As Student Association President Neal Casey’s term reaches the end of its first semester, SA members are both angered and satisfied with the progress of his goals.

Casey presented four major goals at the end of the fall semester that he aimed to accomplish during his session as president: lay the groundwork for a tobacco-free program on campus; turn MayFest in Walnut Park into a successful tradition; improve the budget process; and include students in key decisions on campus.

Smoke-free campus initiative

During Monday’s meeting, SA representatives submitted suggestions for a partial smoking ban to the Tobacco Advisory Committee. SA’s goal for the spring semester was to submit a suggestion before the semester ends, so plans are on track, said SA Vice President Jessica Cunnington.

Assemblymember and former Student Engagement chair David Woody disagreed. He said there should be more to show after more than a year of work on the initiative. Woody said Cunnington did not do a good enough job in getting student feedback on the issue and said she has no coherent goals for the initiative.

Casey said members of SA have reached out to different clubs and groups for feedback this semester. Members have personally spoken with students on the initiative, he said.

‘In the right hands, I think it could have been realistic — there could be policies put into place right now,’ Woody said.

Casey said he is proud of the foundation SA has laid this semester for the smoke-free initiative.

MayFest

Casey said he believes SA and University Union have succeeded in creating a successful tradition with MayFest in Walnut Park. The event, now in its second year, will occur Friday.

Although Woody was highly critical about the smoke-free campus initiative, he said he felt positive about MayFest.

Woody said MayFest has been well planned and well executed up to this point, and gave Casey credit for being passionate about the event. He said the change of venue has helped improve the relationship between Syracuse University and the permanent residents in the area. Despite the Walnut location, the event is still fun for students, which is the point of MayFest, Woody said.

Casey said the Walnut location has taken some pressure off the East neighborhood by moving a large number of students out of the area during the day. Everything is ready to go for MayFest on Friday, he said.

‘All that’s left is just hoping for good weather,’ Casey said.

UU President Andrew Beyda said in an email that SA and UU have both had strong input into MayFest, which has been beneficial. He said this has made the focus of the event remain on the students, where it should be.

Sean Herron, SA’s director of technology, said he has heard positive feedback from students about MayFest so far via social media.

Budget process

This year’s budget meetings ran much shorter and more smoothly than in past semesters because of this year’s financial vision, which is more detailed than those from previous years, Casey said.

He said the financial vision was a product of good feedback from student organizations about what SA looks for in budgeting. Good dialogue between these groups and SA, especially Comptroller Jeff Rickert, is important to maintain, Casey said.

Beyda said this year’s financial vision is a ‘step in the right direction’ in terms of clarifying expectations. He said relations between SA and UU have continued to improve during the last few years.

Woody said the budget meeting this semester was ‘a breeze.’ He said Rickert and Casey’s hard work and the financial vision were the main reasons for the ease of the process.

Inclusion

There are different ways to interpret the goal of inclusion, including recruiting more students into SA and getting more student feedback on issues around campus.

Herron said he has been impressed with how Casey has created a ‘centralized push’ in SA to get more students involved.

Herron said he and Eileen Clark, SA’s communications director, work with social media to try to get students more involved in the decision-making process. SA wants to broadcast what it is doing, but also wants to receive student feedback, Herron said. SA has seen a rise in followers on Twitter and Facebook as the 2010-11 academic year has progressed, he said.

Casey, Woody and Amy Snider, Casey’s chief of staff, were all in agreement over one challenge SA faces.

Snider and Woody said they hear the question ‘What is SA?’ too much, and SA needs to make its presence and purpose better known. Casey said the average student does not follow SA or know what SA is doing.

‘The biggest battle I fight every day is against student apathy,’ Casey said.

But Casey said enrollment in SA has been trending upward, which leads to his biggest goal for next semester: 100 percent representation. He said it is a realistic goal that all of the student representative seats in SA could be filled next semester. Snider and Herron agreed.

Currently, more than 71 percent of student representative seats are filled. The School of Education, the School of Architecture and the College of Human Ecology have zero members for a combined nine seats. The School of Information Studies has only one of three seats filled.

Woody said the town hall meetings SA has been running this semester have helped to gain student opinion on issues, but a more concerted effort needs to take place.

Looking ahead

For next semester, Casey said he plans to focus more on campus safety, but has no set goals for what he hopes to see.

Although Casey has made visible progress on each of his original goals, some cabinet members still see a need for improvement.

In Woody’s view, SA is divided between Casey’s supporters and the rest of the assembly, he said. Casey often sticks with his preconceived notions, which makes it hard to change his mind, Woody said. He said this could inhibit the advancement of old and new initiatives.

But Casey said he specifically chose people with different perspectives when he selected his cabinet. SA is sometimes divided and other times united, the way any governing body should be, Casey said.

Snider, Casey’s chief of staff, said this semester has been a good start that can be built on in the fall. She said she has high hopes for programs in the works, such as creating a textbook exchange program.

Said Snider: ‘This semester has been a lot of laying groundwork for some great things to come out of SA next semester.’

spcotter@syr.edu

Published on April 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm