The Jefferson Administration gssoy
By Ashley Smith
Student Advisor
On April 17, the student government held
elections to determine the university's student
leaders for the 2008-2009 academic year. In the
battle for Student Body President, James Jeffer
son came out victorious against Matthew Wynne.
Jefferson, who is a member of the Epsilon Zeta
chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, served
previously as Vice President of SGA.
Jefferson has a large task ahead of him. Dur
ing his administration, he will faces issues such
as fee increases and parking problems. Luckily,
the exiting president, Clifford Parker, has left the
Student Government in pretty good condition.
However, SGA is still plagued by disorganization
in the Student Senate, and have failed to meet
students' expectations in the past.
"It is one of SGA's strategic goals to make
sure that students are aware of what the student
government association is and what it is doing for
them," says Jefferson. "We want SGA to be a
force next year."
Along with his goals to make SGA a more
powerful organization next year. President-elect
Jefferson is also monitoring developing issues
FSU Issues
Below is a list of issues that face Fayetteville State. These
issues can be used as a starting point for the Student Gov
ernment for the 2008-09 school year. Do you have other
issues? Post them on our website at:
www.fsuvoice.com/messageboard
Parking; SGA needs to develop a long-term solution to the parking problem at FSU.
They could draw up plans for a parking garage, or look at the possibility to putting
up parking meters around campus to help raise money for new parking solutions.
Campus Minorities; Campus minorities, which includes those not African-Ameri
can, are underrepresented in almost all clubs and organizations on campus, includ
ing SGA. The Student Government should address this issue and work with com
muter groups like AUTOS to encourage campus involvement by all demographics.
Campus Security: Students have been asking for years for the university to install
security cameras throughout the campus to help deter, crime and catch those that
commit crimes on campus. SGA can pressure the administration to install cameras
by passing a Bill or Resolution calling for better campus security.
Non-Traditional Students; Students in the Graduate Programs, or non-traditional
students taking night classes don't have support services Uke advisors available in
the evenings when they are in class. Many of those students work during the day,
so when they need to speak to an advisor about issues on campus they have to take
off of work. SGA needs to develop a plan to help evening students get the support
services they need during the night hours.
Writing Samples; Fayetteville State University has some of the lowest entry-level
standards in the UNC system. One way that we could increase our standards is to
require a writing sample with all applications to the university, that could be used
to help determine is a student is able to be successful at Fayetteville State, or if they
should seek remedial English courses at a community college. SGA could push for
higher writing and English standards during the next academic year.
like the parking situation at Fayetteville State. He
says that a short-term fix to the parking problem
is already established because, as of next year,
freshmen won't be able to have a car on cam
pus. He says that this should cut down on some of
the parking problems. "Eventually, SGA and the
administration will have to sit down ond develop
a long-term plan to fix the parking problem," he
says.
Some students have claimed that Fayetteville
State doesn't do enough to bring the entire stu
dent body together or cater to all groups at FSU.
"FSU has an interesting campus dynamic be
cause out of our 6,700 students, the majority of
them happen to be commuters," says Jefferson.
"Commuters usually go to class and go home, or
go to class then go to work. There needs to be
a.plan to increase campus engagement. This is
something that may be done in one year, or the
next year," he says.
Jefferson contends that his primary goal is to
serve the student body. "SGA isn't here to serve
ourselves, or just the student leaders," he says.
"We're here to serve the student body."
One of the negative issues that has surround
ed the student government over the past couple
of years has been the poor turnout at the annual
Stand & Deliver leadership conference. The con
ference this year cost over $25,000 and had a
turnout of a little more than 40 people for the
majority of the conference. Turnout for the key
note speaker was a bit larger, but still nowhere
near what it should be for that amount of money.
President-elect Jefferson believes that the confer
ence is "a great initiative." He says that for next
year's conference the student government must
"advertise early and hard, and find more of a
household name speaker that students can relate
to."
"We need to make sure that student funds are
being used properly," he says. As far as the stra
tegic goals for his administration, Jefferson wants
"to improve the quality of campus life, make stu
dents knowledgeable of the resources around
them, and get the administration to be in tune
with student needs," he says. "In general, I want
Fayetteville State University to be better academi
cally, socially, and responsibly than it was when
I came here in the fall of 2005 when I leave in
May 2009."
Only time will tell how history will judge Jef
ferson's administration. One thing is for certain;
it is about time that Fayetteville State has a stu
dent government that is truly looking out for the
students, instead of being preoccupied planning
parties and events.
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