In the wake of the intense student dialog about the proposed UNA graduation ticket policy, that was ultimately decided against, many students are left asking, “How does policy at UNA get changed and how do I voice concerns?”

I would like to remind students this is the very purpose of Student Government Association. Student Government is not only involved with programming or running elections on campus.

We do not stop at working to beautify campus or increase safety. Student Government is also tasked with representing the student body to the administration. Any major policy change at UNA has to go through the Shared Governance System.

Shared Governance consists of committees made up of students, faculty and staff. These students are SGA representatives. Policy goes through these channels and is sent to the SGA Senate for approval if a policy recommendation affects students. These students on the Senate and Shared Governance Committees are the voices of the student body.

I would like to strongly encourage students to reach out to these representatives if they have any issues or recommendations about policy on campus. In the wake of the ticketing discussion, many students reached out to me personally to get more information and give concerns.

However, I also spoke to countless students that did not realize SGA had a voice in making such changes. Furthermore, many of these individuals said that they did not know how to get in touch with an SGA representative.

For this reason, I would like to remind everyone that SGA is tasked with making sure student concerns are brought forth.

With SGA, we the students have a seat at the table when discussing the future of UNA. If students have any concerns or recommendations, or if they would like an update as to what is going on around campus, get in touch with a senator or SGA executive member such as myself.

If students do not know anyone personally on student government, please email [email protected].

We make sure to refer emails sent to this address to the correct person in SGA. Finally, remember that SGA meetings are open to the public and our officers are available to meet with.

Our senate branch that deals with policy meets every Thursday at 3:30 in the SGA Chambers, which is at the Guillot University Center beside the Office of Student Engagement. As for our executive officers, we all have at least 10 office hours a week in this same office.

These hours are posted in the chambers. We would love to hear from all of our students on campus, so do not forget where your voice as a student can be heard. Roar Lions.