Current number of senators in Student Senate
16 at-large
2 off-campus
10 on-campus
11 organizational
With Student Government Association's Nomination Convention coming up Feb. 16, students are preparing for the positions they will soon be running for.
Students can either run on an executive slate consisting of four students or for on- and off- campus senate seats.
Slate positions
President
This year's president Jack Hesser said his favorite part of his job was really getting to engage with different people.
“I think what I've enjoyed about being SGA president is the opportunity to engage with so many different people. I was sort of worried that after campaigning that would stop and I wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet as many new people throughout my term,” Hesser said. “I’ve had so many cool opportunities to engage and work with different organizations, presidents, different administrators that I’ve never met before, and it’s a really cool opportunity to work on issues from so many different sides.”
The president is responsible for:
- Appointing the executive cabinet
- Signing student legislation
- Acting upon all legislation Student Senate passes
- Providing the senate with an update of the slate’s platform progress
- Approving or denying budget proposals
- Presiding at all executive cabinet and executive officers meetings
- Acting as a non-voting member of executive commissions, Student Senate and ad-hoc committees
- Providing a channel of communication between the administration, faculty and professional staff with the student body and SGA
- Acting as a voting member of University Senate, University Senate Governance and Elections Committee, and Student Activities Committee
Vice President
Richu Aby is this year's vice president. She said her favorite part is being the voice of students.
“I really like when I'm sitting at the table and saying, 'This is what the student body wants,' making sure that our piece is in every puzzle and every piece that Ball State creates," Aby said. "I'm really glad I get to be a part of that."
The vice president is responsible for:
- Presiding in the absence of the president at meetings
- Serving as chief justice of Student Senate
- Acting as voting member of University Senate and serving on the University Senate Student Rights, Ethics and Standards Committee and Elections Board as a non-voting member
Secretary
Austin Acel, secretary for SGA this year, said he likes seeing the younger student involvement in SGA the most.
“I just like seeing ... the younger students like freshman and sophomore students really get involved," Acel said. "Even though SGA wasn’t my venue when I was a student leader, I think it's important to be a student leader and make sure your voice is heard, and these students do that. It's good to see that as I'm leaving, they're coming in.”
The secretary is responsible for:
- Coordinating operations of SGA office
- Maintaining correspondence to all entities from SGA
- Acting upon matter at discretion of the president of SGA
- Coordinating with the Office of Student Life to select the student trustee every odd academic year
Treasurer
Meagan Mullen, this year's SGA treasurer, said she loved being able to see all of the senators accomplish things.
“I love being able to empower them, and they’ll come to me with ideas even though I’m not necessarily the vice president or the pro temp or the president. They still have ideas and they are still excited to talk about it," Mullen said. "I love being able to enhance those ideas.”
The treasurer is responsible for:
- Making budget proposals
- Presenting the budget to the senate
- Submitting the budget
- Making and presenting a budget report of all expenditures, income and balance to the senate
- Receiving financial reports from SGA
- Making disbursements and receiving income
- Keeping the books of SGA and keeping them open for the public at all times
Students can also run for on-campus and off-campus senate seats during this election. These positions are the only senator positions that students must be elected into.
They are responsible for representing either the on-campus student body as a whole or the off-campus student body as a whole. There are several senators in each caucus. Senate members at-large and organizational members do not have to run for election, but must be approved by the senate.
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