Stevens’ Student Government Association (SGA) recently announced that it would be changing how it elects its representatives. In a significant change from precedent, members will be elected to represent their schools instead of their classes. The SGA advocates for student interests, concerns, and clubs, while also hosting activities that better student life as a whole. The Stute conducted an interview with the Vice President of Operations of the SGA, Alexander Stanczak, to learn more about what this big shift means for the inner workings of the SGA as well as the average student.
Stanczak explained that in addition to the fact that the idea to elect by school had been brought up in the past, it reemerged when the SGA attended the New Jersey Student Government Conference last spring. There, SGA leaders were exposed to many different ways of structuring student governments, which led them to question if Stevens’ current structure was the best fit for its students.
Specifically, the SGA realized that it should have a better system in place for student candidates who graduate in more or less than four years. Stanczak cites an example: “…if a student on co-op enters their fifth year at Stevens, do they run for Senior Senator again? Or do we double count them as a junior?” After substantial research into the efficacy of this new system, the SGA concluded that it was time to make the change.
One thing that will not change, though, is the total number of representatives elected for SGA. Stanczak breaks this down: “The total number of Senate seats will be determined by a ratio of one Senate seat for every 75 students. From that number one Senate seat will be distributed for every 100 students per school. Any remaining seats will be designated as at-large seats.”
With this structural overhaul, the SGA hopes to be able to better represent each of the schools on campus. This is especially relevant to students who come in with transfer credits which places them in classes with upperclassmen since the connections they make often aren’t at their class level. To boot, the at-large senators will have the freedom to represent groups unrelated to their class or school. When asked if he foresees any challenges with the transition to elections by school, Stanczak recognized that a lot of the “internal structure” will need to be adjusted to accommodate for this change, but the SGA is well equipped to address these issues.
So, what does this all mean for a student not involved in SGA? The SGA finds it very important to create a strong connection between college administrators and students, which is why when any change is made with the SGA all students should pay attention regardless of if they are involved in SGA or not. Stanczak believes that students will notice an increase in “…communication between individual senators and the student body,” which will hopefully, in turn, mean that the SGA will be able to better understand the student experience. This strengthened connection will help the SGA achieve its overall goal to “[represent] the student body more and more as time goes on.”
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