SGA’s end-of-month report offers transparency

Attending Student Government Association meetings was part of my weekly schedule as a news writer for the East Tennessean two years ago. The experience taught me how government works and kept me alert to everything happening on campus. However, most students are not that acutely aware. That’s why I was overjoyed to see SGA President Aamir Shaikh emailed the student body with an end-of-month report.

The email, which all students received on Sept. 27, includes a PDF attachment of brief descriptions of SGA’s work the past month.

“In an effort to be more open with the student body, the SGA will be sending out monthly reports,” Shaikh said in the email. “This is a part of my administration’s effort to be more transparent and to help you all gain a better understanding of what the SGA does on a monthly basis.”

The end-of-month report includes a brief description of two pieces of legislation SGA introduced last month (SSR-19-001 proposes to remove the laundry machine fees on campus, so get excited), conversation topics within the executive branch and updates from cabinet members.

Transparency and being more conscious of student government was the precise move SGA needed to take. So many students are unaware that we even have an SGA, much less that they can attend meetings, talk to members, become involved and use their resources.

While I think the executive cabinet updates section sounds a little too promotional and would have honestly been better as an upcoming SGA events list, I really appreciate that members’ names and emails are attached to the events and initiatives. This way, if anyone does want more information, they do not have to scramble to figure out which cabinet member to contact from SGA’s website.

The student government did not have to do this. Meetings are open to the public, and the East Tennessean covers them. However, this was a great idea by the student government to be more present, open conversations to the student body and attempt to get students involved – or at least aware – in campus happenings. Kudos, SGA.