SGA officials distributed ballots outside the student union

The UWMC Student Governance Association (SGA) released the results of its executive elections last week. Corey Swinick was elected as Vice President, Lindsey Schultz as Student Life and Communications Director, Nik Simonson as Shared Governance Director, and Pa Vang as Gender and Women’s Issues Director. The four elected officers will serve in their respective roles for the 2009-2010 term.

260 votes, approximately 19 percent of the student body, were cast in the election, according to SGA President Jeff Heise. “SGA is very pleased with the turnout. Most institutions experience less than 10 percent participation from their students,” said Heise. To help encourage students to vote, SGA offered a free professional back massage to all who cast a ballot. The election was the first in which an incentive was offered for voting, according to SGA Vice President Corey Swinick.

Only one candidate was listed on the ballot for three of the four officer positions. Two candidates, Nik Simonson and Christina Sallis, ran against each other for the office of Shared Governance Director. Swinick explained that typically there is less contention for the officer positions. Last Spring only one candidate ran in each of the four officer positions.

Swinick said one of his goals is to work with and help change the Community Involvement Takes Initiative (CITI) program whose purpose is to encourage involvement within the student body. This year the CITI program provided students with cards that can be punched by attending activities on campus. When the card is punched for six events, students can redeem it for a movie ticket or gas card.

A student receives a free professional massage as an incentive for voting

Pa Vang, Gender and Women’s Issues Director explained that her goal for SGA is “to see that everyone appreciates themselves and walks in society without fear of others. Through selected events and projects is how I’d like to achieve that goal.”

Shared Governance Director Nik Simonson, a student senator in the 2008-2009 school year, said he would like to see a more united student body “which is active in participation and community involvement.”

Lindsey Schultz, Student Life and Communications Director, said she would like to see SGA “hold events that are fun and interactive for students.”

To qualify for SGA executive officer elections, a student must have experience serving in SGA for at least one semester, submit a petition with 25 signatures of peers, and achieve a GPA of 2.0 or higher.