Student Government Association Blog

Your Student Body. Your Student Voice. SGA.

Happy March!

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Hello, Bears! Happy March and I hope your midterms have gone well for you. I am excited for the weather to start warming up and I am looking forward to Spring Break next week!

Student Government Association had a great month of February and is excited to continue to impact Missouri State in various ways. SGA invited Dear World to campus on Wednesday, February 26th to help students, faculty, and staff share and celebrate their stories. Dear World is a storytelling project that connects people through their meaningful stories. They have photographed over 125,000 individuals and we are so proud to have them come to Missouri State! Check the pictures that they took here: https://drwrld.com/MissouriStateGallery2020

Last month, we had our Missouri State University Day at the Capitol where students went to Jefferson City and visited the State Capitol. Students spoke with legislators and talked to them about their experience at Missouri State University. Students spoke about why legislators must increase funding for higher educations. Students also advocated on mental health issues and why it is important to provide more resources on college campuses.

Speaking of mental health issues, SGA is looking to put on the Spring ballot a vote that will ask students if they would like to create a new $8 student fee that would go to the counseling center and provide more counselors that students will be able to use. In the fall semester, the Counseling Center faced a long wait time and was forced to create a waiting list that students had to get on to see a counselor. The voting will take place from April 1st to Wednesday, April 8th.

SGA has continued to better diversity and inclusion efforts on campus all year. We have decided to partner with the University and help move the Multicultural Resource Center to the PSU 1st floor where the Office of Student Engagement is located and move the OSE to the level one game center. This move will give the Multicultural Resource Center more space and ways to reach out to students of underrepresented groups right away when they start their collegiate career at Missouri State. We also see this space being a place for all students going into and learning about different cultures, ethnicities, and becoming more of a culturally competent person. Students will be asked to vote on this project as well in the Spring ballot.

Lastly, Allison Heimsath who is a Senior, Hospitality major created a project that is going to impact elementary students in Kansas City, Mo. The project is to get yearbooks for Whittier Elementary School, where every student is on either free or reduced lunch. The school also has City Year employees in the classroom to help with the students, who speak over 13 different languages. Allison believes that Yearbooks means a lot to students and I agree with her. I still have mine! There is a GoFundMe that people can advertise or donate. Each yearbook costs $15 and the goal of the project is $7,500. Here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/zcehv-school-supply-drive?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link-tip&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at Abdillahi1997@live.missouristate.edu!

Go Bears!

Happy February!

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Happy February! January seemed like a year to me. I hope you all had a great start to your semester! Take a look at those syllabi and know what you need to get an A in your classes instead of scrambling at the end of the semester.

Student Government Association has been working hard at the start of the semester to continue to Elevate Mo State! SGA passed a resolution to support Chartwells and Missouri State Dining to become a Fair Trade school. Fair Trade ensures fair wages, a safe working environment, and environmental sustainability while also prohibiting forced labor of any kind.

SGA has a few events coming up in February;

  • Monday, February 10th from 1 pm-4 pm: Bear Pantry Open House in PSU Ballroom East. Come have a chance to learn about the Bear Pantry and hear President Smart talk about this awesome service!
  • Tuesday, February 11th at 7:30 pm: Mandatory meeting for those wanting to run for Student Body President, Vice President, and Senior Class President. You must have all of your ticket at the meeting. If you can’t make it or have any questions, email Jessica Olive at Olive1999@live.missouristate.edu
  • Wednesday and Friday, February 12th and 14th: Consent Valentine’s Card event. Stop by the PSU and receive consent Valentine cards and candy!
  • Thursday, February 13th: End It Movement Campaign. Stop by the PSU and get a red X mark on your hand to help start the conversation to end human trafficking.
  • Wednesday, February 26th from 10 am to 6 pm: Dear World will be here on campus and you can share your story! This is a cool event to unite Missouri State and understand that we have so many more similarities than differences. Visit https://dearworld.com to learn more about this event.

On top of these events, we are continuing to work on what you want to see happen at Missouri State. We are pushing for a Multicultural Student Center, adding more counselors in the counseling center, bringing scooters to Springfield and Missouri State, and establishing a rideshare program that would give students free rides to get to places! Stay tuned for my monthly emails and blogs to keep updated with what is going on!

As always, please reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns at Abdillahi1997@live.missouristate.edu.

Fall Semester Recap!

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Welcome to the new decade. It is still a great time to be a Bear! I hope you all had a great break and enjoyed your time with your loved ones. Last semester was a great one for SGA and Missouri State University!

