Elections for the majority for SGA Congress will now be held in April, instead of early in the fall semester as they were previously.
Representatives from rising sophomore, junior and senior classes will now be elected to office at the end of the spring semester after a new by-law was passed by congress Monday evening.
SGA president Rachel McNabb is optimistic the elections change will give student government the opportunity to take a full year to make a difference, instead of the six months they currently have.
“It gives the cabinet in the summer… the opportunity to talk with members and plan,” she said.
McNabb felt this change was necessary to give most of the new Congress the opportunity to brainstorm new ideas for Congress after elections and be able to implement them during the first few weeks of the semester, instead of making changes after elections and a subsequent transition period.
In addition, this change will allow the Congress to take greater control of policy-making and work with the SGA Cabinet already formed in the spring.
“It’s not cabinet’s SGA. It’s congress’ SGA,” McNabb said.
According to the new by-law, one of four passed Monday evening, elections for SGA congress will now be held two weeks after the presidential and vice-president elections. The 2012 elections for both offices are currently scheduled for March 21-23.
Freshmen members would be elected three weeks after the first day of classes in the fall. Like other members, their terms would end after the April elections.
Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors are eligible to petition to run for Congress in a two-week period before their April elections.