Greetings Salem College Student Body,
We would like to reiterate a change that will be implemented in the SGA Town Hall meetings. In the past, SGA Meetings have been utilized as a way to communicate meetings and group events. With increasing technology, this form of communication is unnecessary.
We propose that at each monthly town hall meeting we discuss a current issue on campus and listen to responses. In the beginning of the meeting the SGA Executive Board will address the student body and briefly discuss the issue and any concerns that were brought to our attention. Each class will then have approximately five minutes to present to the student body their concerns. After we get through all four classes, SGA will then have approximately five minutes to respond to a few of the concerns that were brought up. Each class will then have approximately two minutes for final thoughts.
We would like every class to have Student Government Association Representatives who will address the Student Body on behalf of their class. Due to the fact that this is the first year we are doing this, SGA will appoint people from each class who are nominated by their fellow classmates. At the end of the year these positions will be integrated into the class elections process. We would like no less than two and no more than four representatives from each class.
In order to be a representative of your class the individual cannot have served in class leadership the past two years. Representatives should be comfortable speaking in front of a large audience as these women will be speaking at the microphones located in the aisles representing the ideas of their class. We would like the representatives to represent the vast majority of each class. The representatives should be open for students to come and talk to them about issues and be a good listener. Representatives may occasionally be asked to attend SGA Executive Board meetings.
The topic for the meeting will be announced and student body members should go to one of the representatives and let them know their concerns so they can be addressed at the meeting. If any ideas or comments are not heard during this time or if someone has a comment to make about another issue we will be sitting outside of the refectory once a month, the Wednesday after the SGA meeting, to listen to ideas, comments and suggestions. More information will be given about this momentarily. Please email nominations to sga@salem.edu. Please include first and last name of nominee, class and a brief sentence about why this person would be good for this position. For instance, Cassie Hardy Class of 2013 because she talks to just about everyone in our class and make us all feel included in events.
The Salem College Deans and – depending on the topic – certain staff members will be invited to our meetings just to listen to our comments and concerns. If no other pressing issues come up before our October meeting, we would like our first discussion to be about Fall Fest which will be held on Tuesday, October 16th. Please keep in mind that these SGA Meetings are mandatory and starting October 16th students who do not come and swipe their card will be fined $5 which will show up on their bill in the Business Office.
Please remember, we would like this to be a positive format for the meetings. This is not the opportunity to slander students, faculty or staff. We as the SGA Executive Board are here to listen. We do not promise solutions to all of the problems but we will do our best to work together as an entire community to fix each issue.
Along with a new format of SGA Meetings we are very interested in knowing what you would like us to work on this year. In order to figure out what that is, we have added What Do You Want Wednesdays to the calendar.
What Do You Want Wednesdays will occur one Wednesday a month, the Wednesday after the SGA Meeting. During these times we will be open to hear your ideas on what you want us to work on for the year and any other concerns you have. There will also be a box for you to put suggestions in as well. We hope you like this new process and look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts.
Thank you,
Student Government Association Executive Board
thesalemite.org 