The B u l l daw g Bulletin 7PMVNF t *TTVF
January 2013
Up c o m i n g E v e n t s Academic Majors Fair: February 12 Dawgs at the Dome: February 14 Professor Recognition Banquet: March 7 SGA Committees: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Senate: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Connect with SGA! Twitter: @UGASGA Facebook.com/uga.sga www.sga.uga.edu ugasgaexec@gmail.com
Message from the President
A message from the President I’m very excited that you’re reading the first edition of The Bulldawg Bulletin, the Student Government Association’s newsletter. In our nine months in office, Marshall, Anush and I have made a dedicated effort to reach out to and communicate with many different student organizations. Hopefully we’ve already met or been in contact, but if not, I am sure we’ll be speaking with you soon. We are your representative voice to the administration and government. This year, I have the privilege of serving on the Presidential Search Committee charged with finding President Adams’ replacement. I can promise that we will find a studentcentered president to lead UGA in the coming years.
The rest of this year in SGA can be summed up with one word: resources. Our newly formed Technology Committee has been working to develop a UGA Mobile App that will go live this semester. It will offer everything from the master calendar to building hours and a campus map. We’ve also been working to host Dawgs at the Dome, a day in Atlanta that gives UGA students the opportunity to lobby the representatives about issues important to us. These are just two examples of what we’ve been hard at work on this year, with much more progress to come. SGA is working hard for you, and we are always looking to help students however we can. Please stop by our office in the CSO or email us at ugasgaexec@gmail.com, so that we can best represent you. Will Burgess
SGA Committees The Special Programs Committee is working on some great events for the coming year! Our SGA just traveled to Auburn University for Better Relations Day on November 9th and had a great time while learning a lot from our fellow SEC institution. We are now focusing on the Academic Majors Fair, which will be held in February, and our 25th anniversary events for the spring semester. We are also in the process of planning the first ever SGA formal! We are excited for everything that the rest of the year has in store.
Diversity Collette Toney | ctoney13@gmail.com
Sarah Beck | sarahnbeck@gmail.com
Sarah Hughes | smhughes11@gmail.com
The Diversity Committee has been very active this year. We have started the UGA Student Veterans of America Club where student veterans and supporters of all ages can go and learn more about veteran benefits, concerns, issues, etc. of higher education. During this holiday season, my committee donated and sponsored two families through the GA Daze Angel Tree, UGA Student Food Pantry, Toys for Tots and other hands-on activities.
As the Director of Technology, my main goal is to create an official University of Georgia mobile app focused on the students’ need to have university information available on their mobile phone. The app will include live tracking of buses, daily menus and nutrition facts of dining halls and access to all university calendars. Eventually, I plan to have eLearning Commons compatible with all mobile devices and I intend to develop a method of mobile class registration. This app will be designed to convenience students, centralize all university information and to personally fit every student.
External Affairs
Special Programs
Technology Jeff Simpson | Jeff1993@uga.edu
The External Affairs Committee in SGA works to connect students at the local, state and federal levels of government. On February 14th, SGA will have our first annual student-lobbying event, Dawgs at the Dome. The beginning of the day will be spent having breakfast with legislators and students will have the opportunity to watch voting take place. We will then have a panel with UGA alumni working at the Capitol. The last half of the day will be spent lobbying legislators on issues that students care about most, like the HOPE Scholarship and alcohol policies. If you are interested in participating, please email sarahnbeck@ gmail.com.
One recent project of the Campus Life Committee was ensuring that the new Student Legal Services Office was staffed with enough volunteer counselors to be fully operational by Spring 2013. Through this new service, students will have the opportunity to meet with an attorney for a preliminary consultation regarding any legal matter with no initial fees. We have also polled the student body to assess areas on campus where they feel unsafe due to insufficient lighting. We have analyzed responses and are now taking steps to make those areas more inviting.
