Lauren Cottle
Staff Writer
At the third SGA meeting of the semester on Wednesday, Sept. 11, the senators discussed The All State, campus events and guest speaker David Major of the Language and Literature Department spoke about the Quality Enhancement Program (QEP).
The QEP is a five-year academic plan routinely developed for APSU and designed to improve student learning. Last year, the plan focused on student retention and promoted APSU 1000.
For the 2013 academic year, the goal is to get students to reach certain learning outcomes. The program attempts this by creating an electronic portfolio of students’ accomplishments, writing samples and other documents such as study abroad and internship experiences.
According to Major, this electronic portfolio can be shown to potential employers and will help the students that are applying to graduate school.
“Students are getting a good education,” Major said, “but this plan will provide an important follow through of what students are truly gaining.”
Chief Justice Smith reported on MudBowl, Academic Integrity Week and SGA elections, which ended at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12. Ratification of new SGA members occurred at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13.
Greg Singleton reported that the SGA plans to use two to three inflatables in the MudBowl festivities.
Toward the end of the meeting, Mike Rainier addressed the senators on interactions with The All State.
“If you guys receive a question or comment through email from an All State member regarding a piece of legislation or something like that, it’s okay to respond,” Rainier said. “Just make sure that the responses are sent through to Jessi, Dr. Singleton or me.”
The SGA president and vice president are concerned with proofreading members’ responses to make sure that “everyone is on the same page,” Rainier said.
“Interactions with The All State are a good thing,” Rainier said. “We want the university and other students to know what’s going on with the SGA.”
SGA Vice President Jessi Dillingham further explained this in an online statement:
“The SGA wishes to respond to The All State in a professional and proactive manner,” Dillingham said.
Dillingham said the Executive Council might want to discuss The All State’s questions with certain SGA members before they give a response.
Dillingham said this helps every SGA member “know what is going on.”
Chief Justice Smith reported on the state of certain buildings on campus. Miller Hall has been cleaned and officials are planning to move QEP offices into the area.
The former Kappa Sigma house will be used for more offices. Marion Street apartments will be used for Public Safety.
Resolution No. 1 was passed unanimously after two spelling and two stylistic corrections. This bill sends a letter of thanks to the Office of Housing for work on the new dorm buildings accessible to students.
Singleton reported that the Tennessee Board of Regents will be visiting APSU the week of Sept. 16. This is not a common occurrence, Singleton said, and it will give APSU a chance to “showcase the university and how beautiful the campus is.”
Singleton thanked volunteers for working the Academic Integrity Week and SGA election tables.
Singleton also spoke about the new APSU Merit Page, which documents students’ “noteworthy accomplishments” through Facebook and merit badges. The program is free, and Singleton hopes it will “promote the university to prospective students.”
APSU is the third school in Tenn. to participate in the Merit Page. Middle Tennessee State University also uses Merit Page.
