
said. “We basically took students’ concerns and tried to
identify actions we could take based on them.”
More study space
Lee said a big concern for students was the need for
more study space in the library.
“More study space is happening,” Lee said, attributing
progress to the movement of library offices into Grace
E. Harris Hall and the opening of Snead Hall, VCU’s
new School of Business.
An actual campus
“An Actual Campus” is an issue on the policy agenda
that would institute a study on creating green space
on Floyd Avenue between Linden Street and Cherry
Street.
“As outlandish as it may sound, the closing off of
Floyd Avenue is suggested in some of the university’s
plans,” Lee said. “There are much more important things
for us to work on. If students can’t even afford to go
to this school or if they can’t fit in the library, what
does an easy walkway
accomplish?”
Lee said that the possible
closing off of that
section of Floyd would
benefit both the atmosphere
of the university and students’
safety.
“I’m not fond of the idea (of closing off Floyd
Avenue),” said Elizabeth Leatherland, a freshman
majoring in women’s studies. “VCU is already ‘an actual
campus,’ just an urban one.”
The SGA has proposed an alternative for students
having to deal with crossing through traffic between
the University Student Commons and
James Branch Cabell Library.
An alternative to closing the street that
Lee and the SGA have proposed would
have a crossing guard in place at peak
traffic hours to streamline the commute
for pedestrians and motorists.
“I would rather have a crossing guard,”
Leatherland said. “If you close that part
of the street, that just makes it more of
a hassle for the drivers.”
Rachael Bohannon, a freshman art
education major, wants to know more
about the project before deciding if it
would be good for the campus.
“I’d have to have my own research
done,” Bohannon said. “I’d have to see the
costs of demolition on the environment
versus giving the students a little green
space.”
Bohannon said she thinks the move
would take away from the urban environment
that people enjoy about VCU, and
that she came to Richmond because it’s
an open campus.
SGA proposes service day
One goal the SGA is currently working
toward and making progress on is the
institution of a service day.
This day would be class-free to allow
students to volunteer in surrounding
Richmond communities.
“The university would not approve a
day off for students,” states the policy
agenda progress report. “However, a large
service day is being planned, and hopes
are that in the future this will necessitate
time off from class . I would definitely
do stuff,” Bohannon said.
Bohannon and others like her are concerned
about whether people would opt
to party those days, having no incentive
to participate in any form of service.
“I like the idea,” said Eberly Carro, a
sophomore pursuing a major in graphic
design. “I think it would be great if more
students, including myself, could help the
community . I don’t know that canceling
class, as nice as that sounds, is really the
best approach.”
The SGA represents the entire student
body of VCU’s Monroe Park campus. The
SGA has a message board on their Web site
(www.VCU.edu/SGA) where students can
give their input on where SGA attention
and funding should go.
The SGA holds full-senate meetings open
to all students every Monday at 4 p.m. in
the Forum Room of the University Student
Commons.