Over the past three years, I have seen so many changes and different phases of growth university-wide. There has been a new university president, changes in HOPE and we have reached a student population of over 20,000 students. However, what I would really like to focus on is the changes in SGA over the past few years.

Firstly, Shuttle Gus, our safe rides program, is doing better than ever. Last year President Standifer changed the number to 912-GSU-RIDE, which is much easier to remember than the previous number and it really boosted our calls. Furthermore, Shuttle Gus has never gone a weekend without volunteers because of our new program to allow student organizations to earn money through volunteering, which particularly helps some organizations who are not usually available for SGA funding. Also, our Shuttle Gus headquarters are now located on campus, in Southern Pines, which has helped dramatically.

Moreover, the leaps this administration has made this past year have been large and full of struggle at times, and yet we have never stopped working as a team. With over 20 years of SGA experience between us, we had a clear idea of what we wanted done, and we did it.

We worked hard to change our format and make senate meetings more productive, so we streamlined the fund request process so that each member of a college would attend the original proposal meeting, share the information with their college and vote on it in senate, which takes approximately 15 minutes instead of the usual 45 minutes.

Also, we have made SGA more reflective of real government and have changed elections so that the president and executive vice president (EVP) run together, and also that the EVP runs the meetings as the Head of Senate. Lastly, we have coordinated meetings that allow colleges to have time with each other to discuss plans for the coming week and what they want to work on for their college in conjunction with regular senate meetings.

We have, overall, been a more productive senate and I can tell you from experience, the most efficient cohort I have seen.

These changes, although only a few listed, have made a strong impact but we are still looking to do MORE. There is always work to be done and improvements to be made.

Do you want to make a difference? If this seems like something that interests you and that you want to get involved with, please visit georgiasouthernsga.com and apply to be a senator for this coming fall. Represent!