The Student Government Association is trying to distinguish itself from the university administration. At issue is whether having an adviser who is also an administration employee creates the risk of the university exerting an inordinate amount of influence over SGA. The information surrounding the issue is still nebulous, but it seems as though all parties are somewhat at fault.
SGA has every right to choose its own adviser. Many student organizations put that right into their constitution. In this case, there’s a fear that a conflict of interest could arise with an adviser who works for the administration but advises a group for the students. Both sides did poorly addressing this issue last week.
For one, they should not have started discussion during a meeting when SGA President Blake Alberts was not in attendance. A conversation with such heavy impacts to the future of the group should have including the president’s voice.
Another thing SGA did wrong was allowing Dean of Students James Parker to turn what was supposed to be a discussion into a snarky lecture. The SGA senators invited Parker to speak with them about the issue, but when confronted with the administrator’s viewpoints, the senators allowed Parker to control the discussion.
Not only is this problematic because SGA is a group elected by the students just trying to conduct business, it gives credence to the idea that the administration has something to gain by having an administrator as SGA’s adviser.
However, if SGA believes they deserve the right to choose their own adviser, they sure didn’t show it. Only a few senators stood up for their supposed rights when Parker finished his speech and all they offered was to create a comittee to research this further. Earlier, the resolution had support. SGA either backed down, or didn’t research this enough to bring it to the floor. Senators who still believed in the resolution should have defended it more aggressively. That’s called leadership
SGA, while right to want to choose its own adviser, didn’t research the issue enough to participate in a discussion with the administration. SGA should be able to choose its own adviser, but next time, come up with a better plan and don’t balk at the slightest resistance.
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