The Student Government Association is springing back into action this semester.
Kirby Turnage, SGA president, said he sees spring semester as the time when a year's worth of hard work finally pays off.
"Our school year runs March to March," Turnage said. "A lot of what we'll be focusing on is tying up loose ends in SGA's preplanned projects. A lot of the projects fall in the cabinet area, everything from High School Leadership to Dance Marathon to Big Event."
Kyla Wilkinson, director of The Big Event, has been planning her project since April. For her, the spring semester is an opportunity to give back to the Auburn community.
"This community puts up with so much during the year," Wilkinson said. "They put up with our gameday traffic and our fundraising. I'm excited to get a chance to thank them through a day of service."
Along with existing events and initiatives, SGA is working on several new projects for the spring.
"We just thought outside the box this year about what SGA can do," Turnage said. "The bike program that was envisioned and set forth two years ago by last exec. Chris (Osterlund)and his team came together and got all the right resources in line to grant the funds to start the bike program. We're excited about that developing."
Another development students and faculty can look forward to is the End of the Year Report, a comprehensive review of the organization's achievements throughout the year headed by Vice President Vanessa Tarpos.
"It's a project to help us with our transition," Tarpos said. "There's going to be a report compiled of everything SGA has done over the past year."
Turnage said the spring semester provides a chance to evaluate the progress his administration has made.
"Our exec has the desire to report to our constituents and those who elected us what it is that SGA is doing throughout the year," Turnage said, "like how student fees are being spent, what new organizations have come on campus or what the administration did with dining."
Tarpos said one of the biggest things students have to look forward to this spring are the improvements to on-campus dining.
"With a lot of our initiatives, like the things Kirby has been working on with dining, students have seen positive changes like extended hours, surveys, and now we have the Chick-fil-A breakfast coming," she said.
"By no means are we done with our improvements to dining. We're looking forward to partnering with Chartwells and auxiliary services to figure out what we can do to make this a dining program that we're proud of and not just content with."
The new semester also brings opportunities for involvement in SGA on campus. Turnage said there are plenty of ways to get plugged in this semester, from volunteer opportunities to community outreach to cabinet applications.
"The first thing is vote," Tarpos said. "That is the main way for students to get involved. Elections are going to be around the first week of February, so that's the main way for students to take an active role in student government. Pay attention to the platforms, go to debates and check out the candidates coming out for the next year."
Tarpos said her primary focus this spring is making sure she accomplishes all she set out to do when she was elected.
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