SGA talks spring elections

The Student Government Association laid out details for the 2018 spring online election cycle at its meeting yesterday afternoon.

The elections, which serve to fill leadership positions within SGA and the Student Programming Association, will run from March 18 to March 21, said Dolly McGeever of the Office of Student Affairs. “Petitions [are] to run for Student Government president, vice president or senators and Student Programming president and vice president,” McGeever said.

Additionally, students will vote for this year’s Mr. and Ms. Nicholls titles.

McGeever said that the candidates for SGA president and vice president must meet certain qualifications, in addition to taking tests.

“To run for president, you have to be carrying at least nine hours. You have to have completed at least 12 hours of credit. You have to have a 2.5 cumulative GPA and a 2.0 semester GPA,” McGeever said. “The president and vice president both take tests. The president’s test is on the constitution and the bylaws, and the vice president’s test is on parliamentary procedures.”

Petitions for the available SGA and SPA positions are due to the SGA office by March 2 at 4:30 p.m., Mr. and Ms. Nicholls nominations are due by March 7 at 4:30 p.m.

SGA President Tommy Thibodeaux said that he participated in a panel on Wednesday for the inaugural University of Louisiana System conference where representatives for all nine schools in the system were present to discuss concerns over state budget cuts.

“A lot of times we all see each other as competition. We all go after the same students. Who can give the best scholarships? Who has the best facilities? But this one was coming together to see how we can all talk about [the problem of] budget cuts,” Thibodeaux said.

In addition, SGA Vice President Austin Wendt said that he received mostly favorable feedback in response to an email regarding the proposed free period and that SGA will send a survey to students soon to gather additional feedback.

SGA also passed motions to purchase two M8 charging stations at a total of $1,458 for the library and to approve the organization’s spring 2018 budget.