The Student Government Association (SGA) gathered on Thursday, Oct. 5, for their fourth general assembly of the semester to discuss UTSA’s strategic plan refresh. Associate Dean of Students for Student Activities Jessica Dawson presented and answered questions about the new plan. The refresh is “a year-long process that UTSA has been embarking upon to revise and make sure we are heading into the right direction with our strategic plan,” Dawson said.
UTSA initiated the refresh to acknowledge and celebrate all that the university has done in the last five years and to improve inclusivity among students, faculty and staff. Feedback from different communities and stakeholders will be collected and used to understand what should be constantly improving.
UTSA started the reflection process by looking back at past struggles and running surveys to collect feedback and concerns. It was also noted that there were over 50 listening sessions on campus to gain additional feedback.
According to Dawson, the surveys and listening sessions found that a large majority of respondents thought UTSA was on the right track. Minor improvements were suggested by 94% of respondents, and 100% of people who were part of listening sessions agreed with UTSA’s progress over the year.
The most common recommendations voiced were communication and transparency, a place for innovation and success and a larger focus on peer institutions. “We started out with our steering committees in August, and we have been on a tour of communicating all of these recommendations to our stakeholders to let them know where we are,” Dawson said.
The refresh plan will be presented to the UT Systems Board of Regents in November to be approved or critiqued.
After the refresh plan was discussed, SGA went on to new business, including nominations for functional committee and deputy speaker. Different chairs went over what the positions are, what they demand and how they fit into the process of running SGA. During the nominating process, candidates talked about how their interests may align with their positions.
After each candidate introduced themselves, they answered questions from the committee regarding their opinions on different topics and how they would solve various issues. This allowed candidates to give their input on operations.
After questioning was completed, the candidates left the room so that the chairs could evaluate each candidate, and SGA members voted for each position. Ryan Faidey was elected deputy speaker of the senate and Fritz Houston was selected for the functional committee. Once new members were appointed to their positions, SGA jumped into future events they will be holding.
SGA’s next general assembly will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 at the Harris-Travis Room (2.202 and 2.212), and all UTSA students are welcome to attend.
