Author’s Note: This is my fifth semester on SGA, and of course that affects my bias, but I’d argue that the best way to understand an institution is to become a part of it.
Over the course of four years, this is one critique amongst students that I’ve consistently heard. Perhaps this sentiment is coming from a vocal minority, but I’ve heard it often enough to want to provide a counterargument to those with a negative perception of student government.
As someone who frequently forgets to “yield back,” I understand frustration with the seemingly arcane procedure of Robert’s Rules (SGA’s rules of comportment), and as someone whose conception of “business casual” is a geriatric sweater and corduroys, I was in full support of the relaxation of the dress code. I can empathize with anyone for whom going to an SGA meeting is not a top contender in the Thursday Night Activity category. But I can’t get on board with the criticisms of SGA’s efficacy.
I have noticed that central to most criticisms of student government is the belief that SGA does not produce any substantive change. One of the most often cited reasons for this is that “shared governance” is only a nominal concept, a theoretical buzzword that isn’t held up in practice, and that SGA has no real power and that resolutions carry no weight. I hope to challenge these perceptions of student government and shared governance.
Although the Student Government Association itself is comprised of 34 members, these individuals cannot make SGA function effectively in a vacuum. It’s not that these individuals aren’t doing their jobs. As an assembly, we have been elected to represent the entire student body, but I believe this relationship ought not be a one-way street. I always encourage students who desire change to reach out to their senators or to an executive board member. It is this dialogue between students that truly makes student governance effective.
I imagine SGA functioning somewhat like a time machine. If students have a desired destination, SGA can help get them there, but if they don’t know where they want to go, then it’s less productive. Perhaps this isn’t the best metaphor, but what I’m trying to illustrate is that the vehicle is there, it just needs to be taken advantage of. And over the course of my time on SGA, I have seen an increasing number of initiatives derive from students not on the assembly. I hope these individuals can also speak to the opportunities SGA has to offer. One crucial example of the resources that are available is the Student Sustainability Fund.
There is currently $42,000 in this fund. The fund is for students’ projects that are related to environmental, social, or economic issues (or any combination thereof). This encompasses almost anything: if you have an idea for a project, it’s highly likely that it fits within one of these catagories. It’s unique opportunities like this fund that allow SGA to help make students’ projects a reality, and SGA highly encourages everyone to take advantage of this resource.
Moving beyond student government into the murkier realm of “shared governance,” I believe that more important than the possession power is the knowledge of how to effectively wield that power. And this means understanding the limitations of that power. Shared governance is just that, shared. There are certain issues that are not under SGA’s purveyance.
One such example occurred this past April, when a group of Film Studies and English Majors came before the assembly to discuss a resolution to support the Department of Literatures in English petition to revise the current staffing plan. Ultimately, after almost four hours of debate, SGA decided that our role in shared governance does not extend to staffing descisions. Even though some argued that this resolution illustrated the weakness of SGA, I believe that it proves its strengths.
SGA not having the final authority over every decision does not undermine the concept of shared governance–it shows that it is working. But what I believe is the ultimate power of SGA is that it can give students a platform to speak and can provide students with the opportunity to have their voices heard. Faced again at this past Thursday’s meeting with a discussion of the role of SGA, I think Chief of Communications Grace Juster said it best: “SGA can always connect students with those who do have the final say, it can help you down the path to your goals, and if there is no solidified path, it can help you forge one”.
