As SGA election looms, participation lags

Unbeknownst to many ACC students, the Student Government Association is holding elections in April.

SGA is a student committee elected by the ACC student body to oversee various issues related with student life. SGA Director of Communications Billy D. Stallings said the SGA's purpose is "to serve as a direct liaison for the students" before the Board of Trustees as a voice of the students.

The SGA is made up of two branches: the executive and legislative. The executive branch is comprised of seven officers: the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, director of communications, parliamentarian, and student senate chair.

The legislative branch, called the Student Senate, is led by the student senate chair and two student representatives from each ACC campus, in addition to representatives of special student populations (i.e., minority students, disabled students, international students, honor students, etc.). Each officer's duty is fully detailed in the constitution of the SGA, which was last re-written and approved February 2004. Elections are held in April for each position. Any student who meets the required criteria to hold office can run for the SGA.

Stallings is currently running for president of SGA. He said, "The SGA seeks to accurately and thoroughly represent the wishes of the student body." Despite the SGA's best intentions, there are many challenges it faces.

Perhaps the biggest challenge SGA faces is simply being noticed in at a two-year college. Many ACC students are concurrently enrolled at another university, work, have families or are returning to school for career changes, he said.

In a recent poll conducted at ACC, a majority of the students had never heard of SGA. While others had heard of SGA, they were barely interested in its mission, and one student polled expressed no interest in even learning about such a committee.

Stallings said, "There is a need to improve participation within the student body…for without the students who are the very life blood of the SGA, we are limited."

It makes sense that students would appreciate a committee dedicated to addressing student issues and listening to their wants and concerns. However, the irrelevancy of the SGA appears to be mostly due to lack of visibility.