After years of running on its current two-party system, the Student Government Association (SGA) voted Wednesday night to eliminate its Senate positions and will be passing the motion onto the student body for approval.
Serious conversations about changes in structure began after SGA expanded its senate from 19 to 24 members at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year. The expansion, which was intended to draw in students from previously unrepresented or underrepresented disciplines on campus, resulted instead in a large number of empty seats. “I think that was a time for us to watch and see how student government went,” said Greg Bish, director of student programs. “I think that was the beginning of this conversation about what student government is effective in doing right now. That conversation has initiated coming up with options.”
With input from Bish as well as Robert Pool, vice president for student life, SGA originally worked with three potential models for next year’s government structure. The first option was a resumption of the current model with a senate reduced to 12 members, while the second under consideration called for a model with no cabinet or Senate. Rather, cabinet and senate work would be accomplished by committees populated by class cabinet members.
A third model, the model currently under consideration by SGA, involved an elimination of the student senate and the instatement of one class representative per graduating class. Under the second model, the cabinet would also be altered from six positions to eight, removing the speaker of the Senate; bringing in an executive officer of student life, an officer of committees, and an officer representing nontraditional students; and replacing the chaplain position with an executive officer of spiritual life. Class cabinets will have their senator positions removed and are encouraged to downsize further.
“My role is asking them ask the good questions,” explained Bish, “but it’s their role to figure out how to restructure.” He added, “The CCCU [Council for Christian Colleges and Universities] has a Listserv and there are people that are constantly asking these questions. They ask what everybody is doing at their schools. We’re not the only ones going through this.”
According to Bish, important questions revolve around the current purpose of student government on the Houghton campus. “Last year, the perception of the role of the student government was that it was to protect the students from the administration, and that is a very old model versus partnering together to put student input into the student experience, which is the organic model that students want.”
Pool made comparisons with SGA’s previous performance. “Last year, I would say there was quite a bit more dialogue and proposals for change and legislation,” he said. “This year it seems to, for whatever reason, not have been as active. It ebbs and flows.”
One recent issue involving student dialogue concerned an SGA-drafted resolution addressing the vandalism of the Shades of Black exhibit, which was intended to serve as a condemnation of the action on behalf of Houghton students. The organization voted to withhold the document from distribution amongst the student body, opting instead to share the statement with President Mullen and her staff, Bish, Pool, and Dean Mills Woolsey so as to refrain from “inciting further conflict” over the issue.
SGA President Ben Hardy explained the implications of the vote, saying, “I think it’s indicative of the system we have right now not being functional because senators don’t feel that they speak for the student body enough to tell the student body what they said, and that’s a really big problem. That alone is indication that something needs to change, whether it’s the membership or the structure.”
“To be honest, it perplexes me why they would create a resolution and not share it with the student body,” added Pool. “We try to model Christ in many ways to minimize conflict, but sometimes the greatest strides and growth happen with conflict, with civil conflict, with civil discourse, and creating a resolution is civil discourse.”
As part of an effort to uphold transparency and include civil discourse via student input, SGA held a meeting Wednesday night for members to vote on the new government structure for next year from the two approved options. However, non-member student presence was minimal. “I don’t think students take advantage of the things which are there which allow transparency,” said Hardy. “Senate meetings are open—anyone can come to Senate, anyone can talk at Senate. However, because [we have] an inefficient system, people don’t really feel like it’s necessarily worth their time.”
Final voting on the new system resulted in 19 in support of the new structure with two against. Non-member students will be able to vote in an online poll, choosing to approve or reject the new structure, starting from Friday afternoon to Wednesday before campus closing time.