by Bobbi Wilson
Coming into our positions last year, Mitch Stith and I were riding off the success of the creation of the newspaper program thanks to the support of many. It is amazing to think of all that has happened since then.
This is thanks to the continued support of those many, and others, along with a great body of senators and other Student Government members. We had a daunting challenge of implementing a new constitution which proved to be frustrating at times and made us realize when things were working or were not.
Despite being in a transition year, we were able to accomplish great things thanks to the hard work of all. The list of accomplishments makes me very proud of the last year, but also very excited for the future.
The following is a list to highlight some of the major accomplishments of Student Government in the 2012-2013 academic year:
– Student Government, along with AMP, collected over 1,000 signatures after presenting to the Presidential Cabinet which will now become effective for current students in fall 2013.
– Senate and AMP, the programming board, successfully worked with our Advisor Deanna Wagner along with the support of President Bowman and Provost Ashbrook to bring Phillip Phillips, the former American Idol winner, to Capital University on March 21, 2013.
– Student Government built relations to be more collaborative going forward with AMP.
– Senator Grant Sharratt (now Vice President) led efforts to work to create a 4 year plan for all majors and minors in every school so that students can prepare for their college career and ensure that they will be able to take all needed classes to complete their degrees on time and make the most of their experience.
– Senator Sharratt also led efforts to address the way that professors are evaluated.
– Efforts to make improvements to the housing lottery process were made by the Student Life committee with Senator Jared Berry leading the initiative.
– Senate passed a resolution to paint the halls in Sailor Ackerman hall to make them more appealing and attractive to the students living there. This will take place in the near future.
– The Alumni Association at Capital University collaborated with Student Government to have an event at the Athletic Club in Columbus to bring them together with alumni that were part of Student Government or are currently in governmental jobs.
I addressed the crowd on what Student Government is currently working on and has accomplished.
– Senate was able to participate in a successful accreditation visit from the Higher Learning Commission in the fall.
– Former Legislative Vice President Scott Partika and I worked closely with Mayor Ben Kessler to establish strong relations with the Bexley community .
We created a Town/Gown Committee that will work to address the needs of both the community and the university in a collaborative effort.
– A planning session was held with the architects who will be renovating the Campus Center to give the input of Student Government based off of what we have heard from students and what Senators believe would be the best for future students.
– Members of Student Government served on various committees and as representatives in meetings across campus.
– Safety issues were addressed. There was lighting put in by the apartments and more lighting has been approved for parking lots on campus over the summer.
The biggest accomplishment that I hope happened this year was that students did not have to read this article to know what the presence of Student Government was on campus. Our goal was to be more visible on campus and accessible to the students.
From what I have seen, I believe that this was accomplished and a foundation for even more interaction in the future will occur. I had a great group of people to work with and it has been an honor to serve the students of Capital University.
I am confident in the abilities of the new leaders, President Mitch Stith, Vice President Grant Sharratt, and Legislative Vice President Jared Berry as well as all of the newly elected senators. I will greatly miss this position and sincerely thank all that helped to make this a successful year.
bwilson@capital.edu
