Development 2008-2009

This is a long update, but I promise I will make it as entertaining as possible.

This past week the main focus was getting the word out about SGA's trash clean-up initiative. Sara Cox emailed me the flyer, all ready and everything, and I printed it out and was ready to get a bunch copied and out around campus. The Student services office was out of green paper, which was perhaps the most critical element to the initiative's success last month. Anyways, I returned to the Student services office today, monday, to find that they STILL are out of green paper, so the flyers are yellow and will be available in the SGA office aswell as posted around campus on the various buildings bulletin boards. I'll be blowing one flyer up, adding some more trees and whatnot to the design, and pasting it in the outside SGA board to gather more interest. Hopefully we will flood the fan with trash picker-uppers.

The first week of February I focused on getting a new display into the outside boards, which is one of SGA's key ways of reaching the student body. I made a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL lettering of VCU and giant ram to signify our school spirit, but sadly my work was not unanimously appreciated. Although there were many compliments thrown my way, and offers to buy my future work, the board was not as informative as it needed to be, so within a few days I decided to replace it. The boards needed to inform the students about the upcoming elections, the new constitution referendum, and catch their interest all at the same time. Graciously, Anahita and the communications and technology committee agreed to help me with the task ahead of me, and without their work and art skills, you guys would not be able to see the masterpiece that is currently up. I'd especially like to thank Anahita, Angel, Misha, Tiffany, and Farhan for really helping me with the entire thing, so lets give them a round of applause and hang on while i find the cheering smiley face

I appreciate all the hard work everyone is doing, and shoot me a message if you guys have any questions,

Sanjay

This week Morgan and I finalized our purchasing of the food for the banquet. We checked on the status of our room reservation, fixed a minor snag, and now are confirmed for the Richmond Salons III and IV on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 or 8, I'll check on that and send out a message to those attending. We have about 40 people confirmed (not including guests which we specified not to bring). Uncose and book trading flyers will be up in the BB this afternoon. Also, I passed the USCA Room Reservation test. I'm working on filling in the attendance gaps on the Excel sheet Jenn made. Does Neeru have any attendance for previous meetings written down? Also, if the minutes Neeru took aren't typed, I will be more than happy to do that and post them on Blackboard. Thanks!

This week I started taking on the secretarial tasks that needed to get accomplished. My focus was to start planning the winter dinner. I sent out emails to get a consensus for which day worked the best and the majority of people responded with Saturday, December 6th at 7pm. Morgan reserved a room and we both agreed on Aramark's seasonal catering options for the dinner selection. I made a Facebook Event and currently we have 31 people attending plus the advisors. The bulletin boards outside the Commons were updated with information about peer advising. After the meeting tonight, I'll put up the Speak Out and the book trading flyers. I attended both the Senate and Joint meetings this week and I look forward to taking minutes for Joint.

In efforts to publicize the SGA song contest, I sent in a message for the TelegRAM for multiple days and will continue to have it run until the deadline. I made a folder for Jibran to take on his trip to Qatar full of SGA pictures. I also made a flyer for the Peer Advising/Mentoring program. As soon as I know how to post documents in Blackboard, I will put that up. Morgan and I discussed my ability to help with another Cabinet position and I look forward to starting on those tasks next week.

The bulletin boards outside the Commons were updated this week with information about the Community Outreach Committee and the Bio Tour. Democracy 101 information was taken down. A maintenance request was filed for hanging the “Meet the Cabinet” board in the back room of the SGA office. During the Bio Tour, I made flyers for Al Gore’s webcast that night to be handed out. This week I will add information from Darrell Coffey regarding finding people interested in lobbying and from Stephanie Lynch about peer advising. Side note: When I went to the SOVO office to use the copying machine, the person at the desk told me that only three people were authorized to use the SGA unlimited copying; Jibran, Danny, and Solle. Is there any way we could add more people to that list?

The outside bulletin boards have updated information regarding the upcoming Presidential Roundtable and the certified Senate results. The small cork board outside the office has a blurb about the Presidential Roundtable as well. This upcoming week I will decorate the Common cases for Halloween. The "Meet the Cabinet" board has been brought back to the office and will be hung Monday (hopefully).

I heard back from the Commonwealth Times and the process to feature an advertisement for SGA is underway. I will be creating a graphic to spotlight a SGA member and a little bio. The bulletin boards outside the Commons have undergone multiple content changes this week. From info on how to vote in the elections to the unofficial results, it's been election central. Democracy 101 posters are up and starting Monday, Oct. 13 the official Senate results will be posted. A TelegRAM went out this week with info regarding my deputy position as well.

Inside the SGA office, the bulletin board in the back room will be complete for the new week. The theme will be "Meet the Cabinet" and be a literal interpretation of a drawn cabinet complete with pictures and bios of the members. Also, the display cases outside the Student Commons will have updated information regarding this week's SGA elections. Information including what day the elections are, and detailed steps on how students will be able to vote will be displayed.

The main bulletin boards outside the Student Commons were updated this week with the information for the second Senate deadlines. For the upcoming week of September 27th-October 4th, information regarding Cabinet and Senate meeting locations and times will be displayed. Reminders of Election dates and how to vote will also be included in this week’s display. The smaller bulletin board outside the SGA office by the side doors will be completed by Saturday evening. Useful dates and contact information will be displayed.
An e-mail has been sent to the production manager of the Commonwealth Times, Mary Frank, inquiring about the process to feature a SGA member of the week in the paper. My hope is that upon reading the bios, students will be able to see themselves in one of our members, and in turn have their interest peaked and/or be inclined to join our organization. An agenda suggestion of pushing SGA members to attend floor meetings has also been submitted.

Development 2008-2009