Asem Abdelfattah
Assistant News Editor
The Student Government Association (SGA) president, senators and Troy students set goals and expectations for the 2019-2020 SGA Senate.
In the SGA, the president and senators are working to prepare ideas for how they can improve Troy University in the coming semester.
Morgan Long, a junior sport management major from Birmingham and SGA president-elect, said he expects the coming senate to be more approachable, have regular interaction with their constituents and meet regularly with resident directors and school deans.
“I expect senators to always be informed and make individual decisions that represent the students in the way they deserve and use their positions to advocate for meaningful changes that improve the daily lives of students,” Long said. “There are already incentives and mandates to read dockets, sponsor bills, work office hours and earn points, but I plan to add to these incentives and mandates.”
Carter Ray, a junior geomatics and land surveying major from Troy and a returning chair of the constitution and laws committee, said he will continue to work on Constitution and Code of Laws improvements and revisions. Ray said he plans to sponsor legislation that further protects students’ freedom of religion and prayer on campus.
“I also plan to introduce several resolutions that will encourage our administration to install some more security cameras in various locations, move forward with plans to construct a new Math and Science Complex, re-negotiate our contract with our food vendor to allow flex points to roll over and to adopt a policy which requires teachers to give students a grade update at the end of each month during an academic semester,” Ray said. “Of course, we have not drafted the language for those resolutions, so they might change a little as I do more research; I am also working on several other possibilities.”
Smit Shrestha, a junior computer science major from Chitwan, Nepal, and an SGA senator, said his main goal will be to encourage more international student participation in university events and programs.
“I think we must reach out to international students individually and collectively to encourage them to break out of their comfort zone,” Shrestha said. “We have to find better ways of creating a comfortable and welcoming environment for all international students.”
Taylor Townsend, a junior marketing major from Montgomery, said she expects the SGA to be truly representative of the student body and lobby to make changes based on what the students want.
“I think SGA could improve on the representation of independents, international students and non-Greek organizations,” she said.
Long said students should care about student government because the resolutions passed through SGA affect their daily lives as students. The majority of bills passed are the creation of clubs and organizations that are open for students to join. They also pass resolutions that tend to the student concerns and needs when it comes to safety, openings and campus rules and procedures.
