Student Senate achieving semester goals

Johnathan Saunders, guest columnist

Johnathan Saunders, guest columnist

 

As president of the student government, I feel that from time to time I should give updates on what your senators have been working very hard to accomplish. 

As part of my campaign pledge I promised to work towards better record keeping by establishing institutional memory. 

We made sweeping changes internally; now the mechanisms that were put in place have started turning. 

This puts us on the trajectory of a collective history as an organization with recorded accomplishments. 

We will be working on putting our documents online, making this government more transparent. 

The senate is working with other Missouri four year public institutions by building a coalition to lobby on behalf of students for collective goods for higher education. 

We have reflected that dedication to the coalition by passing our own resolution communicating our desires to the state Legislature. 

Members have gone to leadership conferences and held their own forums so that students may communicate directly to their government. 

We are giving back to the community by participating in and hosting service events. 

A bill was drafted and passed indicating our desire to be more hands on with our own finances and create better deadlines to complete projects that senate funds have been distributed towards. 

The senate heard testimony from Dr. Kelly Larson on the communication restructuring that will take place in the spring. 

The senate debated and ultimately decided to remain cautiously optimistic as the pilot takes place. 

Upon the pilot’s conclusion in the spring and after the findings are known, the senate, through a resolution, maintained its right to reconvene and issue a stance on the issue on behalf of the student body. 

Although there tends to be a lack of consensus on policy preference and most constituents remain apathetic, this will not hinder the senate. 

We will continue to work diligently and leave the campus in a better state then when we found it. 

I wish everyone the best of luck on your upcoming finals.