Congratulations to the 2009-2010 Student Government Association!
Student Trustee: Derek Felix
President: Matt Van Vossen
Vice-President: Charles Olivier
Secretary: Jeff Long
Treasurer: Gautham Sista
Senator to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Jaime Casinova
Senator to the College of Public Affairs and Administration: Ryan Melchin
Senator to the College of Business and Management: Kalpesh Patel
Friday, April 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
University of Illinois Lobby Day
On April 1, 2009, students, alumni and administrators from all three U of I campuses convened in Springfield for the first time to lobby for higher education.
I attended the event with UIS Student Trustee Craig McFarland, SGA Senator Derek Felix and College Democrats President Mike Ziri. After having lunch at the Sangamo Club and listening to several great speeches, we headed to the Capitol to talk to our legislators.
Craig, Mike and I spoke to Representatives Verschoore, Boland and Joyce and Senator Jacobs. We spoke to them about the University of Illinois' importance to the state and the capital needs to UIS, specifically the renovation of Brookens Library and a new Public Safety Building. They were all very friendly (Representative Joyce gave me an enthusiastic high-five when I told him I was from his district) and receptive to our needs as a university.
After a long day at the Capitol, all the participants met for a reception at the Illinois State Library. It was especially nice to meet students from the other campuses and discuss common needs and goals. I spoke with UIUC Student Senate President Jaclyn O'Day about forming a University of Illinois Student Association to lobby for higher education issues and met a candidate for Student Trustee from UIC who shared our SGA's interest in textbook prices and legislation.
The event was a success overall and I'm looking forward to participating next year as an alum. If you didn't attend the lobby day but would like to receive updates on issues concerning U of I or contact your legislators about higher education, please join Illinois Connection! Illinois Connection is the grassroots advocacy network of the University of Illinois and you can sign up at http://www.supportillinois.org/.
Special thanks to Amy Eichorst, Illinois Connection Director, for organizing the lobby day and to Jeremy Wilburn for the awesome photos!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Constitutional Amendments
At our last meeting on April 5, the SGA unanimously voted to approve amendments to our constitution. Our constitution states that the amendments must then be advertised and approved by a 2/3 majority of the student body in the next election or special election.
I have included explanations of each major change below. Please take the time to read over these amendments and be sure to vote on them in the SGA spring election, April 15-16.
Added the position of Online Student Senator
The position will be open to any degree-seeking student enrolled in an online major. The online senator will participate in emails either in person or via conference call and will use Blackboard and other electronic tools to reach out to constituents. This position will provide the online student population with the representation they currently lack.
Added the position of External Vice-President.
The External Vice-President will be appointed by the newly elected President after the spring elections and will be a non-voting member of the SGA and Executive Board. The External Vice President is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships between the SGA and legislators, administrators, students, the Alumni Association and the Springfield community and shall serve as Chair of the SGA Governmental Affairs Committee.
Changed the title "Capital Scholars Senator" to "Undergraduate Senator".
The position of Capital Scholars Senator is widely believed to be reserved for Cap Honors students, but "Capital Scholar" is actually a designation for any undergraduate student who starts as a freshman at UIS. The name change will better reflect who is eligible for the position.
We decided that having senators for both honors and traditional track would create additional tension between the two groups and upset the balance between Capital Scholars, transfers and graduate students. We believe it would be better for both the honors and traditional track students to represent them with one senate seat because it would create less divisions between two student populations with very similar needs.
Changed the title "Vice-President" to "Internal Vice-President".
A small change. With the addition of the External Vice-President, the current Vice-President will now be called the Internal Vice-President.
Changed the the title "Sergeant-at-Arms" to "Parliamentarian".
The Constitution uses both terms interchangably. For the sake of consistency, we will use the term Parliamentarian. Parliamentarian is also a better description of the position, as our Sergeant-at-Arms is responsible for ruling on questions of parliamentary procedure, not keeping order on the floor.
Changed the number of credit hours required to run for President or Vice-President from 12 credit hours to 12 hours of undergraduate credit or 8 hours of graduate credit.
The current policy allows freshmen to run for those positions but not graduate students. This change would allow first-year, full-time graduate students to run for those offices.
Deleted Budget Review Committee from the list of standing committees.
The Budget Review Committee has rarely been used over the past few years, as we have adopted much less formal mechanisms to approve expenditures and review the budget. It has no practical use and should be abolished.
Added Governmental Affairs Committee and Committee on Committees to the list of standing committees.
Both are important committees that need to be made standing committees. The Committee on Committees keeps track of committee participation and action and the Governmental Affairs Committee focuses on governmental relations and lobbying.
Added serving as Chair of the Committee on Committees to the list of the Internal Vice President's responsibilities.
The Committee on Committees has been chaired by the Secretary in past years but it would be more appropriate for the Internal Vice-President to chair it, as that person will be responsible for keeping the internal workings of the SGA running smoothly.
Added that the Education and Human Services Senator position is open to students enrolled in a minor in EHS.
