Alabama State University students are diverse, but they were not hesitant to speak about the role and progress of their Student Government Association thus far and what it has or has not accomplished over the past six months.

According to the Student Government Association Constitution that all elected and appointed officers are sworn to uphold, the three branches of government are charged with encouraging social responsibility, promoting and fostering leadership, effective innovation while promoting intellectual growth, academic freedom and social welfare of the student body.  While some students feel that the SGA is achieving those objectives, others believe the administration is more focused on student activities rather than improving the quality of student life.

In the area of effective innovation, students seem to appreciate the Walmart Shuttle Act, which was created under the No Limit administration last year.  Although the act passed in last year’s Student Senate, no action was taken.  However, this fall, the act went into effect with Tuesdays and Thursdays set as the dates students can sign up for. 

   Elexuzz Davis, a sophomore forensic biology major, is one of those students who likes the shuttle and feels that the new administration is doing a good job “so far.”

“I think that having the shuttle on campus is effective for students without transportation so they can get personal items and groceries from the store without having to pay for Ubers,” she said. 

However, Davis believes that they could do a much better job regarding safety on the campus.  She believes the campus should have better lighting and that the SGA should be working on concerns of this nature because safety is a concern for her and many other students.

“I know that housing is a concern for students that live on campus. But safety, in general, could be better,” Davis said. “ASU is an open campus where anyone can have access to buildings and students. Being a work-study student, I work late in the evenings, and daylight saving is approaching soon. So more lighting could be added to certain areas. [Lastly] campus police could be more active on patrolling the campus.”

In the area of social welfare, students had various feelings regarding their progress in this area.

On Sept. 2, the administration held a vaccine drive to help combat the spread of COVID-19, where 35 students were vaccinated, given a T-shirt, and a $25 gift card. ASU police department partnered with the administration to sponsor 10 parking decals. Students were entered into a raffle, randomly selected, then the winners were announced on Instagram Live.

However, Kristel Tshabalala, a junior international student from Zimbabwe majoring in finance, feels that the administration has not done nearly enough to improve the quality of student life.

“I don’t see how anything they have done has led to a better quality of life on campus, if I’m being quite honest,” Tshabalala said. “Vaccines are offered for free all over Montgomery – the closest location being CVS on Forest Avenue, which is less than a mile away. The vaccination drive was unnecessary.”  She feels more attention should be given to practical things that students experience daily, like the parking on campus.

“Students shouldn’t be paying for parking to begin with,” she said. “It doesn’t make logical sense. We don’t only attend classes on this campus. We live on this campus. How can we pay to park where we live? It makes sense for visitors to pay but definitely not students.”

Tyfani Nykol, a senior theatre major, also expressed concerns about the parking expense.

“We have an area in front of the Tullibody Fine Arts [building] where they make us park so that we don’t get a boot, but it’s just a grass area with bricks, ditches, and sometimes glass.”

Junior biology-pre health major Shuntavious Miles feels the Wi-Fi system is something that the SGA should be promoting with university administrators, as students are dissatisfied with the Wi-Fi on the campus.

“There should be no reason why Paterson, the Hardy Center, Trenholm, and Bibb Graves and the library have different Wi-Fi systems,” he said.  “At other institutions in the state, there is only one Wi-Fi system. I believe this would cut out broadband issues and connectivity issues.  There should be no reason why my classmate who lives in Bibb Graves Hall cannot join her virtual classroom, but me, living in Martin Luther King Hall, can join.  We pay too much money for that kind of inconsistency.

He also feels the university should change the university alert system.

“It should be a text message system,” Miles said.  “People are more apt to check their text messages before checking their emails.”

Jordan Gilbert, a freshman psychology major, thinks that the SGA is doing a great job, but she feels more attention should be given to the intellectual development of students.

“I would like to see them [incorporate] informational seminars for freshmen about college stuff in general.” Gilbert said that her first-year experience has not been what she expected it to be.  “In general, I feel like freshman guidance could be improved. The First-year Experience doesn’t do much to inform us about things like organizations, how to navigate college through a student’s perspective, and [topics] of that nature. I think the SGA could improve on meeting with students. I’m not sure if they have meetings, but it would be nice for them to set monthly campus meetings to hear what their student body has to say.”

In August, Student Body President Gem Richardson spoke about introducing “hot spots” (various areas around the campus such as the residence halls, cafeteria, etc.) that would expose her students around the school.  She talked about going to the students, especially those students who may seem intimidated to come to the SGA suites.

“Because everybody doesn’t feel comfortable or even want to come to the office,” Richardson said in an earlier interview.  “So I want to go to them and show them that ‘I’m here for you and I’m ready to listen.’ You have a voice, and I want to hear it.”

However, according to a number of students, they have not seen the ‘hot spots’ or witnessed her at the ‘hot spots.’

