STORY BY CORIE LYNN
As students return to the Fort Hays State University, they prepare for the classes and events that are beginning across the campus.
One of the organizations that is reconvening is the FHSU Student Government Association.
In the coming week, the Student Senators of the SGA will hold their first meeting of the semester. According to President Brad DeMers, students can expect changes to the organization in the coming semester.
New to the SGA’s roster of events will be the Town Hall: an event in which students can meet with members of the Student Government to discuss their concerns and answer their questions.
“Our job is to represent all students and we’re not able to do that in the best way possible if we don’t know people, if we don’t connect with them, and if we don’t know their issues,” DeMers said.
The SGA will also look into accessibility issues on campus. A major concern is the sidewalks that have become uneven with time and difficult to maneuver, especially for wheelchair users.
“I think we need to have a discussion about that because some of those things need updating,” said DeMers.
This semester, the SGA is also working to simplify the allocation application process.
Allocations is the time in the Spring semester in which students apply for funding from the Student Government Association. The application is currently online on TigerLink, but, according to DeMers, is complicated and prone to glitching.
“Now, temporarily, we have a form,” he said. “It’s an excel form that we really dumbed down so that more organizations can apply for allocations and it’s easier.”
In the meantime, they are negotiating the current TigerLink contract with its provider called Campus Labs. This is in the hopes of getting a new, more friendly allocations application tab on the website.
This year, the SGA is also hoping to pass a Dead Week policy. According to President DeMers, they wrote one over the summer and gathered feedback from students and faculty. It will then be presented to the Faculty Senate in September.
“We know they have concerns about it, but we’re actually the only institution in the Regents here in Kansas that does not have an official policy on this,” he said.
Should the policy pass the Faculty Senate, it will then be sent to Provost Jill Arensdorf and President Tisa Mason. If it does not pass, DeMers hopes that there is still some recognition that Dead Week is not a part of the university.
“It’s just confusing for professors and students of what we’re doing at the university level when it comes to this,” said DeMers.
In addition to these new projects, the SGA will continue to provide their past services. This includes free legal counseling for students, Safe Ride, and party pack registration.
This semester, Open Education Resources will still be in the process of being implemented. President DeMers will sit on the Kansas Board of Regents’ OER Steering Committee and Provost Committee for OERs.
“Hopefully, I’ll have a little more information. You know, is it going to be implemented soon? What’s the status of it and then we can inform students about it,” he said.
Apart from activities, there will also be a change in the SGA structure. One such change is moving fall elections to be earlier in the semester.
“Generally, [elections are] October 16 or 17, or in that week. That is far too late, especially for Virtual Student Senate who generally meets once a month. Basically, we’re talking about elections then November’s here, so they have one month,” said DeMers.
This also applies to the on-campus elections, which are for Freshman and KAMS senators. By waiting until October, potential candidates are “organizationed-up,” as DeMers put it.
“They’re too busy with classes and everything,” he said, “and they think they might not have time for SGA.”
With all these activities, old and new, DeMers is most looking forward to representing the student body and making sure its needs are met.
“We have a lot of students here on campus, a lot of minority students, who we aren’t accurately representing in Senate,” he said. “What I want to do is go to every organization I know there is a large population of minority students, and make sure they know I’m here, make sure they know if they have concerns, we can address them.”
As the semester works its way into full swing, the Student Senate does as well. This fall, they will work their hardest to make sure that every student’s voice is heard and that they are well-represented.