SGAjmu: A Year in Review (Well, a Semester at Least)

Fall 2011 brought a lot of changes for our organization. We brought in enough new members to swell our numbers to 84 (including some new staff), changed the way we Purpled Out, elected new Mr. and Ms. Madisons, engaged you all in SEW, remembered our fallen Dukes, elected a new university President, held the door open, lit up a holiday tree and then made it through finals week and December graduation. And that was just the major events!

Lets take a month by month look at our semester and see exactly what was accomplished.

September:
-We gained interest through Student Org Night  in Convo.
-Had our minor elections for Freshman class council, area representatives, and senators.
-PURPLED OUT with a system that you all gave great feedback on.
-Elected a Mr. and Ms. Madison and had Homecoming!

October:
-Planned and executed Student Engagement Week (SEW) where we asked your top 3 issues in-person.
-For the whole week we received an amazing 3,722 responses.
-The top 3 issues came down to:
1. Transportation
2. Financial Aid and
3.  Technology
-We made sure you knew about the change from e-campus to MyMadison and provided ways for you to become acquainted with the new system.

November:
-Gave out information on how to vote in the National Elections.
-Served you in D-Hall.
-Told you about free speech on JMU’s campus.
-Program Grant Night.
-Hosted All Together One to remember our lost Dukes.
-Elected a new university President Jon Alger.

December:
-Brought some holiday cheer to the Quad with the Class of 2013 tree lighting ceremony.
-Madison Forever, hold the door open campaign.
- Finalized contacts for SEW results help.
-Finals and December graduation

Within all of these events, major or minor, the entire organization was committed to the success of each. YOU the student body are who we are here to serve and we keep that in mind with everything that we do.  With spring semester approaching, we want to make it as amazing as we possibly can, and have the plans to do so.

For more information, keep checking the blog, follow us on Twitter @SGAjmu or Like us on Facebook

Do You Want More Financial Aid? Join the Campaign!

In 2009-2010 in-state public college students borrowed over $657 million dollars to pay for college.  Students here at JMU borrowed over $46 million dollars.  That’s crazy–and these numbers are going up.  Almost all of us need help paying for college.  If you want more financial aid, sign this petition. Want the online version? Click here!

Virginia21, a college student advocacy group in Richmond that the SGA supports, is running a campaign called “What’s Your Number?” The campaign is to get students to talk about how much debt we have so we can show how much help we need.  In January, the General Assembly in Richmond is going to debate how much money the state invests in JMU, other colleges, and financial aid. Next year, the state is going to be short financial aid funding by almost $200 million.

We need as many people from JMU as possible to join the “What’s Your Number?” campaign.  Virginia21 and students from all of the colleges are going to deliver these signatures to our representatives when they are talking about the budget, so they know we need help.

Twitter Town Hall/Campaign Announcement — December 8 @ 12PM – 

To formally announce the campaign, they are going for unconventional.  Instead of a press conference, they thought to involve more people by announcing the “What’s Your Number?” over twitter.  This way  grabbing the attention of the pres,s the Governor, and other General Assembly members will happen simultaneously. Imagine if you are a reporter or an elected official and suddenly you are getting hundreds of tweets telling you to read a letter that almost 5,000 people have signed….that’ll certainly get their attention.

Here is the lists of reporters and elected officials to follow and tweet at on Dec. 8.

Want to talk to some of the other Universities involved? Here is their Twitter list.

The petition is just getting started – 

So far we are at 5,000 signers.  That’s incredible, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we can do.

So many people are touched by student debt, and so many people need help paying for college.  This effort has the potential to run like crazy.  We need everybody to start talking to more people.  Here is the petition again, so print it out, take it to your classes, take it to club meetings, and everywhere.

John Alger Announced as JMU’s 6th President. Welcome to the Family!

As a JMU student, we rarely get the opportunity to see Presidential changes.  But that might be because there have only been 5 (now 6) in the HISTORY of the University. Being apart of such a monumental change was empowering as an individual, and made me feel like I belonged to something big.  While the meeting  was formal, the mood of the room was excited and ready.

The meeting progressed with speeches from the Rector of the Board of Visitors explaining the process of selecting the new President.  He was very informative and gave praise to Dr. Rose’s term in office while explaining that John Alger was going to be the perfect predecessor to what Rose had accomplished in his time.

While in the official meeting, Twitter was a blaze with students, alum and local Harrisonburg members alike, praising the newest addition to the JMU family.

