Tuesday, November 15th, 2016 | sga@iit.edu E a;l 5

SGA Communications Committee looks to update organization website

Ethan Castro
COMMUNICATIONS COMMI'I'I'EE MEMBER

Perhaps the unsung heroes of
Student Government Association (SGA),
the Communications Committee, under the
leadership of ViceePresident Jelani Canty, take
it upon themselves to ensure that knowledge
of the organization is disseminated to the
student body through any and all means
possible From both within and outside the
organization, one of the most cited complaints
regarding the Illinois Tech SGA is a lack of
transparency in both its actions and members
Thus, an overarching theme of projects within
the Communications Committee is to bridge
the perceived gap between the general student
body and SGAr Ongoing projects such as
facilitating an SGA liaison for every student
organization to a possible weekly radio show
for SGA updates, the Communications
Committee works behind the scenes of the

 

organization’s operations to promote visibility
and accessibility These potential projects are
just a few among many ideas floating around
the committee to achieve its overarching
goalsi However, one item of recent focus is the
outdated status of the SGA websitei Working
with Canty, Communications Committee
Senators Nathan Jones, David Sobel, and Kislay
Bhagat are all working towards extending the
reach of SGA to the digital forefront
Accusations of SGA failing to
remain topical and connected to the student
body are, at times, completely justifiedi As
it currently stands, the SGA website fails to
provide a correct list of each college’s senators
or even the organization’s executive board
This fundamental lack of information will
not stand for much longer Vice President of
Communications Jelani Canty has personally
sought the necessary training in updating
the organization website, and Senators David
Sobel, Nathan Jones, and Kislay Bhagat are
all in the midst of gathering the necessary

biographical data from the current senators
and executive board and inputting this data
onto the website Although perhaps at a less
than optimal time, SGA’s Communications
Committee is actively attempting to correct the
outdated status of the website in order to both
establish validity for the organization and push
it into the forefront of student life Perhaps
the overall goal is best summed up Senator
Sobel, who expresses his desire to create “a
utility for obtaining information about school
functions and updates on SGA happenings in
an accessible manner"

However, presenting information
about each SGA member is just one piece
of the SGA website’s full potential Being an
immediately accessible source of governing
documents, a growing compendium of meeting
minutes, and a realitime feed for updates on
ongoing projects across every committee are
all items on the agenda for this project Of
particular note is the creation of what has been
referred to as a “Student Organization Wiki"

 

where student leaders across our campus may
have access to a digital oneestop shop for any
and all questions on how to run and advertise
their respective organizations From reserving
a meeting space to submitting a purchase
request, the SGA website of the future will
hopefully serve as a centralized hub to answer
any student organization concern Both this
facet of the website and the project as a whole
are most eloquently summarized by Senator
Nathan Jones, in his desire to create “a hub
where both students and student organizations
can come to a single site to get their questions
answered The website is more than just design
updates: its about functionality, practicality,
and personality We want students to know
who and what SGA is, and I think this is a
perfect way to show students we're serious
about making a positive impact on campus?’

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Photos Courtesy anllinm'S Tech SGA

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