With elections on the horizon, members of West Virginia University’s Student Government Association reflect on the work done and what they hope to accomplish with the remainder of their terms.
Each governor should be able to complete the goals set within his or her platform by next election, said SGA Vice President Whitney Rae Peters.
All of the governors are working on something, she said, but some are working harder than others.
Gov. Molly Wilson and Gov. Taylor Richmond are in a tie of the hardest working governors, Peters said.
"I think (Wilson) is just really diligent, she shows up when she says shes going to be somewhere and she’s working on her platform," Peters said. "Richmond is such a hard worker, he falls in the same league as her."
The current board of governors has its share of disappointments, she added.
"There’s always a few every year. You see them get elected and occasionally they slack here or there," she said "Some will fall through with the platform they say they were going to work on."
Peters added even though some governors’ platforms fall through, she or SGA Presdient Jason Zuccari are always sought for advice. She is impressed by how some governors balance a work schedule, full class load or a residential advisor position on top of SGA work.
Kate Bostic
PLATFORM: Club sports
What do you have planned for the future? Earlier this semester, University President James P. Clements promised money for recreational sports at WVU. Figuring out what to budget with the money is her main focus, Bostic said.
"We are focusing on what facilities we need," she said. "A multipurpose field is something that I’m trying to get started."
What have you been working on? Helping Gov. Taylor Richmond with the logistics of Sustainability Day and researching the possibility of an outdoor classroom is what she has been working on, she said.
How do you make yourself available for students? Giving out her e-mail address to students is the best way to contact her, she said.
"A lot of people go to Jason (Zuccari) for club sports questions, and that’s totally fine," she said. "He has a direct link to the President and a lot of the questions I get asked, I forward to him."
Are you running for reelection? "No, I have to take 20 hours a semester until I graduate," she said. "There are other things I want to work on other than SGA, and I want to let someone else take part in that experience."
Contact this governor: kbostic@mix.wvu.edu
Jason Butts
PLATFORM: Residential Education
What do you have planned for the future? Making rental equipment available at the Mountainlair is a something the University needs, Butts said.
"You could go out and rent a football, basketball or baseball," Butts said. "That way students can play on the green when it’s nice out."
What have you been working on? Butts said he is working to place defibrillators in every dorm and provide training for RAs to use them.
During last week’s meeting, he presented a resolution placing this issue on the University’s agenda.
How do you make yourself available for students? "I listen to students at Speak Up forums," he said. "This is the best way that I have found issues from students that I wanted to work on."
Are you running for reelection? "I will be here for grad school," he said. "Right now, I’m not sure if I am going to run again."
Contact this governor: jbutts1@mix.wvu.edu
Molly Casto
PLATFORM: International Students and increasing scholarships for the study abroad program
What do you have planned for the future? Casto plans to raise money toward a scholarship for students who want to study abroad, she said. Eligible students have to be members of the Study Abroad Club, she added.
What have you been working on? Currently, she is also working on uploading the study abroad application to its Web site.
How do you make yourself available for students? "I go to the International House once a week," she said. "I think most international students know who I am because I’ve had a lot of people ask me about study abroad."
Are you running for reelection? Casto said she plans to run as Vice President on a ticket with Ian McCulloch, a senior political science major, but she is focused now on her platform.
"As I’m finishing out my term, my only concern is my platform," she said. "I told Ian I would only run with him if I felt I was where I wanted to be with the platform."
Contact this governor: mcasto5@mix.wvu.edu
Ron Cheng
PLATFORM: Sexual Assault and self-defense
What do you have planned for the future? Sitting on a self-defense committee, Cheng said he and his members are each working on various programs launching next semester. He also said he is working on implementing more "Fight Like a Girl" classes, classes designed to teach women self defense and trying to start a self-defense class for students with disabilities.
What have you been working on? Each member of the self-defense committee has been researching different areas of self-defense, he said.
"We’ve been working with members of the Morgantown Police Department to implement a self-defense program," Cheng said. "I also worked on getting more self-defense knowledge for University 101 classes."
How do you make yourself available for students? Talking to students who attend SGA meetings is the best way to reach out, he said, adding that he speaks to a lot of organizations about self-defense.
Are you running for reelection? "I’ve had a lot of people asked me and quite frankly, I don’t think I’ve accomplished anything," he said. "I’m not terribly sure, it depends on what I get done."
Contact this governor: rcheng@mix.wvu.edu
Scott Covitz
PLATFORM: Student disability services
What do you have planned for the future? Putting together a benefit dinner for the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and getting speakers from the organization, Reading to the Blind and Dyslexic, to speak during an SGA meeting. The speaker could talk about the program and its usefulness on campus, he said.
What have you been working on? During the Oct. 7 meeting of SGA, the BOG passed Covitz’s resolution to convert extra parking spaced on Lot 10 to handicapped parking.
How do you make yourself available for students? "I’m the head of my fraternity and we hold a lot of media events, so hopefully people know who I am," Covitz said. "If anyone needed anything regarding my platform they could just come up to me."
Are you running for reelection? "I don’t plan to run as a governor again, but I do hope to hold a position somewhere in SGA."
Contact this governor: scovitz@mix.wvu.edu
Nick Fortunato
PLATFORM: Making Student Evaluation of Instructions public
What do you have planned for the future? Turning SEIs into public information to see how students have rated a professor is a goal before the term ends, Fortunato said. The issue presented is the question of where to post the data and students lying on the evaluation.
What have you been working on? Attended the University’s Faculty Senate SEI Committee meeting and presented the idea with Charlie Russel, SGA Alcohol Awareness Coordinator.
"The faculty is actually on board with it," Fortunato said. "The student body – anyone I’ve talked to has been behind the idea."
How do you make yourself available for students? "Through e-mail and face-to-face," he said. "As long as there’s a time set, I’m always open to sitting down one on one with students."
Are you running for reelection? Fortunato said he is graduating next year and plans to apply to Officer Candidate School as a Naval Aviator.
Contact this governor: infortuna@mix.wvu.edu
Kyle Hess
PLATFORM: Advising
What do you have planned for the future? Working with Gov. Ali Mols, Hess said they are developing an advising handbook to give incoming freshman. The handbook would outline some of the things Hess thinks is wrong with advising. The book would be similar to other peer institutions, student-driven, he added.
What have you been working on? Hess sits on the General Elective Courses Oversight Committee, made up of a group of faculty and staff. Hess is the only student member on the committee, which is charged with auditing GEC classes, he said. The team is reviewing making new GEC classes and renewing others.
How do you make yourself available for students? Stopping by the SGA office is the best way to reach him.
"I’m in the office everyday," Hess said.
Are you running for reelection? "I’ll most likely run next year because I haven’t got much accomplished," he said. ‘It’s my first year and it’s really hard to jump in and complete everything you want to do."
Contact this governor: khess1@mix.wvu.edu
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