SSU Student Government Brings Student Voices to Decision Making Process

January 25, 2021

At Shawnee State, students participating in the Student Government Association (SGA) have an opportunity to help contribute to the leadership decisions being made about activities and organizations for the entire university student body.

“We are the student representation to the university,” SGA President Ryan Schiesser said. “Primarily we handle all student organizations and we work with the different offices within the university to ensure the student voices are heard on a range of different topics and issues.”

The organization offers students a voice within the university, while providing opportunities for leadership, resume building, a paid opportunity and helping other students get involved on campus. Students taking part in SGA have been a part of some important decisions for the university.

“Some of the recent involvement the SGA has been involved with is the food vendor selection where we recommended the selection of Aladdin as the new SSU food vendor,” Schiesser said. “We also provided feedback in the selection of the bookstore vendor.”

SGA has multiple positions within the organization for students to participate. There are volunteer positions within the Congress and paid positions among the Executive Board and Student Senators. Every spring, SGA holds an election to elect the following academic year’s representation.

“In order to become part of SGA there are a couple of avenues,” Schiesser explained. “First, anyone can come to the weekly meetings and speak or just listen. Second, students may come as a student representative and be part of the Congress among the other student organization representatives. Third, anyone interested may apply to be a Student Senator where they will be asked to handle specific matters assigned to them by special committees held by the Executive Board. Finally, if a student wishes to become part of the SGA Executive Board they must petition to run and must win in the election.”

All students are welcome to participate in SGA meetings and activities to stay up to date on new university policies and procedures, while also connecting with other students. SGA meets weekly on Tuesdays at 4 pm via Zoom. Those interested in learning more about SGA or have any questions, can contact SGA President Ryan Schiesser at schiesserr@mymail.shawnee.edu or contact SGA directly at sga@mymail.shawnee.edu.