ABAC Student Government Association
August 24, 2015
In attendance: Dr. Mann, Assistant Professor of History; Taylor Martin, SGA President; Andrew
Belk, SGA Vice-President; Dee Springs, Senator of Liberal Arts; Brittney Gunter, Senator of Ag
and Natural Resources; Jacob Vagott, Senator of Math and Science.
Senator Gunter recorded minutes ad hoc in absence of a formal Recording Secretary (TBD)
ABAC Community: Dean Baker
Agenda Items
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Constitution Day, September 17. SGA to spearhead campus events and encourage other
clubs and organizations to participate. SGA will sponsor an essay writing contest with
award to be presented on Constitution Day. Students will submit essays to Dr. Mann
electronically thru turnitin.com and Dr. Mann will compile and send without names to the
Department of Political Science and History for review (TBD which professors will
read/review/chose winner—decided Sept. 5 at faculty meeting). SGA members to solicit
gift cards from local businesses for award. SGA hopes to have Congressman Scott on
campus to speak about the importance of the Constitution and present the award to the
essay winner. President Bridges’ office to invite Congressman Scott.
Discussion over having a quiz bowl or some other competitive activity for students.
Agreement made to reach out to other clubs/orgs for help—discussion if PTK would like
to run quiz bowl. Dr. Mann to contact Dr. Schmeisser to inquire.
L3 Summit Goals: in the summer, President Martin, VP Belk, and Senators Gunter and
Springs attended the L3 Summit, a leadership conference. President Martin defined the
goals set: community involvement, interdisciplinary collaboration (diversity) among
ABAC students, and encouragement for 4 year degrees. SGA officers to work in
achieving these goals in 2015/2016.
VP Belk in charge of community involvement/outreach. Belk stood outside Publix and
Walmart in Tifton with survey to inquire of patrons how ABAC and the community can
work together. Limited interest from public—determined that reaching out to specific
organizations in the community, like the Kiwanis Club, the Elks, would be more
effective. Discussions about working with Ms. Donna Webb to have a Relay for Life in
the spring to benefit the greater Tifton community. Discussion to continue.
Senator Gunter spoke in length about the great success of her mentorship survey
program. Gunter worked with Dean Baker to formulate a survey to match incoming Ag
students with student mentors with high response rates—some 300 of 500 students
responded. Students will meet each other at the Ag BBQ on August 18. Gunter reported
that the survey can easily be used by Deans of other schools and should be pursued as
college goal for incoming students in fall of 2016. President Martin to discuss with
President Bridges.
Senator Vagott to meet with Dean Evans to discuss the mentorship program and report
back at next meeting.
Senator Springs introduced a formal plan to have SGA work with students in all schools
to have leadership committees formed, the Completion and Assessment Committee
(CAP). Under Springs’ proposal, SGA would have students from all the schools form
committees to nominate School Leaders who would then work closely with SGA officers
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to meet students’ needs across campus. The schools’ committee members would be
interviewed by one SGA officer and faculty members (TBD) before nominating a School
Leader. Dr. Mann remarked that the language was difficult to understand in the proposal
and voiced the concern that it may be too large in scope for ABAC’s administration to
support (as the CAP proposal was to be added to the SGA Constitution’s By-Laws). Dr.
Mann suggested that she speak with Vice-President of Academic Affairs Dillard about
the proposal and send her a copy before SGA pursued it. Dr. Mann also suggested voting
on not the proposal itself, but voting to keep it alive and on the table for further
discussion and review, pending what Dr. Dillard said. Vote called and passed
unanimously without further discussion.
Discussion about the importance of a sexual assault awareness app. President Martin
noted that call boxes are around campus, but difficult to find and locate, especially in an
emergency. A phone app would alleviate these concerns. App is called SNAP, and
Martin to discuss getting and implementing the SNAP app with Dr. Bridges at her next
meeting with him, August 25. Noted this is a campus-wide initiative sponsored by Dean
of Students and of great importance to the college.
Next meeting: August 24, time TBD by VP Belk.
Items for next meeting:
Updates on Constitution Day plans
Senators to report back on meetings with Deans if anything new discussed, Senators to determine
how many students are enrolled in their school
Updates on Senators from Human Sciences and Nursing
President Martin to report on meeting with Dr. Bridges
Updates on SGA operating budget