As of Oct. 26, most students are unfamiliar with what the Saint Xavier University Student Government Association (SGA) is up to on campus.
While it is a good time to get involved with student organizations like this one, campus community members, especially First-Year Students, “honestly have no clue” about what SGA is doing, including its purpose to fulfill their needs and wants at SXU.
Besides the acronym, at least ten people do not know what the organization stands for at the university, and there is still uncertainty about what they are planning to do.
“I do not know what the SGA is up to at this moment,” said a Junior Secondary English Education Student. “If I had to guess, maybe they are thinking of ways to help ease the transition many students are struggling with going from online to in-person learning.”
She continued: “Or maybe holiday gatherings in the upcoming months.”
When asked firsthand, a few students, including one Sophomore Nursing student, also inquired, “What is SGA?”
According to the SXU Website, “SGA is the official student body organization for the University and formally acts as a liaison among students, faculty, administration and the surrounding university.”
Katherine Hutto, the SGA Executive Vice President for Programming, clarified their mission and its significance in an email interview on Nov. 5.
“Essentially, we advocate students’ rights and concerns to enhance the overall academic and campus experience.”
She continued: “We also inform the student body about the academic and administrative processes and represent the student body in an official capacity by attending university committees as needed.”
Alongside having leadership roles and responsibilities to uphold in SGA, the officers are trained to act as the “administrator of the Student Activity Fund (SAF) to registered student organizations (RSOs) as a link between student RSOs.”
They are also taught to “create multiple avenues of communication for students to contribute to and learn about all that is happening on campus,” as stated on the website.
Yet, some students had still not been introduced to SGA during their freshman year or at on-campus events amid the pandemic. This has made them more hesitant to reach out and let their voices be heard.
Even so, Hutto begs to differ from what people are questioning about SGA.
As Hutto describes in her interview, “We offer monthly Student Open Forums which allow students to ask questions, address concerns, and meet the SGA representatives,”
Still, why has SGA hardly increased its ‘awareness’ to “demonstrate the student’s impact” on the University?
Not many students are convinced that the organization has shown support or necessarily met their expectations. They want to feel welcome and comfortable expressing any of these issues with SGA and the SXU administration, but some claim there is not much to resolve them.
Hutto attests to this criticism: “We are currently looking to rename and revamp these open forum events as they have had low attendance,” said Hutto, adding, “so we are looking at new ways to get the students involved and have a better understanding of SGA.”
SGA’s mission is “to provide an effective and responsive student government,” and so forth, but while this is supposed to be the case, the SXU student body is not being well-informed enough.
Since SGA is not doing far enough to spread the word about the organization, students turn their backs on it.
So, how is the organization preparing for other school-sponsored events that could be fun, exciting and benefit students?
Hutto mentioned some ideas to promote SGA “with university constituents,” like “Donut’s with the Deans, Pie with the Presidents, and Pizza with the Provost.”
For educational and informative purposes, they would serve “as ways for university administrators to become better acquainted with the SXU community and allow students an opportunity to get to know those who serve in these roles and bring any questions or concerns,” she stated.
Each event will be saved “for the next semester” term and be held monthly. Hutto noted that “these are not finalized events yet,” saying that people should “definitely keep a lookout for them come Spring semester.”
Three First-Years even assumed that SGA officers are possibly beginning to seek out potential candidates to “sign up to be in a student government position.”
They considered an email sent by Jenan Said, the Vice President of Volunteer Senators, to SXU students on Oct. 13, who will oversee the candidate selection process.
As they recall, Said announced potential SGA Senator Positions for the 2021-2022 school year and listed some of the duties; such as making plans to attend a monthly meeting, interact with constituents ‘whenever possible,’ and “educate student government and the greater student body about issues from the perspective of your constituency,” she stated.
Said continued: “These will be positions representing various campus constituencies.”
She highly suggests that students apply and undergo the application process. SGA board members will then consider their candidacy and qualities for a leadership role.
For many reasons, SGA is not viewed as a club or the typical extracurricular found in this on-campus environment. The university has organized it differently from most of the RSOs formed in the past, “which falls under the Department of Student Activities” and is “also known as the Student Organization Center,” said Hutto.
Their office WAC- L109 (B), located on the first floor of Warde Academic Center, has been passed along in hallways but has not been treated as an open-door policy for students to casually walk in and visit the officers who represent the organization.
However, others prefer to take a different route.
Another way people can view SGA-related information is by referring to flyers on bulletin boards. These are typically displayed in certain areas around campus.
This saves them a trip without having to stop by the office.
But, where do students go from here?
During the 2021-2022 academic school year, Hutto ‘really encourages’ them to start becoming “very familiar with the Den and check it frequently so that they are up to date on the different events happening on campus, not just within SGA.”
“There are plenty of opportunities for students to get involved on campus, and a lot of that stems from learning the Den,” Hutto said.
Hutto also gave input on an event that is in the works. “There are Food Committee meetings that happen monthly as well in collaboration with the Residence Hall Association (RHA),” continuing, “This is for students to bring concerns about the diner and other food options on campus directly to the staff.”
In light of this, people are uncertain if the future of SGA will prosper with such ideas from what the campus community members would request or go unignored. The Executive President, Nada Alaraj, has yet to speak on this.
Regardless, SGA’s continued support for the student body will hopefully change their opinions and negative outlook and create an environment they could thrive in at SXU.Those who have any questions or comments about SGA are asked to please email sga@mymail.sxu.edu or request an appointment with an SGA representative, which are listed on The Den. These could be found on the organization’s page along with previous meeting minutes for anyone interested in what SGA members have been working on.