Student Body President Pat Watral is excited to welcome the newest member of the JMU family and had these words to say:

“First of all, thank you to everyone who has welcomed our President-Elect to the community, such a warm welcome is a display of the incredible JMU spirit. President-Elect Alger made a good first impression on me.  His commitment to advancing JMU’s influence and plans to elevate this university to become a “national model of what it means to be an ‘engaged’ university” are exciting.  Likewise, when Rector Hartman of the Board of Visitors mentioned JMU’s distinctive institutional culture I spied Alger nodding appreciatively from his seat.  This to me is another good sign and I look forward helping introduce our ‘distinctive’ student body to our new President.”

As an organization, SGA would like to thank the Board of Visitors for their role in the process as well as the Selection Committee. Both groups provided their time, energy and support throughout this historic time, and we are grateful to them for that.

For all information about the Presidential search, our newest President, and all things involved in the process, click here.  See the video of the whole meeting here.

Free Speech Rights on JMU’s Campus

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” –U.S. Constitution

In lieu of the graphic pro-life demonstration taking place on campus the last few days, there has been a lot of talk about free speech on campus. The rights of a U.S. citizen are protected under national, state, and local laws.  Being at a public university there are also a set of policies and guidelines that govern the actions of individuals on the campus.  As long as an individual/group is not posing a threat to safety, are upholding the laws on all levels, and upholding the overall mission of JMU (which is to educate), then they are allowed to be here.

That being said, Madison Union is responsible for ensuring that the Commons space; which has been determined by the university to be the designated location for free speech activity, is maintained properly.  Outside individuals/organizations are encouraged to pre-register so that public safety can be notified, as well as information about the event can be recorded.  This is not required, but highly encouraged.  The goal of the process is to be “fair and consistent” according to Joe Urgo, Associate Director of Madison Unions.

If at any point an individual on campus feels as though their safety is being threatened, JMU public safety should be notified.

The official statement released by Madison Unions regarding the current activity on the commons:

Practical Statement Regarding

DEMONSTRATIONS OF FREE SPEECH at JMU

This is a Free Speech activity.  The University Commons has been determined by the university to be the designated location for free speech activity, because the location is least likely to interfere with the university’s primary mission to educate students.  It is not sponsored by, nor endorsed or discredited by, the University beyond the extent of supporting and upholding the law regarding Free Speech.

Further inquiry can be directed to Joe Urgo, University Unions, urgojt@jmu.edu, 568-6725.

While the current events have sparked controversy, the resulting conversation is what the founding fathers, such as James Madison himself, had in mind when they created our national Constitution.  The students of JMU have acted admirably in responding to the situation by continuing the conversation in the proper forums and acting in a respectful manner.

Coming Soon…My Madison (formerly e-campus)

Beginning Sunday October 9th, yes SUNDAY, the way e-campus looks, operates, and functions will be totally different.  In Senate on Tuesday we had Anna Lynn Bell, Director of University Advising, and a few of her colleagues come and tell us that their collaboration with Academic Affairs, Administration and Finance as well as the Office of Student Affairs proved to be a great effort in making the changes students wanted to see made.

Their main priority was to focus on advising and registration problems that students have been complaining about for years.  Easier access to cumulative, major and minor GPA’s, personalization options as well as integrated systems so that three or four pages didn’t need to be accessed to gain information.

With the new changes, students will be able to customize the Student Tab with things such as links to forms, major specific materials, as well as any other information that is deemed Academic Support.

Some of the things that SGA brought up included: easier transcript printing, clarifying that E-Campus and BlackBoard will be integrated into the My Madison portal (no extra log-in will be required), as well as actual integrated personalized to YOU information.  Email, calendars, final schedules by semester, etc. will all be included as well.

We are really excited for all of these changes, and if any of you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Representatives from SGA are all over campus, the Twitter is constantly monitored as well as our Facebook page.  Again, October 9th when you log into E-campus you will see some changes. Get Excited.

Last Minute Purple Out Info

PURPLE OUT IS ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!

Here are some things you should know:

1) You cannot get a shirt without your ticket and JAC card (together)

2) Your ticket should have your name and your JAC number on it

3) Your friend cannot bring your ticket to get you a shirt

4) If you cannot come, bring your ticket back to Kristin Muncy in Taylor 213, because we have no way to hold a shirt for you and we will NOT be passing them out early.

5) We won’t be done passing out shirts until the last ticket is taken!

So come out at 5 (or whenever your class gets out) and get your shirt so that you can Purple Out on Saturday’s game!

As always, if you have questions let us know!

