Bakersfield College/Bakersfield (BC) - SGA, 03-04
Category:Accomplishments, Amending constitution, Goals, Goals/Accomplishments, Hosting a successful retreat, Joining national affiliations/associations, Making SG office improvements
Accomplishment Details:Accomplishment #1: Making SG office improvements
We are currently in the process of making improvements to our Executive Board Room, which will include re-painting along with our logo displayed along the west wall and new carpeting including asbestos abatement. The Student Activities office will also have asbestos abatement along with new tile flooring. In addition, the countertop will be lowered to bring us into compliance with our local disability laws. The Executive offices will be re-carpeted and all door locks have been re-keyed.
Accomplishment #2: Joining state affiliations/associations
The ASBC recently re-joined the California Student Association of Community Colleges (CalSACC), the statewide lobbying organization for community colleges on behalf of students. For the past two years our CalSACC region, listed as number 5 by the State Chancellor's office, has been vacant. The student governments in our region, including the ASBC, recently re-activated the region by once more becoming dues-paying members and we have been holding regular monthly meetings and have elected a policy board representative to sit on the statewide Policy Board. The current issues most important to CalSACC Region V are getting the Student Representative Fee passed and implemented in all schools in our region and participating in the second annual March in March, a statewide protest against further budget cuts and enrollment fee hikes.
Accomplishment #3: Hosting a successful retreat
During August 2003, the Student Government Association held its first retreat in several years in a cabin provided to us by the former Chancellor of the Kern Community College District, Jim Young. A series of workshops were held over a two-day period in which the new leaders of our student government were able to interact with each other and work as a team. A draft constitution was also presented to the new student leaders along with a plan for increasing the sales of our discount stickers, which are a major source of income to the student government. The retreat effectively set up the leadership model that we have followed throughout the academic year, and many of the students present at the retreat are still serving as officers.
Goals Details:Goal #1: Amending constitution
One of the top priorities of our student government this year is to radically amend our constitution. Currently the constitution is outdated and overly burdened by lengthy and often conflicting by-laws. The current leadership wants to change the constitution before the spring annual election to allow next year's student leaders to operate under a better system. We are currently debating whether to incorporate either a unicameral or parliamentary system, as we are presently working under a unicameral system with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches. There are also plans to eliminate the titular distinction between senators and simply group them according to which committee they serve on.