Best Student Government
Public Colleges & Universities

Winner: University of Central Florida
Runner-Up: Florida International University—University Park

Winner
University of Central Florida
For those enrolled at the University of Central Florida, the Student Government Association is their Knight in shining armor. Thanks to top programs such as Knightstock, Universal Knights, and Athletic Supporter—all joking aside—this administration serves the students, and the campus at large, well.

UCF Snapshot

But it’s not all fun-and-games. One of SGA’s “signature programs” is the SGA computer lab—the only one on campus to offer free printing along with other services—and its other is the SGA Ticket Center—offering discounted tickets for theme parks, attractions, movies, the buses. One is sheerly from a service point of view—helping students with an everyday need as part of university life. And the other, while geared toward entertainment, is the yang to this yen, providing discounted fun to students, conveniently, to balance their class workload.

“UCF's student leaders have brought together a range of programming and services to students that has improved participation, increased exposure to sporting and cultural events, and focused on activities that engage the majority of our student body,” says UCF President John C. Hitt.

Knightstock is a new concert event this year, a la Woodstock, and “featured five bands, hosted over 1,000 students, and began what they hope will be UCF's newest tradition on the Memory Mall,” Hitt says. “It’s the first-ever event held there. And this year, UCF’s SGA took their successful Universal Knights program up a notch, saving money while including more students in a day of fun-in-the-sun at Universal’s Island of Adventure.”

“While special events like these set apart our SGA from the ordinary,” Hitt says, “its ongoing and daily involvement in the well-being of our student body is what makes it special.” He also says SGA supports athletics in a variety of ways, with one being the Athletic Supporter program that hosts events like Medieval Madness, SGA Sports Day, Midknight Magic, and SGA Support-a-Sport.

“Without a doubt, the SGA here at UCF continues to astound me and have set themselves apart from all the others,” says Shane Juntunen, SGA advisor and assistant director of the office of student involvement. “The student leaders in SGA, under the leadership of Student Body President Brian Battles, have shown a strong desire to address students’ needs and concerns, offer a significant number of programs and services that benefit the student body, and have formed effective partnerships with university administration and departments.”

With a voter turnout of 17 percent, student representation is about as good as it gets at a public universities, though not st

ellar, and it’s getting better, perhaps in part to using on-line voting since Fall 2000. “Voter turnout has increased three times within a one year period,” says UCF Vice President Thomas Huddleston. “The current SGA administration has set a high standard for future administrations. The current SGA leadership is experienced, projects relevant values and fosters community dialogue and partnerships.”

Coordinated through their own public relations and digital media department, SGA communicates to its constituency through its bi-weekly newsletter, Knightline—distributed at the SGA office and inserted in the freely distributed Orlando Sentinel issues on campus. It also runs ads in The Central Florida Future and sports paper on campus, and uses bulletin boards, mass e-mails, and a daily updated web site, though we’d like to see the abundance of info in SGA’s newsletter adorn their home page instead the Flash animation that currently greets visitors.

“I can honestly say that this year's SGA is by far the most influential and organized it has ever been,” says Heissam Jebailey, co-publisher of The Future. “SGA managed to increase student turnout more than ever before. To me, that's their most important duty every year.”

In other areas of importance, this SGA lobbies for students in a unique way. Like all other public universities except the University of Florida, UCF is a member of the Florida Student Association (FSA) and actively involved. But like UF, SGA also hired a private lobbying firm, Gray Robinson, “to lobby on matters that directly affect the students at UCF,” Battles says. “One of the goals that Gray Robinson is helping UCF accomplish is improving the safety in the community surrounding the university, particularly in notoriously dangerous areas of the community.” SGA is covering its bases with this two-pronged approach to lobbying.

To make sure that this first-rate SGA continues past its current leadership, elections are offset by holding senate elections in the fall and executive board elections in the spring. The SGA President’s Advisory Council trains future leaders, with five from last year’s council now serving in SGA. They hold cabinet retreats and maintain transitional manuals, with documents scanned onto disk for a permanent record.

In all areas, this SGA strives for excellence, starting with its president, Brian Battles.

“[He] works effectively with the student body, and as a member of UCF’s Board of Trustees, he asks prepared, thoughtful questions about actions that affect his constituents,” Hitt says. “He aids communication at all levels because he’s a mature and balanced representative of the student body who appreciates the considerations of the university's administration.”

Contact SGA at 407-823-2193 or sga_comm@mail.ucf.edu, or visit www.sga.ucf.edu.

Runner-Up
Florida International University—University Park
The Student Government Council at Florida International University—University Park continues a solid program started two years ago such as adding a 24-hour study area in the Student Union for night students as part of SGC’s efforts to attend to “university's first function: academics,” says Maria Manrara, SGC chief of staff. They also provide a housing shuttle bus to help international students who “often find themselves walking up to a mile for basic needs such as groceries and supplies,” Manrara says.

FIU Snapshot

So although this SGA is top-notch, this year’s administration revamped their mission statement, set and met many goals, and even established a Governmental Relations Committee to handle issues and assure accountability.

“This organization has done an outstanding job, especially in terms of marketing ‘It’s Yours’,” which is a product of SGC President Clayton Solomon’s leadership,” says Vicky Owles, Student Government Association advisor and assistant director of campus life. (SGC is the UP’s component of SGA, and the counterpart to the Biscayne Bay Campus SGC). “Every endeavor, every program, and every decision made have this particular motto in mind.”

SGC hosts Cram Jam for all students—to help out during finals week each spring and fall semester through a free breakfast, exam blue books, giveaways, massages, and music.

Their marketing coordinator communicates these events and what SGC is doing for them through bulletin boards, flyers, a slick quarterly newsletter, and revamped web site which is fairly up-to-date, though still a bit spartan.

On the lobbying front, Solomon serves as FSA’s chairman of the board of directors, and it met with the University of Miami to discuss local issues. Solomon also serves as the student representative on the Florida Board of Governors.

Voter turnout has more than doubled, from five percent to 11, largely attributed to SGA’s aggressive marketing, “Know Your Vote” campaign, and “Meet the Candidates” events, along with weekly FIU radio station shows to promote awareness. Voting has gone “fully on-line,” Manrara says.

“The energy that this group of students has is never-ending. They are willing to put in long hours to make sure that their programs, no matter how big or small, are successful,” Owles says.

A key to SGA’s continued success is its intern program, a strong one at FIU. “They’ve done an excellent job of ‘hiring’ our new interns and mentoring them at the same time,” Owles says. “We all know that the interns are the future of SGA. This administration nurtures these young students and sometimes their enthusiasm is contagious in its own right.” They also use a transition manual and summer and fall retreats to buttress this.

“The SGA has again recorded a remarkable year, filled with various accomplishments,” says Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin, senior vice president for student affairs and human resources and vice provost for academic affairs.

Perhaps the most telling sign is how any SGA deals with its campus press, and here, again, FIU shines. “I’ve found them to be fair and understanding of the relationship between SGA and the student press,” says Robert Jaross, director of student affairs and instructor for the school of journalism and mass communication. “It’s not always an easy relationship, and many times, there are disagreements between the two areas, [but] those disagreements have been handled professionally by the current SGA president.”

Contact SGC at 305-348-2121 or sga@fiu.edu, or visit www.fiu.edu/~sga.

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