Mandi Mooney and Daniel Wallen
Editor-in-Chief and Reporter
September 9, 2005
To continue with last year’s theme of achieving better communication throughout campus, Milligan’s Student Government Association is planning numerous changes that will take effect this semester.
“I feel like our overall goal of communication has been better defined in our theme which is ‘Redefine Connection,’” said SGA president Jaime McConnell. “We’re trying to connect students more with what’s going on with committees as well as connecting faculty and staff.”
In order to increase connection with the campus, McConnell feels SGA’s effectiveness as a governing body must first be improved. To do that changes have been made within SGA subcommittee branches to include business and finance, campus ministry and student life. The branches will be required to meet at least once outside of regular meetings times.
“I feel like (meeting outside of regular meeting times) will give (the committees) more time to focus on what they want to do,” McConnell said, “so they can get more done and talk about more things than all of us trying to go through and talk about them.”
The branches are no longer required to be chaired by class presidents.
“We decided it doesn’t necessarily make sense for it to be that way,” McConnell said. “Just because someone is a class president, doesn’t necessarily mean that their strengths are in leading. If somebody wanted to become a leader in a different area, more people have a chance to exercise different leadership skills.”
Junior representative Sarah McMurtrie is chairing the business and finance branch, sophomore representative Peter Harris will be leading the student life branch and sophomore class president Jackie Libby will be leading the campus ministry branch.
Another change beginning this semester is the Residence Hall Association, a committee which will focus on needs and events within the campus residence halls. RHA, which is currently in the developmental stage, was created because SGA felt dorm issues would be more effectively handled by a separate entity.
“It’s not that it’s not important, it’s that it is important,” McConnell said. “And because those dorm issues are important, they need to be focused on by a different group of people.”
RHA will be led by newly appointed president, junior Amanda Moore.
“I’m hoping to voice the concerns of students,” Moore said. “Especially in ways they believe the dorms could be better for them because they are the ones living here and they should have a say about it.”
McConnell hopes that the changes being made will help to facilitate change as well as communication throughout Milligan’s campus.
“We’ve come up with different issues, and I feel like the things we want to work this semester are more changeable things,” McConnell said. “So we need to stop thinking hugely ridiculous and start thinking hugely possible - like getting bike racks at all the buildings.”
Nevertheless, in order to ensure these changes really do take effect and have a positive impact, SGA will be focusing on connecting the students, faculty and staff.
“What it really comes down to is it’s going be one-on-one,” McConnell said. “It’s going to be us talking to people. It’s not going to necessarily be a big mass e-mail because that’s not an effective form of communication.”