Student Government Association President Aydan Villarreal’s State of the Student Body address touted the organization’s attempts to rebrand, announced more time off for students during the academic year and stressed the importance of using new resources provided by Wellbeing Services.
Student representatives and SGA officers have engaged in a plan to revamp the organization and its image to the student body. The organization has strived to be more effective in its advocacy efforts and more accessible to the students they represent.
“It was just 10 months ago that your elected officers began to work on a plan that would realign SGA back to its main vision, being a unifying voice and advocate for you, the students,” Villarreal said.
SGA officers have learned about university processes, resources and long-standing traditions. These include Día en la Sombrilla, Best Fest and the University Life Awards. Additionally, SGA officers engaged with incoming freshmen at summer orientation sessions and held the Meet Your Representatives event.
Villarreal promoted the Meet Your Representatives event as a success for SGA. Despite low occupancy for senator positions in the organization, SGA used this event to fill vacancies.
“This year, we had the added burden of barely having any elected representatives for students to meet,” Villarreal said. “This year, I’m eager to report that we had over 100 students in attendance, and that’s why, in the fall 2024 general election, we filled nearly every single one of those empty seats.”
Attendance increased for the Meet Your Representative event, as Villarreal claimed that only 40 students had attended the year prior. Additionally, Villarreal reports that SGA has seen increased engagement at tabling events and their bi-weekly general assemblies.
“I’m proud to say that this has been the most visible SGA administration in history, and along with our senators, we remade SGA to be an organization that is known and trusted by our students,” Villarreal said.
SGA also announced that UTSA will be giving students more time off during the upcoming fall semester.
“I’m thrilled to announce that in the fall of this year, UTSA will be implementing more time off for students. It’s another step UTSA is taking to continue being a model for student success,” Villarreal said.
However, Villarreal did not elaborate on the subject, and the specifics of this remain unknown.
Villarreal also stressed the use of TimelyCare, a 24/7 mental health support app available to UTSA Students through Wellbeing Services. The app added a “talk now” feature that allows students to receive immediate support from their phones.
“Now, this is an entire UT system-wide initiative and students at UTSA are taking advantage of this free resource at a higher rate than any other school in the UT institution, and it’s working with over 88% of those ‘talk now’ users reporting improved mental health,” Villarreal said.
The address closed with Villarreal claiming that the work of his administration was not finished despite the upcoming SGA election season.
“Now, the work of this administration is not done. We’re not going anywhere. This is not a farewell address,” Villarreal said. “Until our successors are inaugurated, we will work tirelessly to improve your student experience. It has truly been hard work to realign SGA and re-implement our place with the student body. This hard work will pay off.”
The next SGA general assembly will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the Harris-Travis Room (2.202 and 2.212) in the H-E-B Student Union. All UTSA students are welcome to attend.
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