Despite the challenges brought to the fall semester by COVID-19, there are a plethora of organizations and activities for incoming students to join. Student Government (SG), one of the most prominent organizations on campus, is finding new ways to interact with the student body. 

According to Student Body President Melanie Flowers, a fourth-year studying communication with a concentration in public relations, SG is an on-campus organization meant to advocate for student needs. SG also serves to represent the student body for university administration, the Board of Trustees and the greater state.

“One of the ways we represent students is through our Senate meetings, where we have senators representing each of the colleges, the grad school, as well as first-year students, and they’ll pass legislation to take a stance on a particular concern,” Flowers said. 

Both incoming and current students can get involved with SG. Fall applications are open for first-year students interested in getting involved, according to Flowers and Simpson. Interest forms are available for vacant Senate seats and there is also a general application interest form for students to get involved. Students can also contact student legislators through their respective office emails. 

“When I was getting involved on campus when I came as a transfer student, I got involved in the diversity and outreach department, not as a senator but as a student, and that was a great way for me to dip my toes into the water to see what SG was like with a smaller responsibility and time commitment,” Flowers said. “So there really [are] different levels of commitment you can get involved in.”

SG is composed of three different branches. According to Flowers and Student Senate President Coleman Simpson, each branch of SG addresses a different need. 

• The legislative branch, the Student Senate, is in charge of creating legislation on behalf of the student body. 

• The executive branch, the student body president and vice president positions, is in charge of pushing initiatives for different departments, such as University Affairs, Sustainability and Graduate Student Relations. 

• The treasury branch is in charge of managing SG’s budget and initiatives towards tuition and student fees. 

“Basically, we are created by students, organized by students and we’re funded by students,” Simpson said. “The student interest is always the heart of what we do.” 

Recent examples of SG legislation include its Title IX at NC State Act, addressing issues with new Title IX protections against sexual assault survivors. Similarly, the COVID-19 Continuation Act demands greater academic and teacher protections for both undergraduate and graduate students. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, SG meetings primarily took place at the Student Governance Chambers in Talley Student Union. Recently, meetings have shifted to a virtual platform to curb the spread of COVID-19 between SG members. According to Flowers and Simpson, many SG meetings will be continued virtually once the school year starts. The meetings will be livestreamed and recorded for the student body to access. 

With SG having various branches, many meetings happen at different times. According to Flowers and Simpson, the Senate will continue to meet every other Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. For the smaller branches, such as the executive cabinets, meeting times will be updated on the website on the branches respective pages.

“It varies from session to session based on the needs,” Flowers said. “Cabinet meets weekly, either on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on their schedules, and then departments, committees and commissions have their meetings that are dispersed throughout the week at different frequencies.” 

For more information, visit the Student Government website.

Editor’s Note: Updated terminology for accuracy.