By Lauren Beeman

The Student Government Association started the spring semester by creating a new social media account and brainstorming how to get more students to run for office.

Tuesday night’s meeting began with members of the senate bringing forth student concerns to President Gino Grivetti. Issues presented included restricted access to the main dining room, cleanliness of dorms, and the number of events hosted on campus.

Solutions to the proposed issues including a meeting with Chartwells, discussing maintence issues with residence life staff, and checking the updated event calendar on Moodle.

“Have a little bit of faith,” Grivetti said.

After resolutions were proposed the meeting transformed into a conversation-style format.

“I don’t really have much of an agenda so discussion is what we are doing here,” Grivetti said.

Grivetti wanted to use the meeting time to discuss ideas and present obstacles for the new administration to be cognizant of moving forward.

During the fall elections, SGA experienced a historical first when all candidates for president and vice-president received the same number of votes.

The new administration will be comprised of co-presidents Mary Argana and Abigail Moore and co-vice-presidents Fallon Myers and Ernest Baker.

Argana, who currently serves as vice-president, suggested an inauguration dinner to mark the transition of power. The plans for the dinner are not yet finalized.

The issue of filling all Senate positions still remains at the top of the list for the new administration.

Eight candidates for Senate were elected during the November elections, but four seats still remain vacant. According to the SGA Constitution 2017, in order to be considered a full-voting senate, all 12 seats need to be filled.

Argana suggested nominating students for the positions, but new Senate member Marissa Gonzalez was quick to point out that the proposal seemed to be lacking student engagement.

“Isn’t it counterproductive to encourage people to be a part of this when they didn’t want to run in the first place?” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez then suggested each current SGA member seek out an individual they deem fit for the position and encourage them to join. This suggestion gained favor with senate members and each were told to bring a short list of names to the next meeting.

Newly elected Senator Lakin Hardy suggested the lack of senator applications had to do with the student body’s minimal knowledge regarding the role of SGA.

““I ran for SGA but people don’t really know what its about or how it goes. People don’t have the knowledge about what SGA is and what we do,” Hardy said.

This spurred discussion about reaching out to students and establishing an air of legitimacy on campus.

President-elect Abigail Moore suggested boosting SGA’s social media presence by making an Instagram account and posting daily on the already existent Facebook and Twitter pages. Gonzalez then promptly created an Instagram profile for SGA during the meeting.

Grivetti suggested that one of the vice-presidents-elect should take full responsibility of managing the governing body’s social media accounts.

Discussion regarding social media also included the suggestion that SGA should follow more students and consolidate Quincy University’s overall online presence.

Grivetti’s term as president ends February 27, 2018, and the new administration will take over until November 2018 elections.