Student Government Association congratulated new senators and introduced resolutions at its fourth meeting of the semester, held Sept. 22.

Advisor Cynthia Thompson reported that 21 candidates ran, with 10 making it to the elected seats on SGA. Of those elected are, Senator for Liberal Arts and Sciences Katie Reynolds, Senator for Education and Human Services Michael Lotspeich, Senator for Transfer Students Garrett McAlister, Senator-at-Large Will Newton, Senator-at-Large Marc Reiter, Freshman Student Senator Patrick Simon, Undergraduate Student Senator Khalil Jamal, Online Student Senator Justin Ketterman, Graduate Student Senator Michael Oyakojo, and International Student Senator Jeshwanth Harish.

All seats were filled with the exception of the Peoria Campus Senator.

Internal Vice President Dane Vincent encouraged collaboration with SOFA and SAC in order to foster a relationship among these sub-committees for the better benefit of students on campus. He hopes to get senators out and talking to their constituents in order to learn what students want and funnel those ideas out to the appropriate committees.

Student Representative to the Board of Trustees Jamaal Hollins recounted Chancellor Koch’s dashboard report from the last Board of Trustees meeting, in which she discussed her four goals for future UIS faculty. Those goals are as followed:

• Recruit, develop, and retain faculty

• Increase the number of diverse faculty members

• Enhance faculty compensation and salary

• Create a more sustainable student to faculty ratio

Paige Heiser, senator for college of business and management, explained that she is in the process of working with Leonard Branson, chair and professor of the accountancy department, about the lack of law classes in the accounting curriculum. She explained that students have come to her, concerned that they are not prepared for the CPA exam and master’s program, because of the lack of law classes during their undergraduate years. She is starting with this and hoping that it fosters a new curriculum in order to better prepare accounting students in the future.

SAC and SOFA, along with SGA, will co-sponsor an Ice Cream Social with the purpose of bringing awareness to students about these committees on campus, Oct. 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Secretary Samia Ahmad believes the Ice Cream Social is a great opportunity for students to learn how SGA can benefit students. “We’re the voice for the students.”

To learn more about SGA and meet your new senator, visit www.uis.edu/sga.