SA Column

Zachary Silver, Vice President of Public Relations to the SA

As Director of Communications and Public Relations, it is my duty to keep the student body informed about the on-goings of Student Association. Every other week, you will find an article written by me detailing anything that has occurred since my last article and covering anything upcoming. On the weeks that I do not write for the State Times, another officer of the Student Association will submit what they individually have been doing and what they have in the works.

With the new Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Evelyn Marie Thompson, assuming her role as the head of academics at SUNY Oneonta, much is being done in regards to how the academic side of the campus’ affairs will be conducted. First, a task force has been created by Provost Thompson to create an Academic Master Plan, a 30,000-foot view of the campus that will be the strategic plan for the academic direction of the school for the next several years; the Student Association has appointed two undergraduate students to this task force and two graduate students have been appointed by the Graduate Committee. Dr. Thompson will also be restructuring the academic offices and affairs at the college.

The weekend before Halloween is the SUNY Student Assembly’s fall conference, where student leaders from all SUNY campuses will convene to discuss and vote on issues pertinent to the student contingency of the SUNY system. Some of the issues being discussed are the Student Assembly’s 2012 legislative agenda and a resolution regarding shared services between SUNY campuses. President Evan Englander and Director of External Affairs Kat Mulhern are SUNY Oneonta’s voting delegates, while Vice President of Finance Colleen Clark, Director of Communications and Public Relations Zachary Silver and Senator Richard Cebada are the college’s non-voting delegates to the conference. For the issue of the State Times following the conference, Director Mulhern will be submitting an article summarizing what took place.

Director of Pride and Tradition MaryBeth Carswell is in the process of planning Winter Wonderland Weekend and the 2012 World’s Largest Soccer Game. If you are interested in working with her to coordinate these events, please contact her at [email protected].

Just like last year, Oneonta Auxiliary Services (OAS) and the Student Association will be sponsoring a contest for a new hooded sweatshirt to be sold in the bookstore. The winner will get a prize, [to be determined]. Look out for more information coming soon!

Applications for the six Student Association scholarships are now available. Pick them up in the Student Association Office on the ground level of Hunt Union. Each scholarship is worth $300 and will be automatically applied towards your Spring 2012 tuition. If you have any questions regarding scholarships, please contact Vice President of Internal Services Jillian Vell at [email protected].

The Student Association’s motto is “For Students, By Students” and we would like to represent your interests as best as we can. If you have any questions, comments or concerns for the Student Association, please feel free to stop by or email us at [email protected].