Ashley Williams, a junior biology pre-health major, is proud of the women-led administration and their progress. However, she is concerned about “where priorities are set in regard to [the] university.”  She feels that the SGA focuses on fun over productivity.

“To begin with, our library closes way too early each day. Most students end their academic day around 4 or 5 [pm]. The cafeteria opens at 6 for dinner, so by the time someone, like me, is ready to study, they have about an hour or so to get their studying and homework done. This is unrealistic. This doesn’t even account for students with jobs who have a prime studying time later at night. Personally, I have to travel to the public library–which closes at nine in order to get an extra hour of studying in.  Although there have been no issues with this, this is potentially an unsafe situation.”

She continues.

“Our library is a vital resource for our student success, especially for STEM majors, and it should be a resource that we can access at just about any time. Before, the library stayed open until around 10 p.m., which was a much more convenient time. The reasons for the time change have been explained as being ‘because of COVID’ or not having staff that is willing to work later hours, which is understandable.  Our SGA works hard to get things such as homecoming week together. Our homecoming concert was great, but how is it that these types of events are approved and set up, but when it comes to student resources necessary for our success, it doesn’t seem as though much priority is put into this.”

“The library has a card reader at the door that could be utilized if the library was open later hours.” 

Williams thinks that work-study students would be willing to work later on in the evening, for those employees who are not willing to stay longer.

“There are many solutions to this issue that I think could work … I would love for this to be a matter that the SGA focuses their attention and hard work on. Other students in my major feel the same way.”

Overall, Williams just wants to enjoy her undergraduate years. 

“It is important to have fun and enjoy yourself in college, but at the end of the day, the main goal is to graduate and be prepared for the next level, which is medical school for me,” she said.  “The efforts of the SGA should reflect that.”

Some students are concerned that the SGA officials are six months into their terms, and there are no weekly senate meetings where their concerns can be shared. Others feel they are underrepresented as there may not be enough senators to match the constitutional requirement of 1 senator for every 200 students.

“I know that they have had one meeting, but I have yet to see another meeting,” Miles said.  “I look at the University of Alabama’s student senate meetings, and they not only post them on YouTube, but they post the bills online so that all students can get an opportunity to see what the new laws are that they are asking them to abide by.”

The Next Level administration held their historic homecoming week, and a large number of students enjoyed the concert. “Operation 1867” was a success for the administration. Homecoming included a week full of activities to help boost the student’s morale and get them excited for the homecoming concert.

Faith Hudson, a senior, is one of those students.

“I feel like everything implemented has been a benefit to all students if they needed it,” Hudson said.  “The SGA homecoming week was an encouraging, uplifting, and positive week that brought students together in creative ways to celebrate them and the upcoming events happening on campus.”

Gilbert also agrees that the administration did a great job with homecoming week and the choice of events. However, she feels that “the execution of them could have been better.”

Article I, Section 5 of the SGA Constitution states that the organization’s purpose is  “to provide an official voice through which the opinions of the student body may be expressed.”

Anna Havatidi, a freshman from Zimbabwe, Africa, majoring in mathematics, is still fairly new to ASU but believes that there should be more representation of student organizations.

“I think there may be some groups underrepresented, for instance, the international students association. Some of the events had to be canceled or postponed because of a lack of funds. Also, international students raised concerns about being excluded from the rescue plan grants [and felt] their voices went unheard.”

Nykol has a different view about the progress of SGA, despite her parking issue.

“I believe that from all my years of being here, this is the best progress I’ve seen from the SGA,” she said.  Even though we are still going through COVID-19, they still find a way to make things possible for students.”

Iyanah Scarbrough, a senior criminal justice major, shares Nykol’s sentiments and is proud of the SGA’s progress since her freshman year.

         “My freshman year, I didn’t have the resources such as printers in my dorm, so that’s great. I feel that students should definitely be appreciative [of] these changes.”

         Scarbrough is an off-campus student who has observed the changes implemented by the administration. “Homecoming week was very fun, and they had a lot of great events,” she said.

Despite Gilbert’s feelings regarding the SGA doing more to help students develop intellectually, she believes that the SGA is doing a great job.

“I feel like they’ve done an exceptional job, especially after the year everyone’s had due to COVID.

Increasing from previous years, the SGA’s budget is now $139,000.  However, the administration has yet to inform students on how the money will be directed toward funding.  The dissemination of the SGA’s budget usually occurs during Senate meetings, but because they have not had regular Senate meetings, students are unaware of how the funds will be allocated.

  Ja’kala Turner, a sophomore chemistry major, feels that the SGA is following their constitutional duty of representing the student body through “representing us appropriately at events such as games and meetings.”

While Turner may feel that the SGA is following their constitutional duties of representing the student body, she also feels that more emphasis should be placed on capital improvements around campus.

“I believe that all of the dorms on campus need to be seriously renovated,” she said. “Compared to AUM and other [universities], our dorms are horrible.”