Best of Florida Schools 1999 Issue

Best Student Government (Private Colleges)

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Best Student Government (Private Colleges)
     Zeroing in on student safety and strengthening school pride are the two main goals of the University of Miami’s student government, and the Hurricanes have left no stone unturned in their quest to become the best private SG in the state. In last year’s "Best of Florida Schools" rankings, UM earned Honorable Mention honors.
     SG Advisor Richard Walker describes the current administration led by President Andrew Paul, as "very astute. They’re very diligent and dependable, and they have gotten a lot of respect from administrators." A first-ever allocations request to the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee resulted in $10,000 of SG’s $52,000 annual budget earmarked specifically for co-programming with groups including United Black Students, the Federation of Cuban Students, and the Association of Commuter Students. "In the past, a lot of campus organizations were programming for themselves," says SG President Paul. "If we can program together, we can pool our resources and offer a better variety of events to a broader base of students." In an additional display of their desire for unity, SG officers moved from plush, roomy offices overlooking a lake to interior rooms in the middle of the student union, closer to other campus groups. To increase SG’s profile, they asked one of Prof. Donn Tilson’s public relations classes to plan an awareness campaign, launched in mid-February, to increase voter turnout.
     To minimize the risk of students being struck by cars on busy U.S. Highway 1 after mega-mall Sunset Place opened across the street in late January, campus leaders lobbied administrators to co-sponsor a special shuttle. Working with the vice presidents for student affairs and business services, as well as UM’s parking and transportation department and the division of public safety, SG launched a pilot program in February to provide free rides from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The shuttle, reassigned from the school’s regular "Hurry Cane" fleet, picks up students at Stanford Circle and the commuter garage and drops them at the shopping area, which features a 24-screen movie theatre, Niketown, and a Virgin Megastore.
     Other safety measures SG has instituted in the past year include the addition of six more blue-light phones, two near the location of a sexual assault in spring 1998, and increased foot patrol by UPD officers. In September, SG reps and Public Safety staff handed out xxx safety whistles with attached information cards as part of the "Blow The Whistle" initiative during a three-day Safety Awareness event. The SG president also conducts a "Lighting Tour" once a semester with administrators and Florida Power & Light, which has resulted in improvements including better lighting of the once-dark intramural field.
     With cooperation from UM’s athletic department and its corporate sponsors, SG created a series of home-game tailgate parties at the Orange Bowl complete with free food, radio station remotes, Hurricane cheerleaders and marching band, and local live bands. The first pre-game party cost SG only $200 and drew 2,500 students, including 1,500 freshmen who marched into the stadium together wearing white "Hurricane Storm" T-shirts in a pre-game show of unity. Since the inception of the tailgate parties, co-sponsored by the athletic department, SG, and various UM residential colleges, student attendance at home football games has jumped from 1,000 to 1,700.
     Per students’ directive, UM’s SG officers have concentrated on improving the quality of campus life at their school. "Our 8,000 or so undergraduate students dictate the issues that each year’s administration will work on, and this year, we were not asked to look into statewide issues," says Alberto Caban, SG chief of staff. To augment on-campus eating options, SG’s Dining Service Advisory Board successfully lobbied for the inclusion of Newman’s Own pasta sauces and salad dressing and Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs on menus in spring 1998. Negotiations with pasta and pizza chain Sbarro will result in more varied fare as well by August 1999. An Asian food kiosk and a potato bar also are being considered.
     Integration of the existing fall Student Involvement Fair into the August Canefest helps students quickly find their niche among the college’s many activities. To improve communication, SG maintains good relations with staffers of The Miami Hurricane and runs advertisements about campus elections and open SG positions. The Student Organization Web Server, updated in January 1999, includes a service through which students can reserve their textbooks ahead of time at the campus bookstore. Through the universitywide EASY system, students can access class schedules, tuition billings, faculty evaluations, and ballots for campus elections. Commuter students living outside the county can even vote without incurring long-distance phone charges since EASY is linked to the World Wide Web.

Runner-Up
     Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's 1998-99 SGA President Tony De Tora has added to the upgrades in safety, fiscal fitness, and campus facilities started by last year’s administration led by Hayes Nash, which was honored by Florida Leader in 1997-98 as the best among Florida’s private schools.
     This year, De Tora and his four executive branch staffers have focused on improving campus parking, communicating with students and administrators, and assessing the impact of new technology. The nine-member SGA Public Relations committee, with reps from the campus radio station, yearbook, and newspaper, uses a biweekly page in The Avion, banners, easel posters, radio ads, and flyers placed in club mailboxes to strategically spread the word. Long-range communication plans to increase SGA’s visibility include newspaper columns, an internal newsletter, and an improved web page checked daily by webmaster Josh Powell.
     ERAU’s student government worked with administrators to ease parking frustrations by creating a new Parking and Traffic Committee and finding temporary spaces until construction of a new lot was completed in October 1998. Town Meetings focusing on topics including financial aid and school curriculum are held twice a semester in the University Center and help SGA understand and convey critical student concerns. Communicating on a broader scale, ERAU’s campus leaders took the lead in planning an area Student Government Interaction Conference in February for six Daytona Beach colleges whose representatives also meet monthly to develop regional student discounts, organize politically, and "offer a consolidated front to the community," says De Tora.
     On the fiscal front, SGA is stretching its $400,000 budget by dropping the cost of its Safe Ride transport program from $20 to $2.17 per ride and getting more than $3,000 in national and local sponsorships to fund the program, which is free to any student who overindulges or feels unsafe and needs a lift to campus. Also, SGA’s Student Finance Board works closely with the school’s 130 campus groups to help them submit more realistic funding requests without instituting an official per-group funding cap.
     SGA staff coordinator Dustin Derby calls the 1998-99 administration "highly professional with an increased desire to prepare the leaders under them." This year’s leaders also are applauded for their heightened sense of responsibility to serve all students and for working to find win-win solutions to challenges facing both students and administrators.

Honorable Mention
     To improve cooperation among campus organizations, Rollins College’s SGA formed the Council of Leaders in spring 1998, made up of 66 group presidents who meet monthly to discuss issues, update a master campus schedule, and encourage co-sponsorship of programs and events.
     Rollins students fought to retain their voice when the General Faculty Senate was dissolved and students lost nine voting seats. SGA petitioned to have student reps included in the General Faculty meetings and earned nine non-voting seats as a result, according to SGA President Matt Mitchell. When Rollins administrators decided not to refund the balances on student food plans at the end of 1997-98, SGA organized a campuswide Town Meeting during dinner hours and worked with the dean of students, director of business services, and the dean of food services to compromise with a refundable Flex Plan.
     SGA’s efforts to keep in touch with constituents also is evident in the Town Meetings held two to three times a semester, an SGA phone hotline promoted with stickers in all campus bathrooms, and an e-mail comment forum through which as many as 100 students a month share their ideas or express concerns. SGA officers also helped to plan the newly revived Community Day in September during which classes are cancelled for a day of workshops and discussions among students, faculty, and staff about topics of interest to the campus community.

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