By ABIGAIL SHEARER
Tiger Media Network
At Thursday’s Fort Hays State University Student Government Association meeting, Corey Isbell, president of Fort Hays Tech | Northwest, discussed his path to becoming president and what has helped him.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays in 1998, after which he went to Brazil on vacation. He got a job as a teacher at Manhattan High School, and there he met his wife.
While he was a teacher, he earned his ESL certification, which enabled him to earn his master’s degree. He then got married and moved to Concordia as an administrator.
He had to get his certifications to become an administrator and got an education specialist degree. He later earned a doctorate in leadership education.
Throughout his life, his philosophy has been family first.
He also gave the Senate six lessons from Santa.
- Focus on the mission: Successful leaders ensure every team member understands the mission and expresses expectations
- Direct the workshop: Make sure expectations are clear, and everyone knows what a good job looks like.
- Choose your reindeer wisely: Technical skill is second to the cultural fit and good attitude. “Hire slow and fire fast.” “You can teach someone to build a wagon, but you can’t teach them to be Holly and Jolly.”
- Build a better sleigh: Never become stagnant and complacent. You must adapt.
- Management of “naughty and nice”: Reward the right things, not just a meaningless thank you; you must appreciate and value their contributions. Deal with the “coal” performance should be addressed quickly, directly and privately
- Share the cookies: When the mission is successful, always deflect credit to the team.
All coming from the book The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus by Eric Harvey.
New business: Ten new bills were read, moved to emergency business and passed.
- Bill No. 26.S.155 AKPsi Line Item Change proposes that $800 be moved from the line item “Convention Hotel” to the line item “Convention Airfare.”
- Bill No. 26.S.156 Ceramica: Clay Club Line Item Change proposes that $635 be moved from the line item “Local Visiting Artist (Fall) Cost” to the line item “National Visiting Artist (Spring) Speaker Fees (Travel).”
- Bill No. 26.S.157 Constitution OSGA Striking that within the SGA Constitution striking section 4.07 of Article 4, Article 2 Section 3.03 Subsection iv, and striking the words “Online Student Senate” from Article 1 Section 1.02 Subsection A so that it reads:
- (a) The membership of the Student Government Association shall be any student who is enrolled in at least one (1) on-campus credit hour at Fort Hays State University and has paid the student activity fee.
- Bill No. 26.S.158 Bylaws Ex-Offico Exec that within the SGA Bylaws under Article 6 Section 6.02, Article 7 Section 7.02, Article 8 Section 8.02, Article 9 Section 9.02, and Article 10 Section 10.04 after the word “chairperson” adding “or Ex-Officio Exec Staff Member.”
- Bill No. 26.S.159 Bylaws Allocations Committee that within the SGA Bylaws Striking “, the Student Body Vice President,” from Article 10 Section 10.02(a), Striking Article 10 Section 10.03(i), Striking “Student Body Vice President and” from Article 10 Section 10.03(iii), Striking “the “s” from members” from Article 10 Section 10.03(iii), Striking “and Student Body Vice President” from Article 10 Section 10.05, Striking “and Student Body Vice President” from Article Section 10.05(a).
- Bill No. 26.S.160 Bylaws Allocations Committee that within the SGA Bylaws, Striking “prior to the opening of allocations application” from Article 10 Section 10.06(v) and adding in its place “before the end of the academic year”.
- Also Recommends: Within the SGA Bylaws, Striking Article 10 Section 10.07(v).
- Bill No. 26.S.161 Bylaws Voting that within the SGA Bylaws, Striking “Director of Student Engagement” from Article 13 Section 13.07(ii) and replacing it with “Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs”, Striking “Tigerlink” from Article 13 Section 13.07(ii) and replacing it with “Baseline”, Striking “Tigerlink” from Article 13 Section 13.07(1 & 2) and replacing it with “Baseline”, Striking “Director of Student Engagement” from Article 13 Section 13.07(iii) and replacing it with “Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs”.
