Business was smooth sailing in the Eynon Ballroom Monday night as Student Government Association Senate members finally addressed series three of the constitution in regards to the election process.

For the past two Senate meetings, senior economics major Matt Kyle proposed an amendment addressing the series three elections for assistant vice president, director of public relations and commissioner. The amendment was to change the elections from a general election for the student body back to the SGA voting in individuals for those positions.

“I want to make sure that the individuals that are pursuing these positions are the best qualified candidates for these said positions,” Kyle said. “I want to make sure that these elections don’t end up being a popularity contest in the long run and I also believe that SGA’s diversity helps illustrate how diverse our student body really is.”

Kyle also notes the low use of ProfLink in elections as a reason to change the series.

Although some understand the intention for the amendment, many, including assistant vice president for student governmental relations Kevin McCarthy, said that while many students don’t often use ProfLink, there has been a steady rise in its use in voting since the rule change.

In the end, the Senate voted down the amendment change, keeping elections for these positions open to the student body.

As the night continued, the Senate was introduced to candidates for president and executive vice president.

The presidential candidates were Arielle Gedeon, Chad Hinson and Michael J. Webster.

Gedeon hopes to give Rowan students a voice. She also intends to work with Greek life and hopes that fraternity and sorority leaders attend SGA meetings to get a better grasp of the student body.

“I want to make sure that every student is heard,” Gedeon said. “If it means reaching out to Greek life or engaging with the student body as a whole, I would make that as my one of my top priorities. Transparency is key.”

While Hinson agrees on transparency between the SGA Board and the Senate, he wants to increase transparency between the administration and students while pursuing more initiatives to further diversify Rowan and provide successful opportunities to students.

“We’re a school with nearly 20,000 students and growing,” Hinson said. “As the school continues to grow, we need to provide these students with opportunities to be successful. As president, I want to ensure that Rowan students will be successful when they leave to pursue their career, all the while creating one of the most diverse campuses in New Jersey.”

Webster agrees in both transparency and opportunities for success, but he wants to make sure that the president is able to have a hands-on approach when communicating with students. He also feels that a good relationship between the administration is key when addressing and solving certain problems.

“When there’s an event going on at Rowan, I want to be able to engage both the community and students at large,” Webster said. “With that being said, a good relationship between the administration and the student body is key, so that events, such as the [student pulled over on campus] last October, don’t happen again.”  

For executive vice president candidates Yasmine Abed and Jason Fisch, the main concerns surrounded around clubs.

As the current assistant vice president for club development, Abed has charted nearly 11 clubs in the past year. For Abed, advertising for clubs has been an issue and she wants to fix it immediately.

“Advertising and getting the word out for clubs is a big problem,” Abed said. “Sending the word out by email or presentation before and after SGA Senate meetings would greatly benefit certain clubs.”

With his experience being on the student financial control board, Fisch wants to help clubs better communicate with the SGA E-board.

“By creating a committee under the executive vice president, we’ll be able to gather leaders of clubs to better understand what exactly clubs need to succeed as well as figure out ways for future clubs to be chartered,” Fisch said.

Voting will take place on ProfLink from March 12 to March 15.

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