During the spring and summer of 2009, The News heavily criticized the administration for its lack of transparency in deciding to restructure the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Criminal. But when the administration finally opened up a little and told us what was going on, we commended them. Now, it’s time we do the same for another heavily-criticized group.
The Student Government Association (SGA) has been, and always will be, under scrutiny. It comes with the territory, It was just last week the this editorial section was almost entirely devoted to SGA issues. A group with such influence should always be checked. This week, though, we give credit where credit is due.
As The News reported in this issue, senior parliamentarian and chair of the Senate Nominations and Elections Committee Christian Toczko introduced new amendments to restructure SGA at the joint-senate hearing Monday night. In short, the goal of the proposed restructuring (yes, more buzz words) is to separate the Senate, the Executive Board and the president into distinct branches of government. The new structure would closely mimic the system of branches that the US government has always been based on. It would only be missing a judiciary branch, currently in the hands of OSCCR, but Toczko mentioned intentions to create one within SGA.
Of course, the US government has problems, but the system of checks and balances that exists between the executive, legislative and judicial branches is generally effective. It makes sense that a student government at an American university would want to emulate it.
Right now, plans are preliminary, but hopefully some healthy debate and cooperation will produce an improved structure that benefits the student body.
Another amendment introduced during Monday night’s joint-senate hearing will eliminate time logs for the president and vice presidents of SGA. The current system requires them to record how they spend time working, but the amendment now requires monthly reports describing the work they’ve done. The goal is to focus any documentation on the quality, not quantity of work.
Again, we want to recognize a good idea when we see one. Recent letters to the editor in The News have questioned the way time is spent by SGA leaders and in meetings, and this is a smart, simple way to address those concerns. Not only does it ask quality work of the president and vice presidents, it reduces time spent logging work, leaving more time for other duties.
Hopefully, these amendments will live up to their potential. It’s about more than making good policy, it’s about implementing policy in a meaningful, effective way. These changes can be big steps in a good direction for SGA ‘- let’s hope they work.

‘