During its first meeting of the year Wednesday, the Student Government Association (SGA) discussed the role of the organization on the Saint Mary's campus, student body president Nicole Gans said.
"We want to keep a positive attitude and have fun," Gans said. "We are here to support one another as well as our student body."
SGA should be able to "develop student leaders and let other students know how they can be more involved," she said.
Vice president Jackie Zupanic echoed the message of collaboration with the Saint Mary's student body.
"Support one another," Zupanic said. "Make sure to ask questions when needed and also be knowledgeable of every aspect in SGA, not just your own."
Vice President of Student Affairs Karen Johnson said one of the roles for student government should be upholding the College's values.
"You need to make sure that the truth is visible to students and that SGA is consistent with the mission of Saint Mary's," Johnson said.
As the group outlined its goals for the school year, chief of staff Emily Skirtich said the SGA members should be "more unified."
"We should pioneer new ideas to empower ourselves as SGA, as well as the student body," Skirtich said.
SGA commissioners also shared their goals for the semester.
SGA member Laura Glaub, the organizer for "Love Your Body" week last year, said she wants to work on more campus programming this year.
"I want to be able to bring more positive events to Saint Mary's campus," Glaub said.
The group also discussed club finances. Skirtich said the club's management of finances should be fair.
"We should be striving for equity when giving allotments to clubs on campus," Skirtich said.
Gans said supporting the clubs on campus is reminder of their support from student government.
"Giving clubs and organizations on campus support financially shows that we have faith in them," she said.
Technology commissioner Maureen Parsons added that SGA members should be considerate of student needs when distributing funds.
"We need to be smart with money, as well as [take] the time to look at what the money is going to and if its going to be a benefit to the student body," Parsons said.
As the SGA members looked ahead to the fall semester, public relations commissioner Amanda Lester said the group would make an effort to reach out to the student body.
"We want to be able to bring a larger connection between SGA and our student body," Lester said. "We want to them to see all the good things that SGA has to offer."
