On April 6, there was a vote to make changes both to the name of the Student Engagement Council (SEC) and to some parts of its constitution.

John Spranza, student life coordinator for the Floyd campus, said of the changes, “When the constitution was written 10 years ago, we had only two sites. This change was made to reflect the growth of the student body.”

At the April 6 meeting, SEC members participated in a vigorous debate for 25 minutes before deciding on exactly what changes should occur.

Some of the changes include changing the name of the SEC to the Student Government Association (SGA), which “better reflects the purpose and duties of the student council,” according to Lyric Burnett, student life coordinator at the Douglasville campus.

There will also be some changes that involve student membership in the organization.

In the past, membership within the SGA has included all designated student leaders (presidents or other designated representatives) of all registered student organizations. This will not change.

What will change is the number of organizations one member is allowed to represent. Members will only be allowed to represent a maximum of two organizations. In the past, there has not been a limit.

If a member is representing more than one organization, though, that person will only be allowed one vote on issues brought before the SGA.

Also, each club will appoint up to two designees to represent it at SGA meetings.

Another issue discussed at the meeting was faculty involvement with the SGA.

According to the last constitution, the SEC was supposed to have representation of at least one faculty member from each campus amongst its membership.

With the recent growth of the college, the SGA decided that faculty members need to be nominated by Renva Watterson, vice president for academic and student affairs.

John Spranza said, “It’s all about building relationships between faculty and the student body.”

The council voted 10 – 0 for approval of the revised constitution, with only one person abstaining.

The new student government constitution will become effective in the fall of 2012, dependent on the approval of the college president.