Student Govt Association | The Wright State Guardian
Student Government Association (SGA) President Ivan Mallett proposed a change to the SOAR workshop which currently serves as a workshop where members of SGA can teach student organization leaders how to run a successful organization.
According to Mallet, however, organizations no longer need this information.
“What we found over time is that organizations have learned these things. They don’t need to learn how to manage their budgets anymore because they’re doing that and then they’re transitioning and teaching the next person how to do it too,” said Mallett.
The proposed change
Instead of teaching student leaders the ins and outs of running a student organization, Mallett suggests that the workshop be changed to focus on helping organizations improve their student engagement, proposing a point system to boost interest.
How it works
If this change to the SOAR workshop becomes reality, student organizations will earn points that they can then give to students who attend their events. The SOAR workshop will determine how student organizations can earn points, and organizations that attend the workshop will learn how to earn points.
Once a student organization has earned points for themselves, students who attend their events will earn those points as well. Once students have earned enough points, they can turn them in for incentives on campus. The point system is designed to get student organizations working towards their engagement by earning points to give out to students on campus at their events.
Campus partners
Nothing is official yet and no campus partners have been contacted, however Mallett has a few ideas regarding who he will contact if SOAR changes to the point system.
“Nothing is set in stone, but ideas like get three free swipes for ‘X’ amount of points or 10 percent discount on your parking pass or 20 percent discount at the bookstore are just ideas we’ve had,” said Mallett.
Opinions of SGA
In favor of the point system
“I believe that this incentive program would be not only beneficial for SOAR but also for the culture of campus. Our campus is unique in how we are structured and I believe that we can all agree that involvement is the key to retention. By creating a reward system for students to engage with our community, more students will become involved on campus and have the opportunity to meet and mingle with students from across campus,” said SGA Director of Academic Affairs Samantha Baxter.
Not in favor of the point system
“I personally feel like an incentive program that would [cost] a substantial amount of money doesn’t really fix the root of the problem that I see in SOAR. No matter how much planning that I put into a workshop, I don’t feel like the audience has a compelling reason to be engaged because the same people who are successful on campus are the same people who can successfully mobilize people to SOAR. I’m sort of preaching to the choir in that sense,” said SGA Speaker of the House of Representatives Joe York.
The proposed point system and overall changes to the SOAR workshop are still under debate with SGA.
