With every new school year, comes changes from SGA.
This year SGA has placed importance on student affairs and campus life such as class registration, facility updates, campus safety, game day experience and real world preparation.
Walker Byrd, SGA president, said he is focusing on Auburn students’ success in and out of the classroom, as well as in the future.
“The biggest thing is I want to challenge students,” Byrd said. “I want to challenge students to push their bubble a little bit and to put themselves into situations where they may not feel comfortable- not at all from a safety standpoint, but I want you to branch out and try something different,” Byrd said.
Byrd said students’ experiences at Auburn help prepare them for life after college.
“Interact with somebody who doesn’t think, believe or talk like you, because it’s experiences like those that you have in college that prepare you to lead Auburn and to be an effective, efficient member of society later on,” Byrd said.
This preparation for the future comes from a call to help increase the number of students who graduate in four years.
SGA wants to raise awareness on the financial factors that affect college students in the hope that it will educate students on tuition fees and extraneous expenses.
This will hopefully motivate students to graduate in four years and prepare them for financial issues they will face after college, according to Byrd.
Another way SGA would like to help students’ academics is through the initiation of Tiger Scheduler, a class registration tool.
It is Now available on Tiger i, Tiger Scheduler is designed to make registering for classes less hectic and provide a black and white view of when students can take the classes they want.
SGA would also like to enhance students’ overall game day experience this year, according to Michael Waldrum, SGA executive vice president of programs.
Waldrum said he wants to make seating arrangements more efficient in the student section so that seats are available for every student with a ticket.
“The problem with that is that is fills the stadium unnaturally, and it messes up traffic flow,” Waldrum said.
Waldrum said he wants any blocked-off seating to be moved to sections 17 and 18 in the student section by the new jumbotron.
“What that does for you as someone who may not be a fraternity member or, who knows, with a block is that it frees up a lot of areas…and gives you an opportunity to sit in those seats,” Waldrum said.
“We’re not trying to change the whole system,” Byrd said. “The system’s great, but anything that we can do to make some minor changes to improve it is a good thing.”
SGA is taking other campus safety initiatives aside from game day.
While Byrd does not want to “duplicate resources,” he said he would like to pay attention to the less-lit areas on the perimeters of campus and make sure cross walks are more noticeable, as well as possibly making an app that will ensure students’ safety.
Another stance SGA would like to take on safety is to continue to spread the “It’s On Us” campaign to help raise awareness on interpersonal violence and sexual assault, according to Byrd. SGA will try to gain students’ support by having them take the pledge and spread the word.
Bird said Auburn Answers is also an important tool for SGA. He said he wants students to recognize this as an easy avenue for them to be heard.
Byrd said he would also like an increase in voting. A typical voting turnout is between 39 and 40 percent of the student body.
Byrd said he is also focusing on campus-wide camaraderie. He said he wants to challenge students to befriend people different from them and to broaden their horizons. One way is by reaching out to the ever-growing Auburn Global community.
“Their main goal is to get the students plugged into campus, so anything we can do to build a relationship, be seen, talk about campus and just talk about Auburn is a good thing, because they already have avenues in place to welcome them and to give them a chance to have the Auburn experience just like every other student,” Byrd said.
Campus development is also on the horizon for SGA as it takes on projects such as the Auburn Memorial and utilizing the Student Activities Center.
The memorial has two of the three necessary approvals from the Board of Trustees and will seek its final approval for schematic design and budgeting in November.
With students being its main priority this year, SGA is making efforts to shine a light on academic issues and campus life.
“The times when you feel uncomfortable and stretched, that’s when you grow,” Byrd said. “That’s when you grow as a person, a leader and a team member. So we’re pushing our team that way, and I want to challenge the student body to do the same thing.”
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