David Wilson, a senator for the College of Business and a sophomore majoring in economics, and Sophie Santos, a senator for the College of Arts and Sciences and a sophomore majoring in economics, both provided plans for new programs to kick-start Thursday night’s SGA Senate meetings for 2010-11.
Wilson proposed a program called We Are UA, a collection of stories about the University, its students and alumni. The idea for the program was inspired by the University’s You Are UA recruitment drive, Wilson said.
“[President] Robert Witt has said that the most effective way to sell something is through storytelling,” Wilson said. “You don’t just hit the mind, you hit their soul.”
“Something Witt has stressed is that we’re not just athletics,” Wilson said. “We’re education and research.”
Part of the program’s focus would be on famous and successful alumni such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, said Wilson. Wales earned a master’s degree at the University’s School of Business.
The approval of We Are UA by the Senate was the last step before hiring a paid director for the program, Wilson said.
The program would be based off a current UA website for now, Wilson said. He plans for the We Are UA to eventually have it’s own independent site, “weare.ua.edu.”
Wilson said anyone interested would be able to access the site and find the stories.
“We Are UA has been in the works for a few months and we’re really excited to see where ii leads in the way of recruiting,” said Nicole Bohannon, executive vice president of the SGA.
The Senate approved another resolution, the Student 2 Student plan. The plan, authored by Santos, would allow students to donate unused meal plan credits.
“It’s not like rollover minutes,” Santos said. “I’d rather they be used and donated than not used at all.”
“Students who are in need can apply,” Santos said. “I hope people like the idea. It’s helping students who actually need it.”
The SGA also approved two bills. The first allowed certain members of the SGA to make up office hours. Bohannon said during the summer, many members of the SGA were traveling and could not be present for their service hours or for votes.
“It’s actually a new procedure put in place in the summer,” Bohannon said. “But we can’t codify during the summer.”
The second bill approved by the SGA allowed for the blinding of applications for First Year Council.
Blinding means the removal of names from applications, Bohannon said. She said such an action would make applications easier to evaluate on merits alone.
“That’s just to ensure we have a fair application process,” Bohannon said.
