As the fall semester progresses, the Student Government Association (SGA) has begun to make plans for its actions this year.

On Sept. 6, the Senate hosted its first meeting in Fleck Hall. All students were welcome to attend. At the meeting, SGA announced some of its new initiatives for this year, one of which was a Green Initiative that seeks to improve sustainability on campus.

There are also other planned projects that seek to involve and inform the student body.

“The Association [proposed] a debate between the College Democrats and College Republicans, at which there will be a voter registration booth,” said SGA President Brady Faglie. “This event is being hosted with the intention of encouraging students to be informed and participatory citizens.”

“Of course, the year is early, and there are many other initiatives and projects that will come up during the year. As for now, we have a survey on our official Facebook page, St. Edward’s University Student Government Association, that presents several key issues for students to vote on as most important to them,” said Faglie.

SGA hosts open meetings every other Thursday at 6:45 p.m. in Fleck Hall. Students are welcome to attend and discuss issues of concern to them or propose solutions to pressing issues. All meetings are open to the general student body.

Faglie said some issues from last school year remain important to the SGA this year.

“Last year’s major issue was smoking on campus. Regarding this issue, Senator Octavio Sanchez has been diligent in keeping this issue on the table and maintaining contact with the Administration,” said Faglie. “We hope to see a reasonable solution to this, one that takes both smokers and non-smokers into consideration, and we hope that this solution can be brought to fruition.”

Faglie is optimistic about this year’s SGA and believes that the organization is ready to serve the student body well this year.

“Speaking with Vice President [Nairod] Woods, Chief of Staff [Ledarrion] Allen and the senators, I gathered that the [first Senate] meeting went well,” he said. “We have a very strong group of individuals who are intelligent, motivated and passionate about representing the student body.”

However, SGA would like to get the word out that they need student feedback and communication in order to better determine the needs of the student body and serve accordingly.

“We would like students to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on campus issues and also to know that if students have any questions, concerns or ideas, we are ready and willing to address them,” said Faglie.

Stay connected by liking SGA’s Facebook page and following on Twitter @SEU_SGA.