SGA Monthly Report February 2015

Greetings!

In the interest of informing you about the progress of the Student Government Association, this

monthly report is produced to summarize the initiatives and hard work of our team. At this

point, Vice President Dan McCord and I are pleased to report that we have completed all but

two of our platform goals. Please feel free to follow up with me with any questions, comments,

or concerns. The report is designed to briefly outline main goals and I am more than happy to

answer any questions or provide more information.

Remember that SGA is a resource for you to get in touch with the student body. We exist to

serve as a liaison and to provide two-way communication between entities within the shared

governance structure.

Thank you,

Tobi Polland

Student Body President 2014-2015

For more information including our minutes and legislation, please click here.

Updates:

SGA meetings are on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Azalea Room. The last SGA meeting of

the semester is Tuesday, April 7th. These meetings are open to the public, so please feel free to

attend.

SGA has recently changed their Senate structure to Project Teams instead of Student Affairs,

Business Affairs, and Academic Affairs. Multicultural Affairs Committee has changed their

name to the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. Appropriations Committee and Marketing

Committee will remain the same. This structure change has enabled us to become more task-

oriented and efficient in addressing student issues and establishing partnerships with Faculty,

Staff, Administration, the UNC Association of Student Governments, and Student

Organizations.

SGA is also collecting ideas for a better UNCW.

Please fill out this brief survey if you have ideas you'd like to share.

Elections:

SGA has added an Elections Qualifications Survey and all candidates must

pass with a 70% or higher within two attempts.

Campaigning will commence on Monday, March 16th at 12:01 a.m.

Polls will open on Monday, March 23rd at 9:00 a.m. (please remind

students to vote!) and will close on Wednesday, March 25th at 5:00 p.m.

SGA Inauguration will be on Tuesday, April 14th.

The full Spring Elections Timeline can be found here.

Committee on Diversity & Inclusion:

SGA hosted their 2nd #dubversity event called "Pizza and Prison: An

Informal Discussion on Orange is the New Black". The event was held on

February 26th in preparation for Piper Kerman's visit to UNCW on March

3rd. The event facilitated a discussion about the characters and

controversies in the show such as prison reform, gender roles, and racism.

The committee responded to a student sensitivity issue about the white

ponchos given to prospective students and their families during campus

visits. Thanks to Matt Rodgers and Marcio Moreno, once the white ponchos

are out of inventory, UNCW will start purchasing different colors.

The Association of Student Governments has allocated $1,300 for Brother

Pos(itive) which will be held on March 18th starting at 11:30 a.m. in the

amphitheater. This event is designed to mimic Brother Ross's visits to

campus in style (aggressive signs, raised voice, passionate preaching) but

offers an opposite message (signs of positive words of encouragement, signs

with compliments, etc). The event will also give away 300 #dubversity t-

shirts to celebrate UNCW as a campus committed to celebrating diversity

and inclusion.

For more information about the initiatives of this committee, click here.

Marketing Committee:

Feel My Teal Basketball Game: SGA tabled on February 4th to promote the

game and during the sold out game, gave out 750 t-shirts and 100

promotional items.

SGA's promotional video aired in Lumina before the Birdman movie

showing on Friday, February 27th. The ad promoted our student services

and initiatives to a max capacity audience of 330 people.

Humans of the Dub was successfully launched on February 13th as part of

our initiative to spread school spirit and showcase the Student, Faculty,

Staff, and Administration of UNCW.

Created an Instagram, Twitter, Blog, and Facebook Album

@humansofthedub and gained 117 followers on Instagram within the first

two weeks.

The Blog for Humans of the Dub has 2,693 views from 682 unique visitors

within the first two days of launch. As of February 25th, we have a total of

3,289 views from 860 unique visitors.

The Facebook Album for Humans of the Dub has reached 3,726 people,

1,246 post-clicks and 919 photo views as well as gained a combined total of

335 likes, comments, and shares since the launch.

