Q: What exactly do you do?

A: We’re glad you asked. SGA has a lot of duties and responsibilities to the student body, and we’d be happy to share them.
First off, the 41 members of SGA are split up into 5 different committees, Presidents/Vice Presidents (PVP), Student Awareness, Finance, Programming, and Public Relations. The duties of the committees are as follows: PVP is run by the President of the organization, and they think of ways to help each class with their goals and think of their own goals they’d like to accomplish.
The Student Awareness Committee receives concerns from students, and the members are assigned to different areas of campus, such as Facilities, Dining, Library/Technical Support, and Transportation. They work hard to gather student concerns and find solutions to benefit the campus.
The Finance Committee is responsible for the budget and monetary allocation to the different campus organizations. Every month, special appeals take place, which is when various organizations meet with the committee to receive further funding for events and activities.
The Programming Committee works closely with the Student Programming Board and TD Banknorth officials to make campus events as great as possible. Notice the monthly table tents in Café Q that list different events? Those are courtesy of the Programming Committee.
Finally, the Public Relations (PR) Committee is responsible for chartering different organizations, so they can obtain a budget plan from the Finance Committee. The committee also plans events such as Coffee for Commuters and the annual Commuter Lunch, as well as community service and Hamden relations programs. PR also plans the Council of Presidents, where the Presidents from each campus organization come together to participate in a roundtable discussion.
Along with the committees, each class has specific duties based on the goals they’ve chosen to accomplish. Altogether, many of the goals we are trying to accomplish include: video screens at shuttle stops so students can see where the shuttle is and when it will arrive, meal plan packages, updates on fitness center equipment, and making each shuttle wheelchair accessible. We’ve been very busy this year and are excited to complete the goals we have planned.
(Answered by SGA’s Tracy Diamond)