Here are some highlights of what Student Government Association accomplished! We hosted our first health and wellness week educating students on the resources available to them. Remember to take care of yourself this upcoming semester and reach out to the resources available at Missouri State. You matter!

In October, we hosted a national walk with A21 to raise awareness for human trafficking and Missouri State was acknowledged by the organization for being one of 500+ host locations around the world!

Last semester, we pushed diversity and inclusion initiatives and started talks on a potential Multicultural Student Center. There was a survey that asked students’ feedback to gather data about this topic. We will continue to explore this option and would love your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, and want to be a part of the discussion, please email diversitycenterdiscussion@missouristate.edu.

We are excited for this upcoming semester and are focusing on partnering with other public universities in Missouri to advocate on behalf of Missouri students. We will continue to push mental health initiatives. We understand mental health is an issue on college campuses and we want to make sure that here at Missouri State, we have the resources that students need while also ending the stigma on mental health. We are also working on other projects to enhance the student experience. We are excited to continue to improve Missouri State for all students.

As always, please reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns at Abdillahi1997@live.missouristate.edu. I look forward to building on last semester and continue to lead Missouri State Onward and Upward!

November Updates

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You blink once and a couple months have gone by! Can you believe it’s already November? Thanksgiving break is right around the corner AND when we come back, there is only one more week of classes! CRAZY, I know!

Here’s what is happening around the university. Student Government Association has started talks about a Multicultural Student Center at Missouri State. This is the start of discussion for a plan that will take years, but we are hopeful it will make an impact on the student body and the university! SGA hosted a discussion during the President’s Diversity Council on Wednesday, October 30th. SGA will be having a Townhall meeting on Tuesday, November 19th at 6:30 PM. Come join us and voice your opinions on what this Diversity Center should look like and what types of services it should have!

Did you know you can print from your laptop on campus? Our printers are wireless and you can do that thanks to KJ Bryant, who is the Director of Information Services. Go to https://experts.missouristate.edu/display/KB/How+to+Print+from+Web+Print and follow the steps by steps on printing at certain printers on campus!

Student Activities Council has just announced that Antoni Porowski, food expert on the hit Netflix show Queer Eye, will be performing on campus on Tuesday, January 14th! Student pre-sale begins today! You can buy your tickets at any MSU box office. Must be in-person and accompanied by a bearpass. Email SACLive@MissouriState.edu with any questions.

Last month, SGA hosted an A21 Walk to raise awareness for human trafficking victims. Students, faculty, staff, and members of the community joined together to walk silently for 2 miles. SGA auctioned off Sammy Watkins cleats that the Kansas City Chiefs donated!

Thinking about going to Med School or Law School? There are designated advisors who can help you pursue your dreams if either of those is your goals. For more on information about Pre Med, visit https://www.missouristate.edu/premed/ and for more information about Law School, visit https://www.missouristate.edu/prelaw/

A lot of great things are happening so stay tuned by following our social media @MoStateSGA both on Twitter and Instagram! If you are interested in joining SGA, visit https://sga.missouristate.edu to find a senator application.

Bears are back… back again!

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Hello!

I can’t believe we are getting ready to be back on campus and start the school year. I hope everyone had a great summer. I know I definitely did! This summer, I enjoyed being a SOAR leader and welcoming incoming students and their families, and all I can say is that Missouri State’s future is bright!

This summer has been very busy so let me bring you up to speed on everything new! First of all, our State Government gifted Missouri State a $10 million increase in our core operating funding and $2.85 million in a one-time fund to expand the nursing program. With the increased funding, we were able to save students money and only increase tuition minimally, and were able to give faculty and staff a raise that they deserve. For our student workers, you also got a raise! With this appropriation, Missouri State was able to increase the minimum wage to $8.60.

As you walk around campus, you will also see some changes. Woods House was renovated this summer and looks incredible! In the Plaster Student Union (PSU), you will see a brand new Starbucks layout and design. Grill Nation and Papa Johns are out but that means new options! The PSU will now have Freddy’s and a Pasta and Salad option named Madison Ave Pasta Company! So don’t forget to add those Boomer Meals and meal plans. You can defer it to your account for the first three weeks of school!

Lastly, get ready for more bears on campus! More bear statues are expected to be around campus and in the community! The College of Business recently installed a bear outside of Glass Hall, thanks to the Class of 2018 for the generous donation. Student Government Association (SGA) partnered up with the PSU to do a paint-a-bear statue contest and we received great submissions, so stay tuned to see what the bear will look like on the south lawn near McDonald Arena.

I hope you enjoyed these updates! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please reach me at Abdillahi1997@live.missouristate.edu!