SANDRENE HAMILTON
Special to The Leader
Fredonia’s student-run government, known as the Student Association (SA), has a hand in how much of the campus functions. Whether it is clubs, budgets, transportation or legal help, SA assists students in many matters on campus.
In order to do so, they need students to join and be willing to jump into the various sections of student government that helps clubs, and the students that are a part of said clubs, function continually.
The Student Association has a representative body that votes on matters such as someone wanting to be appointed to standing committees.
“The court is one of the standing committees but the requirement is that the people who are elected there are not involved in anything else than SA,” said Jason Cheung, the Comptroller for SA. Cheung says that this is to reduce bias.
Budget & Appropriations, Elections and Sustainability are a few examples of the standing committees that people can be appointed to. Any student can be appointed to these committees as long as they are a member of SA.
“You can definitely be involved in other places in SA,” Cheung said.
So what makes someone a candidate for open positions in SA? Cheung says there isn’t really a requirement. But you do have to be in good standing with the college and have an interest or passion for student government.
“Every semester [on] Activities Night we try to promote and recruit as [many] people interested in joining the Student Association. After that, our president will contact them and talk to them individually telling them all the opportunities you have in SA.”
Cheung also said that people sometimes just come into the SA office to talk about wanting to be involved in SA. When this happens, Cheung says that the people in the office talk to the interested individual about the different positions that are available at that time.
“There are a lot of purposes for SA,” Cheung said. “One of them is we govern the clubs and make sure the clubs are fulfilling their policies and mission statements. We also manage the funding.”
Pertaining to the budget, SA also goes through Budget Week, which is typically held in the Spring semester. During this week, SA helps clubs determine their budgets and allocate funds for the upcoming year. After every club has gone through budget week, GA Day is held later in the semester.
This year, GA Day was held on March 2 at 11 a.m. During this meeting, each club must say whether or not they are satisfied with the budget allocated to them and the representatives of SA must decide if the overall SA budget will be approved.
The meetings have been known to last for hours if clubs are not satisfied with their budgets but this year, the meeting lasted for 20 minutes with each club being satisfied and the overall budget being approved.
Cheung also said that the campus and community bus is operated by SA and that lawyer services are available if someone is in need of legal consultation.
“You can come in to set up an appointment with our lawyer and he can provide some information,” Cheung said.
Cheung says that SA tries to advocate for students for a lot of matters.
If you are interested in joining, their office is located on the first floor of the Williams Center in room G112.
Jason Cheung is the Web Editor for The Leader