By DAVID CHAPEK/Staff Writer
Chloe Dix says her job as president of the Student Government Association is to serve as the primary liaison between students, faculty, and administrators.
When the university made additional parking spaces available, the SGA was one of the first groups to spread the news to students, said Dix, a graduate English student.
“We (SGA members) are a liaison between staff and administration, and students,” Dix said. “We’re kind of like a way for issues on campus to get resolved. We’re sometimes the first people that organizations or departments come to if they are wanting to pitch something to students – they want to get our voice first.”
The SGA is composed of students elected as senators from each college, housing unit, education year and campus location. Dix said having a wide variety of student representatives allows faculty to get a good read on what students will think of proposals.
For example, the SGA is helping revamp the university’s website, ensuring student concerns are a primary focus.
“As students, is this (website under development) something you think that the students are going to want to see?” she said of how the university is seeking SGA input.
But communication also goes the other way. The SGA helps address student concerns to faculty.
“We’re also a really good way for students to stay connected with faculty, staff and administration,” Dix said. “If they (students) don’t specifically know who to go to when they’re having an issue, they come to us, and we can point them in the right direction.”
As an example of addressing student needs, Dix said the SGA was responsible for having slabs of concrete recently placed throughout the university’s disc golf course for safety.
“It was just dirt, basically, before, and there were all those trees where the roots were coming up through there, so it was really unsafe,” Dix said of the course. “So, the student government used their budget to make those slabs.”
She said the SGA’s primary focus “is to be as student-facing as we can.” It offers the opportunity for students to volunteer in projects to make the campus better. This helps students learn to work in large groups, which she said is useful in all walks of life.
“We just want to help out in any way that we can,” Dix said.
