SGA works to boost outreach efforts

Throughout the semester, SGA members worked to brainstorm inventive ways to reach out to students, and while some ideas sparked disagreement, several members said they are working to become a more engaging and transparent organization.

The Student Government Association got off to a slow start this semester and initially went three weeks without bringing any new bills to the table — largely because half this year's members were new to the body.

But after SGA President Kaiyi Xie called upon members to increase face time with their constituents, several legislators proposed new techniques for grabbing students' interest and involving them in the body's initiatives, including doing more student surveys, leaving their offices to reach out directly to students and increasing publicity efforts before key votes.

SGA representatives also approved two new outreach campaigns that will take effect next semester. On March 19, the body will hold "Bring a Constituent to a Student Government Association Meeting Day," which will require each legislator to bring a constituent to sit next to them during the meeting. Once a month, the body will also relocate its weekly meetings from Stamp Student Union's second-floor Benjamin Banneker Room to the Prince George's Room near the building's main entrance.

These proposals sparked contention between legislators and executives as to whether these methods would effectively address the student apathy surrounding the SGA.

"I think legislators have learned that it's not so much moving downstairs or bringing a constituent to a meeting in such structured methods," SGA Chief of Staff Steven Hershkowitz said. "It's just reaching out to get them informed."

But other members also said ramping up traditional outreach has already impacted their decisions in office.

Last month, legislators spent two of their four required office hours visiting classrooms and standing outside Stamp Student Union to solicit student concerns — an effort several members said elicited valuable feedback that will drive many of the body's spring semester initiatives.

Many of their constituencies voiced concerns to academic legislators about advising, while residential legislators heard public transportation woes from students — namely a lack of Department of Transportation Services shuttle routes. Across the board, many students called for open-source textbooks and expressed worries about the plus-and-minus grading system.

"Going into this, we thought we would have hundreds of different ideas of smaller-scale issues, but lots of students pointed to the same things and said, ‘This is the change we'd like to see,'" SGA Communications Director Staci Armezzani said. "We were a little slow at the beginning [of the semester], and now we're taking the time to complete necessary requirements, talk to the right people and make these bills so that we can say these are things that are going to actually happen and not just a bill that gets passed."

Earlier this semester, legislators surveyed students on their opinions of the University Senate's proposed plus-and-minus grading system and included the poll in the body's resolution condemning the proposal. The senate ultimately approved the grading system.

The SGA also saw significant student turnout at meetings in which the body voted on supporting workers' rights, condemning a controversial Facts and Logic About the Middle East ad that ran in The Diamondback and encouraging the university to limit public health courses to majors.

Some legislators who came up with more unconventional routes for reaching students said innovation is crucial to building a stronger relationship between the SGA and the student body. Moreover, they noted their ideas were born after hearing from students who had no idea what the organization did or where it met each week.

"We're all about trying creative new ideas this year," said neighboring commuter legislator Aaron Zaccaria, who proposed moving meetings to the Prince George's Room. "I don't think just going out in front of Stamp and coming up to people and saying, ‘Hey, I'm with the SGA, what concerns you?' really works, because that's not how people interact."

South Hill legislator Tokunbo Okulaja — who proposed bringing constituents to a meeting — agreed.

"We just wanted to shake it up instead of going by tradition," Okulaja said.

Xie said he was generally pleased by how much legislators had ramped up their outreach efforts since his October speech, particularly because it was a problem he said plagued previous SGA legislatures.