On the agenda for Oct. 3 Student Government meeting was a presentation by a guest speaker for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBS) as well as discussion of plans involving future SGA events and student affairs.

BBBS is a volunteer organization that focuses on connecting young students with adults in the community to help them in education. The goal is to support youths in the community and allow adults to connect with them as they make their way through school.

Guest speaker and representative of the BBBS Brittney Swicionis said the aim of the organization’s presentation is to get student senators involved with helping children in the Cape Girardeau area. Swicionis said the organization represented an opportunity for students of SEMO to become a much larger and closer part of the future of Cape Girardeau school districts.

“Our students, our faculty and staff, a lot of [them] are in the Cape Girardeau school district are alumni here at SEMO. For you guys to come out, for you guys to make that impact really shows how much you are invested in the philanthropy mission that you're looking for at Jefferson [Elementary],” Swicionis said.

Senators were encouraged to reach out to their colleges and get involved with the program as soon as possible.

The next item that was discussed was committee reports. Vice President of SGA Natalie Augustyn said while a vacancy still exists for the College of Education, Health and Human Services, interviews for the position are in the works. Vacancies which are not filled by fall break will remain vacant until the spring semester.

Student representative to the Faculty Senate David Oliver said faculty is looking to SGA for ways to increase the number of students completing class evaluations.

The senate offered potential solutions, including students receiving extra credit based on percentage of classroom submissions or being let out early from class if all students submitted an evaluation. No formal decision was made.

SGA voted on two resolutions, the first of which was an amendment to the bylaw which allows a graduate student program member to join the senate as a non-voting member. SGA President Joel Philpott said the resolution would update the list of non-voting members to include a graduate student representative.

The second item voted on by SGA was a resolution to approve several student organizations requesting to be officially part of SEMO. These organizations were given the chance to be approved by SGA after attending a funding meeting.

Both the graduate student representative and the student organization resolution passed unanimously.

For more information about the Student Government Association, visit their website.