Judicial Affairs Changes

As a JMU student, the student handbook is one of the most important documents governing the student body.  Whenever changes are made the Judicial Control Board made up of the Dean of Students, a faculty member, the current student body president and another student must convene to vote on approving the changes.  The Office of Judicial Affairs recently underwent changes in policy regarding sexual assault with the help of President Pat Watral and a recent SGA member Colby Kammerman.

The changes to the sexual assault section include:

• When determining a charge of sexual assault, The Office of Judicial Affairs will not refer the charge to mediation and restorative justice.
• The harassment section was amended to include:  J16-104 Conduct of a sexual nature that seriously and/or repeatedly affects an employee’s or student’s performance or creates a hostile work or study environment.  (Note:  Harassment falling under this section will follow the same processes as sexual assault cases.)
• If a student believes they have been harassed by faculty or staff theymust bring the charge to the Office of Equal Opportunity,1017 Harrison Street, MSC 5802,Harrisonburg,VA22807, 540-568-6991.
• The individual being accused has the right to utilize an attorney who can be anyone  licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

The rights of the accuser are still the same and begin with what is probably the most important aspect: The right to a fair and impartial hearing.  If you are unsure as to if sexual assault or abuse has taken place, still talk to someone about it.  Even the smallest thing has the potential to run a college experience.  JMU is fortunate enough to have the Varner House function as a counseling and student development center right on campus. 

 Taking the first step in understanding your rights as a student comes from reading over policies and understanding what you can do if a situation arises.  Educate yourself and be proactive.

Crazy Commons and Fall Concert Reveal

Tuesday afternoon the circular space between Dhall, the stairs going to the Quad and the hill leading down to the bookstore will be busy with people.  The reason for all the commotion? It’s the first Crazy Commons put on by University Program Board (UPB)! Crazy Commons will officially start at 11am and run until 2 pm and is a great way to find out what is going around campus, take part in games and just generally have a good time.

This particular Crazy Commons is going to be special because not only will every aspect of UPB be there promoting their up and coming events, but the Fall concert will be revealed.  Also in the works is free stuff (and you’re not a college student if you don’t enjoy free stuff), JMU spirit and ice cream.  Take a break from your second day of class and stop by for a bit.  Meet some new people and get even more excited for all of the goings on around JMU this semester.

For example, the committee Spotlight Sounds will be advertising Money Cannot Be Eaten, a new student band, on that day, who will be performing in Taylor Down Under (TDU) September 7^th from 7-8p.

Another band you have the opportunity to learn about is the Generationals, an indie band from New Orleans, Louisiana who recently released their album Actor-Castor in March.  iTunes featured their single Trust  as a single of the week back in 2010 and as a band they provide a refreshing change of pace from the norm.  The opportunity to see such an accomplished group perform free is a chance only you as JMU student will get, so take advantage! They will be on the Commons September 19th at 5pm.  Come check them out.

So to recap you need to know:

When: Tuesday August 30^th from 11a-2p

Where: The Commons! (in front of Dhall entrance steps)

Why: ITS FREE!

Need more information?

On Twitter: @UPB

Facebook Event: UPB Presents: Crazy Commons and Fall Concert Reveal

Presidental Phone Call Part II

Yesterday I joined a conference call between other student leaders and senior White House advisers, plus President Obama himself.  Our topic of conversation was the stalemated negotiations in Washington and the looming debt crisis.

 

We meant not to add our voices to the continuous babble about one plan vs another, or one party vs another. But instead to urge all leaders to cut it out and to start making tough decisions, it’s why we put them there.

The President seemed to get our message- that we’re not interested in the political game anymore- we want to see a country headed for financial stability, and that we know it won’t be easy for anyone.

 

How to get there? Agreeing on something seems to be Washington’s problem… if only our leaders had the courage to BE THE CHANGE.

 

Help us get the word out- say “DO SOMETHING!”Contact your rep or senator
https://writerep.house.gov​/writerep/welcome.shtml
http://www.senate.gov/gene​ral/contact_information/se​nators_cfm.cfm

And visit http://www.dowehaveadealye​t.com/ to keep tabs on and share the student movement. Join the conversation on Twitter #DoWeHaveADealYet.

-Pat

Newest Addition to the SGA

Congrats to Morgan Shaughnessy, the newly appointed Contingency Liaison for the 2011-2012 academic year.  The position requires Morgan to interact with multiple student organizations on a weekly basis and requires knowledge of the application process, bill writing and the overall rules of contingency.  Her position is vital to the organization, and she will prove to be an amazing addition to the Executive Staff.  Congrats again!