- Bill No. 26.S.162 Bylaw Adjustments (other) that Within the SGA Bylaws, Striking “are to be conducted no later than the Thursday after the University’s designated Spring Break. (ii) The Executive Staff Review results shall be reported to the Student Body President prior to the last regularly scheduled meeting of the Student Senate of the Fall Semester” from Article 8 Section 8.05(i) and replacing it with “are to be completed before the end of the academic year.”
- Also Recommends: Within the SGA Bylaws, Striking “Community” from Article 9 Section 9.02(ii) and replacing it with “Public/Campus”.
- Bill No.26.S.163 SGA Budget Bill
FY 27 Budget
Salary Expenses:
President: $10,000.00
Vice President: $9,450.00
Treasurer: $9,100.00
Legislative Affairs Director: $9,100.00
Public Relations Director: $9,100.00
Campus Relations Director : $9,100.00
Summer Salary –
Taxes $1,000.00
Salary Expenditures Subtotals $56,850.00
Project Expenditures:
Big Event: $2,000.00
Green Event: $1,000.00
Higher Education Day: $500.00
Co-Sponsoring Events: $1,500.00
Senator Retreat: $200.00
Project Expenditures Subtotals: $5,200.00
Office Expenses:
Equipment/Supplies/Tech: $750.00
Publicity/Advertising: $200.00
Office Expenditures Subtotals: $1,000.00
Other Expenses:
KBOR Expenses: $750.00
Miscellaneous: $1,000.00
Other Expenses Subtotal: $1,750.00
Total: $64,750.00
- Bill No. 26.S.164 Rodeo Club Line Item Change proposed that $1,100.50 be moved from the line item “Livestock Feed Grain” to the line item “Livestock Leases/Insurance Calves.” Then move $2,756.25 from the line item “Livestock Feed Grain” to the line item “Livestock Leases/Insurance Steers.”
Old business Seven bills were up for second read. All bills passed unanimously.
- Bill No. 26.S.148 proposes the Associated General Contractors line item change that $582.40 be moved from the line item “Conference Airfare” to $298.44 for the line item “Conference Hotel,” $43.24 for the line item “Conference Mileage,” and $240.72 for the creation of a new line item “Conference Car Rental.”
- Bill No. 26.S.149 proposes the Student Government Association’s allocations distribution procedure changes from Hotel: $100 from Appendix B of the Student Government Association Funding Guide for the year 2026-2027 and replacing it with: Hotel: $120
- Bill No. 26.S.150 proposes the Student Government Association’s allocations distribution procedure changes from $175 from Appendix B of the Student Government Association Funding Guide for the year 2026-2027 and replacing it with:Airfare: $200
- Bill No. 26.S.151 proposes the Student Government Association’s allocations distribution procedure changes from Registration: 25% from Appendix B of the Student Government Association Funding Guide for the year 2026-2027 and replacing it with:Registration: 30%
- Bill No. 26.S.152 proposes the Student Government Association’s allocations distribution procedure changes from Speakers: 20% from Appendix B of the Student Government Association Funding Guide for the year 2026-2027 and replacing it with:Speakers: 30%
- Bill No. 26.S.153 proposes the Student Government Association’s allocations distribution procedure, adding a new section preceding the section ‘Trips’ in Appendix B of the Student Government Association Funding Guide for the year 2026-2027. The addition should read as follows: Allocations Entity Cap Limit
No organization receiving allocations shall receive more than 8% of the allocations fund pool for any fiscal year.
- Bill No. 26.S.154 proposes the Student Government Association’s allocations distribution procedure, adding the following section after the ‘Misuse of SGA Allocated Funds’ description in Appendix B in the Student Government Association Funding Guide for the year 2026-2027. The addition should read as follows: Allocations Line Item Limit the Student Government Association shall not pass more than three line-item change bills per year at the request of a single entity. Additionally, should a line-item change bill be rejected by the Senate floor, it shall not be brought into consideration of voting in the current form for the rest of the academic year.
Announcements
- Sip n’ Spill with SGA will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 1 in front of Picken Hall.
- Jammin’ into Summer will be from 6 to 9 p.m. May 8 in Gross Memorial Coliseum parking lot.
SGA will reconvene at 7 p.m. Thursday.