Motlow Student Government Election Brings New Changes

By Sydney Smith

Motlow Buzz Reporter

                SMYRNA, Tenn. – The new advisement team for the Motlow State Community College Student Government Association has big changes planned for the Smyrna campus following the 2017 SGA elections.  

                The 2017 SGA elections have started on the MSCC campuses. E-mails have been sent out, and students were encouraged to vote for their favorite candidates between April 18 and April 20. Applications are now closed, and new petitions are no longer being accepted as the winners are being chosen.

                The Smyrna campus has seven positions for students in the SGA: three seats for sophomore senator, three seats for freshman senator, and one seat for vice-president. Students Jacob Sharp, Virginia DaForno, and Mollie McDonald applied for vice-president. Justin Cardwell was the only candidate for senator.

                McDonald won the vice presidency, and Cardwell was voted senator. The two candidates who did not win for vice president will be offered senator positions instead.

                Along with the new candidates, the SGA has been undergoing new changes to the student advisement team. Previously, students were advised by Assistant Director of Student Services Gary Winton. However, Winton stepped down last fall. Beginning this year, students will now be under the collected advisement of Adjunct Professor of Social Science William Kraus, Instructor of Biology Stacy Dowd, and Instructor of Chemistry and Physical Science Nicole Speelman.

                The new advisement team is very passionate about the SGA and increasing its role on the Smyrna campus. One of the biggest changes to the SGA will be an increased number of meetings to help raise awareness for new students to get involved.

                Raising awareness for the SGA is one of the biggest obstacles for the new advisement team, and the advisors hope that the newly elected students will be able to bridge the gap between staff and students at the school. The new SGA team plans to increase communication between campuses as well, to better organize school events.

“We don’t want to be just the free food club.” Dowd said, “We want to push more of the behind-the-scenes aspect of it, having a way to be involved and shape the campus.”

                In addition to raised awareness, a special SGA leadership course has been planned to help students get even further involved in campus government, according to Kraus.  The course would focus on leadership skills in a local government setting and would encourage students to get more involved on their campus. Due to a tight course schedule for the upcoming fall semester, the course will likely be pushed back until the 2018 semesters.

                With all the changes planned, the new year promises to be exciting for both staff and students on the Smyrna campus. As the third building breaks ground this summer, SGA members will have plenty of decisions to make.

                Although applications for the current election are closed, Dowd stressed that it’s important for students to get involved on their campus. SGA meetings will be open for all students to attend, SGA official or not.

                Students interested in getting involved should keep an eye on their Motlow E-mail for news regarding SGA meetings. In addition, students can visit the MSCC website for more information at http://www.mscc.edu/sga/.  

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