Campus Life
Richie Steinberg | richie18@uga.edu
Senate at a Glance Senate has been off to a great start this year and is continuing that trend as we wrap up the fall semester. The theme that Vice President Marshall Mosher and I have worked to implement is unity within Senate. With some Senators elected and others appointed, there has, in past years, been somewhat of a divide between those two groups. We started off the year, once the appointed Senators were in place, with a retreat centered on that goal of unity and mutual respect. It would now be impossible to walk into a Senate meeting and find such cliques. This unity has improved the effectiveness of Senate and enabled spirited yet respectful discussion about legislation. Another new aspect that has proved very positive is the revamped committee system. Prior to this year, all senators had been required to go to one of the four committee meetings every other week. There are 10 committees this year each focusing on a specific area of student interest. Each committee has a senator who acts to represent the interests of his or her committee in Senate and sponsor resolutions on behalf of the com-
mittee. This change has challenged those senators who chose to become involved to accomplish more projects and work harder to serve students. Our most active Senate liaisons have been Greek Life Senator Tripp Calloway and Franklin College Senator Laura Toulme, who work with the External Affairs Committee and the Environmental Affairs Committee respectively. Franklin College Senators Pranay Udutha and Matthew Sanders, Multicultural Senator Shawn Wiggins and I all authored legislation during the fall term with many others who have sponsored different resolutions and bills. We still have Senate seats vacant for the following colleges and areas of student life: the Odum School of Ecology, the College of Education (2), Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, the School of Social Work, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Medical Partnership and Religious organizations. If you have any questions about Senate or would like to get involved please feel free to contact me at oconnell.richie@ gmail.com. Richie O’Connell
At the September Presidential Search Forum, Environmental Affairs Committee led 30+ student groups in a mutual ask for an environmentally-concerned president. In October, the committee and Go Green Alliance issued “A Student Proposal to Increase the Green Fee” which, if passed, will double the amount of sustainability initiatives on campus. SGA Resolution 25-08 (for Geothermal at the new Veterinary hospital) passed overwhelmingly and 25-09 (for Jacob Spaulding | jspau92@uga.edu a de-centralized energy feasibility study) passed unanimously.
Environmental Affairs
Interested in running for SGA Elections will be taking place during the Spring 2013 semester. Elections are for students interested in running to represent their college as a senator or for president, vice president and treasurer. Stay posted for more information!
Communications Department
The Bulldawg Bulletin: Patrick Klibanoff Editor, Press Secretary pklibanoff@gmail.com Hadley Dreibelbis Director of Communications hadleydreib@gmail.com Communications Team: Jim Thompson Jordan Elder Will Walker
D a w g s a t Student Legal the Dome S e r v i c e s SGA is working with the University and government officials to organize the first annual Dawgs at the Dome event. This event will be a celebration of UGA as well as an opportunity to interact with lawmakers and staffers. SGA representatives and attendees will be able to speak with state officials on the issues which they are most passionate. Attendees will also learn about future internship and job possibilities at the State Capitol. SGA has a number of seats open for all students, so please apply! Applications will be accepted until January 27, 2012 at 5 p.m. The application can be accessed at www.tinyurl.com/DawgsattheDome
We are proud to announce that SGA has partnered with six Athens attorneys to offer free legal consultations for students. If you have any legal issues: criminal or civil, please email ugastudentlegalservices@ gmail.com to schedule a consultation with one of these attorneys on campus. These issues could range from landlord disputes and traffic tickets to criminal violations. Any meeting with the attorney will be subject to the rules of attorney-client privilege. We are very excited to offer this service to students. Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Academic M ajors Fair The Academic Affairs committee is in the process of planning the first annual Academic Majors Fair. All University of Georgia Departments are invited to provide information to students about prospective majors. The Academic Majors Fair will take place in Tate Grand Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 12 from 10 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Small Clubs A l l o c at i o n SGA is here to serve you through the Small Clubs Allocations Committee, which allocates $10,000 to help sponsor events or activities for your student organizations. You can fill out an application and find guidelines for the process online (http://sga.uga.edu/ applications/index.html). Please use these funds as a way for your organization to increase your presence on campus! Submit all applications or any questions you may have to ugasgatreas@gmail.com.
Professor Recognition Honors Nomination forms are currently available for students to recognize outstanding professors at UGA. Please visit http://sga.uga.edu/applications/professorrecognition.html to complete a nomination form and for more information. Please take advantage of this opportunity to acknowledge some of the exceptional educators on this campus. Nominations will be accepted until January 25, 2013.