SGA Graphic | Graphic by Grace Merkle | The Wright State Guardian
At any public higher education institution in Ohio, a student government is required by law. Wright State University (WSU) and The Ohio State University (OSU) have their own methods of running their respective government organizations with varying results.
Wright State University SGA
The structure and nuances of the WSU and OSU student governments were examined considering things such as budget, student involvement and accomplishments.
As of the spring semester, 10,604 students are currently enrolled at WSU. There are 18 official student members in the Student Government Association, a ratio of approximately 590 students to each member of SGA.
Each official member of SGA, with the exception of interns, is paid for their work despite the negative views of the student body. In contrast, the OSU student government is not paid. This is the first difference between the two groups.
SGA became more involved this year with running student events to connect more with an unconnected, declining student body. This included taking over the annual Raider Round-up and starting the Raider Nights in the City program, which includes events such as a Dragons baseball game and a Hamilton performance.
Despite efforts to increase student involvement, the pandemic stagnated numbers.
“I've talked to other student governments across Ohio and we have a GroupMe for discussions like this, and issues like this are not unique. They happen across the state and I'm sure they happen across the country,” SGA President Jonathan Ciero said.
Ciero also mentioned that he believed most students at WSU do not even know about SGA,
“To be quite frank, a lot of the time, students don't know who we [SGA] are, which is definitely a struggle there. I feel like a lot of students don't know what is on campus in general.”
Jonathan Ciero
SGA passed three resolutions since the beginning of the fall semester.
Resolutions 21-01 called for increased security measures on campus. Resolution 21-02 condemned Ohio House Bill 327 which prohibits training or teaching of critical race theory.
Resolution 21-03 called for the use of electronic payment methods for student organizations. Another resolution is currently in the drafting stages concerning inclusivity and accessibility.
According to Ciero, none of the policy changes are being put into action in accordance with these resolutions.
“The question is, have those policy changes been made? The answer's no. They have not,” Ciero said.
The creation of the NPHC plots, a collaboration with WSU Greek Life and SGA, is one of the most recent notable accomplishments of SGA. The plots celebrate traditionally Black fraternities and sororities. Adrian Williams was SGA president during this time. Williams is now the presidential fellow for WSU.
Williams believes that WSU SGA uniqueness comes from its relationship with university administration.
“We are in constant meetings with the president and the president's cabinet. We are in constant communication with the Board of Trustees, members, members of the community, professors, and the faculty senate. And I think that is not necessarily replicated at other universities,” Williams said.
The Ohio State University SGA
The Ohio State University student government also claims close relationships with the university administration but focuses on student experience and wellness.
As of the spring semester, 61,369 students are currently enrolled in The Ohio State University. There are 375 official student members in the Student Government Association, a ratio of approximately 164 students to each member of student government.
None of the positions in OSU student government are paid positions, with the exception of scholarships, which is in contrast to the WSU SGA. Unlike WSU, there are no restrictions based on class year when running for the OSU office.
OSU's student government boasts many notable accomplishments in recent years such as a Lyft Ride Smart Program to provide Lyft discounts to students, distributing 4,000 safety devices to students, removing suspension notations from transcriptions and the building of an LGBTQ+ center. A more comprehensive list of accomplishments is here.
Jacob Chang, a Chinese international student, is president of the Undergraduate Student Government at OSU. Despite having more of a known status to students than WSU SGA has, Chang comments that students usually do not view OSU student government very highly.
“They usually view us negatively because they think we don't do anything,” Chang said.
This sentiment has become a similarity between the OSU student government and the WSU SGA.
To help remedy this view, Chang hopes to send emails to the student body highlighting what the student government has been doing. Future plans include efforts to enhance student wellness.
The budget for OSU student government typically ranges from $200,000-$500,000 but is much higher this year due to roll over from the year before. The exact number is not updated on the OSU student government webpage.
Despite required public reporting for budgets, WSU SGA does not publicly report its budget on its website. At the request of The Wright State Guardian, the reported budget for WSU SGA for this year is $74,775.
