DeKALB – Leaders of the Student Government Association gave an address surrounding the accomplished goals and future plans for the SGA.
The State of the SGA Address occurred from noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center.
Ashley Johnson, SGA’s chief of staff, kicked off the event thanking those in the audience for coming and introduced Ja’Kobe Jones, SGA president.
JA’KOBE JONES ADDRESS
Jones discussed SGA’s achievements during the semester, his own personal experiences and future goals for SGA.
“This semester has been filled with growth, collaboration and a renewed commitment to serving the students of our great institution. With the help of my executive team and those legislative and judicial branches, we’ve accomplished milestones reflecting our student body’s strength and unity, from advocating for resources that enhance academic success to hosting events that foster connection and belonging,” Jones said.
Jones also talked about how the support he received from staff, students and administration helped him in his role as SGA president.
Jones discussed the successful events SGA held throughout the semester such as March to the Polls, Greek Trick-or-Treat and the table events that the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee held.
“The Director of DEI Isabella Montoya and the DEI committee successfully held a tabling event that promoted all of our available resources that our resource centers provide here at NIU,” Jones said. “This included brochures, cards and contact information for students to receive as much support as possible this semester. With the help of FSL (Fraternity and Sorority Life) and our Director of Greek Life and Student Affairs Xavier Phillips, SGA planned and executed the Greek Trick Or-Treat. This event was held over on Greek row the day of Halloween, and SGA was able to get 25 Greek chapters to participate in making Halloween special for trick-or-treaters.”
JAMES INNIS ADDRESS
SGA Vice President James Innis addressed the student body and announced some of the achievements in SGA as well.
“I’m excited to share that this semester, we’ve approved 25 new organizations, and are therefore halfway to our total goal. We have been able to achieve this progress by streamlining the new organization recognition process even further with legislation drafted by our Deputy Speaker Nathan Gonzalez,” Innis said. “This process allows new student organizations to be solely approved by the organizational oversight committee without requiring further approval from the senate.”
Innis also mentioned that as he is halfway through his vice president term, he is preparing transition materials to help the next vice president transition. Innis and Speaker Manny Corpuz have been working on completing the SGA Constitution and bylaw changes that will be up to date as students get ready for winter break.
Innis also encouraged students to vote in spring semester SGA elections.
ETHAN PESAVENTO
Ethan Pesavento, SGA treasurer, discussed some initiatives he had this semester, what he’d accomplished this semester and what he plans to accomplish in the spring semester as treasurer.
One of Pesavento’s accomplishments was changing the process to apply for supplemental funding. He said that his updated way allows supplemental funds to be used not only for events but also a variety of purposes in accordance with their purchasing guidelines.
Pesavento announced his main initiative to open the annual funding portal later this month or in early January, and that he plans to host workshops for organizations to attend to explain the annual funding process. Pesavento also wants to apply a new tag system in Huskie Hub.
“This is going to be for tier identification for organizations. I’m going to update the Huskie Hub portal by adding tier-specific tags to each organization. This will allow each organization to easily identify their tier for classification,” Pesavento said.
MANNY CORPUZ ADDRESS
Corpuz emphasized the creation of the SGA leadership team.
“I was focused on creating a leadership team that would be able to effectively help manage SGA. Working alongside President Jones, we were able to interview and elect six cabinet members for the executive branch,” Corpuz said.
Another accomplishment Corpuz listed during his time as speaker was making SGA more efficient by passing numerous bylaw changes that reduced the number of obstacles students had getting a response from SGA.