Research & UNCW Advocacy Project Team:

SGA has drafted three resolutions to present to SGA Senate on March 3rd

regarding the Federal and State priorities adopted by the UNC General

Administration:

(1) Resolution to express the need for transparency in the UNC-System to

respond to two concerns: a lack of information concerning the change in

leadership and the need for all system stakeholders to be informed of

changes.

(2) Resolution supporting the increase in campus carry-forward budgets

from 2.5% to 5%.

(3) Resolution supporting the reinstatement of the Chancellor's ability to

utilize up to $1 million on capital projects for the improvements of the

campus (Section 36.6 G.S. 116-13.1).

Academic Partnerships Project Team:

Please take this survey to suggest ideas for the library by clicking here.

SGA has begun our first-ever official process for recognizing Faculty, Staff,

and Administration on our campus. Nominations opened on February 26th

and will close on March 16th. The nominations will be reviewed by the

Faculty Senate and Staff Senate before selection and award distribution on

Tuesday, April 7th at 7:30 p.m.

Please nominate! See the links below to review the criteria and submit your

nomination.

Outstanding Faculty in Student Engagement: http://goo.gl/forms/Ke0MMYQSdg

Outstanding Staff in Student Impact: http://goo.gl/forms/JdwACYWZj5

Outstanding Administrator in University Leadership: http://goo.gl/forms/Jj3sqp09T9

Thank You:

Without the support and assistance of the following people and departments, we would not

have been able to accomplish our goals this month.

Thank you to Mark Lanier, Dr. Gabriel Lugo, and Ms. Terry Ismert for

assisting SGA with developing a resolution to express the need for transparency

in the decision to remove Tom Ross and the direction of Higher Education within

the UNC-System.

Thank you to Jesse Bradley and Nekira Woodbury from the Office of

University Relations for their spectacular talent and effort in helping SGA

produce a promotional, informative video ad to premiere in Lumina Theatre

before the showing of Birdman.

Thank you to the Residence Hall Association for partnering with SGA to

table in Galloway, Graham-Hewlett, Belk, Tri-House, and Schwartz First-Year

Residence Halls to hear the concerns of students.

Thank you to the Randall Library Team for purchasing and installing

whiteboard tabletops in Randall and thank you to Vice Chancellor Pat

Leonard for purchasing more whiteboards for the Learning Center.

Thank you to Jimmy Bass, Dana Harris, and Joe Browning in

Athletics for assisting us with promoting Student Athletes and discussing plans

for future partnership and engagement.

Thank you to Campus Dining and the Auxiliary Services for consistently

working with SGA to hear student input on decisions regarding campus updates

and meal plan changes.

Thank you to the UNC Association of Student Governments for granting us

$947.o0 to purchase 30 outlet stations and $1,150 for the Zero-Waste Tealgate.

Thank you to Christina Logan for being a campus advocate for the utilization

of the Guidebook app to ensure that the Student Body has a modern,

comprehensive way to access information quickly and conveniently.

Thank you to Sarah Watstein, the Randall Library Team, Provost

Battles, and the Innovation Council for providing an opportunity for

Students, Faculty, and Staff to voice ideas for an improved library.

Thank you to EH&S, Aramark Staff, Auxiliary Services, Warehouse

Services, Athletics, RHA, ACE, Ms. Jenni Harris, Campus Police, and

Waste Management Corporation for being exceptionally supportive and

truly propelling the progress of the Zero-Waste Tealgate event scheduled for the

4/8 NC State Baseball Game and the 4/22 (Earth Day) UNC-Chapel Hill Baseball

Game.

Thank you to Dean Mike Walker, Vice Chancellor Pat Leonard, Dr.

Gabriel Lugo, and Ms. Terry Ismert for helping SGA coordinate a process

for recognizing Faculty, Staff, and Administration in the first-ever SGA Awards in

Student Engagement.

Thank you to Marcio Moreno in Admissions and Matt Rogers in

Aramark for helping SGA address a sensitivity issue raised by students

regarding the white ponchos given to prospective students and families.

