Covid and Student Government: How They Have Been Adapting

Brianna Patt, Managing Editor

What has the Student Government Association been up to and what are their plans for the

year?

According to SGA President Jasmine Williams, Covid-19 has not halted events. They

have been maintaining their meetings. Though they were initially held virtually, recently the

option for in-person meetings has been added.

“I know a lot of administrators didn’t feel comfortable coming up to the building due to

Covid and a lot of students as well. So that is how we do our general body meetings right now,

virtual and face to face,” Williams said.

According to her, when Covid-19 first appeared on-campus, Dr. Mark Rudin, president, Texas A&M University-Commerce ensured that there was some plan at play by the student government. During this time, an Instruction Communication Improvement Bill was written Nov. 4, 2020 by Academic Senator Amy Hays. The legislation was born out of concern that considering Covid, there are a lot of student-teacher communication issues. It offers methods to improve student-teacher interactions including workshops and tutorials about how to use Brightspace (D2L).

“Dr. Rudin was very good at having some kind of plan for students and administrators to

get used to the programming,” Hays said.

She stated that for those looking to take part in student government, it should be

remembered how serious taking on this task is.

“If you’re not looking for a position that is going to pursue providing somebody sources,

providing somebody services and providing [those] that lack of communication between student and staff and even administration then student government is not for you,” she said.

One positive that has come out of the pandemic to her is the time spent with family.

“You’re stuck in a house with your family, but you also get to have that experience with

them. You have more family time,” she said.

SGA will be working with Fraternities and Sorority Life (FSL) to hold an event during midterms in the nursing building at night. Food will be provided by Sodexo.