Fated to Fail: An Examination of Edinboro University’s Student Government Association

Written: 10/08/2008
Publication: Edinboro University's Spectator
Publish Date: October 15, 2008

Monday, October 6, 2008 the Edinboro University Student Government Association held an “important” meeting in which all clubs and SGA funded organizations had to attend. Arriving at the Pouge Student Center’s Multi-purpose room around 5:00pm, a crowd of students shuffled about trying their designated seats. However empty binders and poorly organized rows seemed to stifle the process.

After a 15-minute delay, the meeting finally got underway. Observing the students sitting in the “house” area, most seemed to be distance and catatonic. It is unlikely that any of the students truly wanted to attend the “mandatory” meeting or even understood their purpose there. Following a 30-minute lecture on the progress of SGA, the budget, and the acquisition of new organizations, it finally came time to discuss the reason all the clubs had been called to attend.

Kristen Zelechowski, the SGA president and campus sorority leader, spoke to the crowd of students in an attempt to explain new voting procedures and allocations. She also mentioned SGA was now requiring 140 representatives from campus groups at the first and third SGA meetings every month with only fourteen of these allowed to vote. The president danced around the real issue time and again, however, until one of the house members popped the proverbial bubble. “Do we have to come to every meeting?”

Unfortunately for the Clubs and Organizations on campus, SGA deemed that every club and organization must have a representative at the first and third meeting of every month. This presented some major problems to the majority of the house. One representative asked “was their any student oversight when this decision was cast?” This question was not answered. Winston Alozie of the congress stated to the house that he disagreed with the legislation and voted against the decision.

There are many reasons why this legislation is fated to fail; the first of reasons being the issue of representation. The house will only be allotted 14 votes in congress. Fourteen votes which are supposed to reflect the opinions of nearly 140 clubs and organizations. This number will not and truly cannot represent the constituency of the greater student body. The second reason why legislation such as this will fail is due to the ridiculous attendance policy. Granted clubs and organizations can cycle through members of their individual groups to attend the SGA meetings, but most clubs and organizations on campus cannot even get students to show up to one meeting a week!

SGA should not be trying to create more bureaucracy, but rather refine the process for clubs and organizations. E-mail, facebook, and online postings are all viable solutions to any communication issues. If this legislation lives, over time student clubs and organizations will begin to see a systematic break down of the “core” members who are involved in just about every other club on campus. These students will grow tired of the excessive meetings and mandates required by the SGA executive board. The small nucleus of students on campus who really care was at the meeting last Monday and most of them did not even want to be there. We need to work on bringing attendance numbers up in our clubs rather than committing our executive board members to more mundane meetings.

The “show up or shut up” mentality of SGA needs to change. They must no longer slap the wrists of clubs and organizations for simply not attending meetings. SGA funds are taken from the activity fees of all students and are destined for redistribution into clubs and organizations. SGA cannot withhold these funds from the very people that gave money to them. SGA will find out fast that student run organizations do not need the crutch of SGA funding if they are not treated with respect. Lastly, The SGA executive board needs to open their eyes and present quantitative evidence supporting a decision supporting the actions they have taken. Just because “they do this at Cal U” doesn’t mean we have to do this here.

With the Utmost Respect,
Mr. Madison
Mr. Jackson

Letter to The SGA President

Written: 10/07/2008
Publication: n/a
Publish Date: n/a

Madam President,

I've been doing some research regarding the California University Student Government Constitution. I've noticed that the House of Representatives is required to be at every meeting, but each member gets a vote equal to that of a congressman. I've also noticed that their constitution has a student cabinet, with two representatives (voting) from the House. Do we have one of these? And if so, will it have the same representation?

I tried to cross reference our constitution with Cal U's to see if there were any parallels between the two documents, but the Edinboro University constitution is not available for referencing. I believe that it is quite irresponsible for the Student Government to be making rash decisions without documenting any changes made to the constitution. Or for that matter informing the student body. The last time I checked, SGA is a "student organization."

Lastly, I want you to know I am sorry for any disturbance I may have caused yesterday during the meeting. However please be aware; if I and other students are required to attend these meetings with almost zero votes in congress, I WILL rock the boat till the sides go under. I will be patiently awaiting your response.

Regards,
Mr. Madison


Her Response: 10/07/2008

Hey,
I understand your concern. We are working diligently on this issue.
-Kristen