EHS only has one major, Social Work, and the senator seat is rarely filled because so few students are eligible to run. Opening it up to EHS minors would allow more students to compete.
We respectfully ask the student body to approve the adoption of these amendments. Don't forget to vote online in the SGA spring elections April 15-16!
I have included explanations of each major change below. Please take the time to read over these amendments and be sure to vote on them in the SGA spring election, April 15-16.
Added the position of Online Student Senator
The position will be open to any degree-seeking student enrolled in an online major. The online senator will participate in emails either in person or via conference call and will use Blackboard and other electronic tools to reach out to constituents. This position will provide the online student population with the representation they currently lack.
Added the position of External Vice-President.
The External Vice-President will be appointed by the newly elected President after the spring elections and will be a non-voting member of the SGA and Executive Board. The External Vice President is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships between the SGA and legislators, administrators, students, the Alumni Association and the Springfield community and shall serve as Chair of the SGA Governmental Affairs Committee.
Changed the title "Capital Scholars Senator" to "Undergraduate Senator".
The position of Capital Scholars Senator is widely believed to be reserved for Cap Honors students, but "Capital Scholar" is actually a designation for any undergraduate student who starts as a freshman at UIS. The name change will better reflect who is eligible for the position.
We decided that having senators for both honors and traditional track would create additional tension between the two groups and upset the balance between Capital Scholars, transfers and graduate students. We believe it would be better for both the honors and traditional track students to represent them with one senate seat because it would create less divisions between two student populations with very similar needs.
Changed the title "Vice-President" to "Internal Vice-President".
A small change. With the addition of the External Vice-President, the current Vice-President will now be called the Internal Vice-President.
Changed the the title "Sergeant-at-Arms" to "Parliamentarian".
The Constitution uses both terms interchangably. For the sake of consistency, we will use the term Parliamentarian. Parliamentarian is also a better description of the position, as our Sergeant-at-Arms is responsible for ruling on questions of parliamentary procedure, not keeping order on the floor.
Changed the number of credit hours required to run for President or Vice-President from 12 credit hours to 12 hours of undergraduate credit or 8 hours of graduate credit.
The current policy allows freshmen to run for those positions but not graduate students. This change would allow first-year, full-time graduate students to run for those offices.
Deleted Budget Review Committee from the list of standing committees.
The Budget Review Committee has rarely been used over the past few years, as we have adopted much less formal mechanisms to approve expenditures and review the budget. It has no practical use and should be abolished.
Added Governmental Affairs Committee and Committee on Committees to the list of standing committees.
Both are important committees that need to be made standing committees. The Committee on Committees keeps track of committee participation and action and the Governmental Affairs Committee focuses on governmental relations and lobbying.
Added serving as Chair of the Committee on Committees to the list of the Internal Vice President's responsibilities.
The Committee on Committees has been chaired by the Secretary in past years but it would be more appropriate for the Internal Vice-President to chair it, as that person will be responsible for keeping the internal workings of the SGA running smoothly.
Added that the Education and Human Services Senator position is open to students enrolled in a minor in EHS.
EHS only has one major, Social Work, and the senator seat is rarely filled because so few students are eligible to run. Opening it up to EHS minors would allow more students to compete.
We respectfully ask the student body to approve the adoption of these amendments. Don't forget to vote online in the SGA spring elections April 15-16!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Spring Elections
The deadline for applications for the SGA spring election is this Friday, April 3 at 4:30 pm.
The following positions are available:
Student Representative to the Board of Trustees
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Senator to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Senator to the College of Public Affairs and Administration
Senator to the College of Business and Management
Senator to the College of Education and Human Services
Applications can be picked up in the Student Life Office (SAB 20)!
The following positions are available:
Student Representative to the Board of Trustees
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Senator to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Senator to the College of Public Affairs and Administration
Senator to the College of Business and Management
Senator to the College of Education and Human Services
Applications can be picked up in the Student Life Office (SAB 20)!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Education is a Right!
This past weekend, Senator Long and I attended the United States Student Association Legislative Conference (LEGCON) in Washington DC.Our SGA is very aware of the financial strain that the rising costs of higher education place on students and their families. This conference gave us the opportunity to speak with Illinois legislators and marked the first time the SGA has lobbied for college affordability at the federal level.
Senator Long and I met with Congressman Daniel Lipinski and Congressman Mark Kirk's education staff and met personally with Congressman Aaron Schock and Congressman John Shimkus. We spoke with them about our own experiences financing college and encouraged them to support President Obama's education budget, which increases the maximum Pell grant amount to $5,500 and increases the accessibility of Perkins loans.
We also asked them to vote for H.R. 1464, which encourages federal agencies to assist in the development of free, open source educational materials in the fields of chemistry, math and physics. Thanks to our efforts, Senator Lipinski decided to cosponsor the bill.
Our lobby visits were very effective but the fight for affordable higher education is far from over. Please sign up for the University of Illinois Lobby Day on April 1 (http://www.studenttrustee.uiuc.edu/) and tell your state senators and representatives to make higher education a priority!
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