Kansas State University Student Governing Association Newsletter
October 11th, 2018
Executive Branch
Student Body President and Vice President:
Jordan Kiehl and Lacy Pitts, the Student Body President and Vice President, have been very busy since the beginning of the school year. In addition to overseeing the projects that their Cabinet has been working on, they have been representing our school continuously. A few weeks ago, K-State hosted the Big XII Student Governing Association Conference. During this, Jordan and Lacy hosted discussions, led tours, and learned a lot from our peers. The two of them are always looking for new ways to help students, so feel free to email them at jkiehl@ksu.edu and lacyp@ksu.edu.
Cabinet
International Affairs:
The International Affairs Directors, Meenu Mohankumar and Sidonia McKenzie, have organized two Intercultural Learning Workshops. These benefit international students, and are a collaboration with the Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs Office, the International Students and Scholar Services, and International Buddies. They are currently working with the Alumni Association to improve Alumni International Student Scholarships, and are also working with the International Student and Scholar Services and the Career Center to improve international students’ career development.
Local Relations:
The Local Relations Director, Corbin Sedlacek, has been working on updating SafeRide bus routes and marketing efforts to students. Additionally, he is working with the Governmental Relations Committee to engage students in getting out to vote. Lastly, he has been meeting with various groups to help students in the fight to live in safe and affordable housing in Manhattan. If a student has had a bad housing experience, and are willing to share their housing story, please email Corbin at corbin5@ksu.edu.
Multicultural Affairs:
The Multicultural Affairs Director, Makinsey McIntosh, has been working on the Multicultural Student Center plans, as well as sitting on the search committee to find two new directors within the Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs Office. She is also looking forward to beginning work on creating unified diversity summits within each college at the university.
Graduate Student Council Liaison:
The Graduate Student Council Liaison, Alisa Pajser, has been working on a survey to assess how familiar graduate students are with the resources that K-State has for them. The goal is to better publicize the existing resources, and developing new resources for needs that aren’t being met.
Campus Climate and Safety Director:
The Campus Climate and Safety Director, Mariana Cruz, established the Wildcats Task Force Against Sexual Violence. This task force is made up of 15 students who plan to evaluate how Kansas State handles sexual violence on campus, and will ensure student conduct codes and general procedures related to sexual harassment are followed.
Health and Wellness Director:
The Health and Wellness Director, Lane Lundeen, has been working alongside employees of Lafene and other K-State faculty members to improve the ASAP Program. He has also been working with Wendy Barnes and Megan Maransani to spread awareness about Counseling Services and The Wildcat Wellness Coalition. Finally, he has been working with other Cabinet members on K-State’s Health and Wellness Master Plan.
State Relations Director:
The State Relations Director, Faith Tuttle, is currently chairing Legislative Advocates, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for Kansas State’s student interests at the Kansas Capitol in Topeka. All K-State students are welcome to apply. If you are interested in being a part of this organization, please use this link: https://orgsync.com/83329/forms/336964.
Judicial Branch
The KSU SGA Judicial Branch has been active hearing student code of conduct cases all year. Also, the Student Review Board is working on modernizing the current hearing script. Finally, the Student Tribunal is working with the Elections Commissioner to prepare for the upcoming student elections. The Judicial Branch looks forward to updating the Student Body about our work as the school year goes on.
Legislative Branch
Speaker of the Student Senate:
Student Senate has been off to a good start this semester. In addition to appointing an Elections Commissioner and approving our new student senators, we have had the opportunity to engage with influential campus leaders. This past Thursday, October 4th, 2019, we hosted Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Bryan Samuel to, in part, speak to the importance of KSUnite. Student senators then separated by academic college to coordinate how best to make students in their college aware of the event.
Government Relations:
The biggest push the Governmental Relations Committee has focused on National Voter Registration Day (NVRD), voter registration, and the upcoming election. Since NVRD has passed, the Committee has hosted one final voter registration drive on October 10th, and have begun working on Get Out the Vote initiatives! This last Wednesday, we begun planning a #VoteTogether party at the polls for Election Day on November 6th. Assuming we get the funding secured, we will have $1000 to plan this election night celebration, which will be put towards food, entertainment, and encouraging a higher voter turnout!
Intern Program:
The SGA Intern Program offers students the perfect way to get involved with SGA! In the program, students will meet with current SGA members and do activities to help them engage with many of the program’s topics. The first class of the SGA intern program ran from September 6th to October 4th. Fifty nine students attended the Intern Program meetings, and thirty nine attended a majority of meetings. Class 2 of the Intern Program starts on October 18th and all students are welcome to attend! Meetings take place at 5:45 pm in Wildcat Chamber. For any questions about the SGA Intern Program, please contact the Intern Coordinators, Nathan Bothwell and Sadie Polson. They can be reached via email at ndbothwell@ksu.edu and scpolson@ksu.edu.”
Travel Allocations Committee:
This semester, the Travel Allocations Committee has had 20 different groups submit requests for travel funding. Thus far, we have passed legislation and funded 8 groups, and we will be adding to that number in the coming weeks.
On-Campus Allocations Committee:
The On-Campus Allocations Committee has been busy early this semester meeting with several groups that are going to have some great events later this semester on campus. These upcoming events cover a wide array of activities and will broaden K-State students’ knowledge on diversity, fine arts, music, and much more! We want to make sure available funding is provided so organizations can have great events here on campus. Please spread the word to classmates and friends! If you have any questions, send them to nilbergsten@ksu.edu.
Student Engagement Committee:
The Student Engagement Committee is currently working on an article to be published in the Collegian regarding the importance of SGA; we are also working on making certain interactive videos about SGA, and we have taken responsibility along with Speaker Pro Tempore Joshua Arnoldy for conducting SGA week next semester. We will also be holding a seminar for student leaders on campus about SGA and how they can participate in it later this semester or early next.
Senate Operations Committee:
The Senate Operations Committee is continuing to serve the Legislative Branch through our work with editing and revising legislation and filling senator vacancies. If anyone is interested in our work or learning more about these processes, we would like to invite you to our weekly meetings! Senate Operations Committee meets every Monday night at 8:00 p.m. in the CSI Conference Room.
Privilege Fee Committee:
Privilege Fee Committee manages the Privilege Fee, a mandatory campus-wide fee that is set by the Board of Regents and recommended by Student Governing Association and the K-State Administration. The Privilege Fee funds many important campus entities that add value to students’ experience such as the Rec Complex, Lafene Health Center, and the K-State Student Union.