Feel My Teal was a huge success! Thank You to Athletics, the UNCW Basketball Team, and Jon Kapell for providing two signed giveaways for UNCW fans.

Humans of the Dub Highlight:

"I always try to give a compliment to students who come in. Cause it’s not all about

selling stamps. I want to give them a good feeling about being here even though they did

spend their money. And it’s genuine. Because everyone has something special, and I

honor that. And that really makes my day. It’s kind of funny how that works out.

Students think, ‘Oh she does all this for us’, but really, after 22 years of working here,

you know how many smiles that is for me? All day every day. I feel like I have the best

job in the whole wide world. I really do. Although I may not let my boss know that, it's

how I really feel deep down. And I always think about when I retire what I would say.

And between all the customers that come in here, from faculty, staff, regular public

retirees, and all the students I've been able to work with… That’s a whole lot of smiles.

I’m a lucky person and I’m grateful every day.”

This post had several comments by students expressing gratitude for Karen

Brunamonti's positivity and friendliness to students. The post reached 591 people and

was liked by 24 people. To see our full collection of posts, visit here.

Appropriations:

In the month of February, we have allocated $8,610.20 to nine

different Student Organizations.

$4,917.29 was allocated for Student Organization travel requests.

There is no funding left to allocated for travel requests.

$3,692.91 was allocated for Student Organization on-campus

programs. There is $2,916 left to allocate for programming.

Capital Expenditure requests were due by February 17th and

Operational Budgets were due on February 24th. These allocations

will be discussed by Appropriations Committee in February and voted

for approval or denial by the Senate in March.

For more information about the funding process, click here.

Save the Date: The first-ever Zero-Waste Tealgate!

Event dates: 4/8 NC State Baseball Game and 4/22 (Earth Day) UNC Chapel Hill Location: Big Backyard (behind Galloway and Graham-Hewlett Hall)

Tealgate event will be powered by Clean Energy Solar-Powered Generator

200 tickets are available for the baseball game and will be given out by TeamTeal during the tailgate.

Event will utilize composting and recycling to maintain that it is 90% sustainable to meet the qualifications for a Zero-Waste event.

Save the Date: It's Our Tealiversary

Event date: Tuesday, March 24th 4-6 p.m. location: TBA (most likely amphitheatre if weather permits)

SGA will partner with RHA and University Advancement to celebrate the 10th annual Teal Tuesday to showcase UNCW's school spirit for our spectacular donors during University Advancement's 24-Hour Giving Campaign!

Save the Date: ETEAL Exploration Day

Event date: Wednesday, March 18th 10 A.M. to 1 P.M

This event will be hosted in every academic building and student centers (FUU, FSU, Library)

The event will showcase applied learning experiences and opportunities where students and faculty work and learn.

Points of Pride Highlight: Watson College of Education

The Watson School of Education was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as #35 in the country for Online Education (Graduate-level), which puts us tied with North Carolina State University for the top ranking in the state. Do you have a point of pride that you'd like to contribute? Email Kara Johnson, SGA Chief of Staff to submit: knj9817@uncw.edu

Check out our promotional video that features highlights of SGA's initiatives this year. Thank you again to the Office of University Relations for making this possible!

Congrats to the UNCW Irish Dance Club for being honored as the Multicultural Organization for the month of February 2015!

SGA won the Homecoming Spirit Competition for "City of Teal" Homecoming 2015!

Congrats to SGA's Director of Communications, Sara Gurley for being selected as 1st runner up for Homecoming Queen 2015.

Congrats to SGA's At-Large Senator, Alfred Addy for being selected as the Homecoming King 2015.

Our Mission:

We, the members of the SGA, in the firm belief that Student Government can result in individual growth and is a collective advantage to the students at this University, attempt to assure that student opinion and activities are an integral part of the University community. We will insure the development of freedom of thought, the exchange of ideas, and guarantee the rights and privileges of the students at this University.

UNCW SGA 2014-2015