Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Letter to the Editor concerning 'SEMO Speaks'

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Good morning Southeast Arrow Editor,

My name is Peyton Mogley and I serve as the Student Government Association President for this academic year.

Today I am writing to you to clarify some misperceived information that was published by a staff writer in a recent article entitled, "Student Government seeks to extend meal plan hours." It is my impression that the article had intentions of merely making known some of the Student Government Association's findings upon the conclusion of the SEMO Speaks Now booth initiative for the month of February, however the article appears to convey a message that might be misleading to the audience of the Southeast Arrow.

While we are appreciative that the Southeast Arrow had an interest in capturing some of the exciting feedback we received from students as a result of this two week long initiative, I felt the need to write to you to rectify a few inaccuracies in the article. SEMO Speaks Now was a project put in place that served the purpose of encouraging senators to engage and interact with their fellow constituents. This project was implemented not only an important step towards improving visibility efforts on campus to help students get to know the Student Government Association senators, but also to help our senators to get to know genuine concerns, sentiments, and thoughts that members of the student body possess about the University.

This face to face, on campus effort sought to gather feedback from students about how the university could improve their academic or extracurricular experience and what would need to be done to accommodate their unique needs. Two weeks and twenty-six pages of feedback later, SGA compiled a list of results that occurred most frequently and seemed of the utmost importance to a multitude of students that stopped by our booth. These results were then categorized, listed, and distributed to the Special Projects, University Affairs, and Student Issues Committee Chairs so they could discuss with their respective committees possible projects that may result from this initiative. While discussions are certainly occurring and project interests have been expressed, official projects have not yet been confirmed or finalized by chairs. As a result, a completion date for pending potential projects has also not been confirmed or finalized. While the end of the year is upon us, the Student Government Association has largely been a body of students that thoroughly takes time to investigate and determine the best course of action for the students. To achieve optimum results often many meetings and conversations with departments, student organizations, and university entities have to first occur.

We are thrilled to have the opportunity to come together as an organization to meet and decide how our efforts can best serve and reflect the interest of the larger Southeast student body and will be in contact with the Arrow regarding any finalized further updates or progress made from this initiative. Thank you so much for your cooperation and the opportunity to provide some necessary updates in response to the initial article.

Warmest regards,

Peyton Mogley

Student Government Association

President

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