Missouri Students Association, the main student government organization at MU, focused on increased communications with the student body in its first cabinet meeting Aug. 30. The joint cabinet confirmed 20 new senators and set an agenda of involvement and transparency for the new school year.
In past years, members of the association have felt MSA’s campus changes have not been properly communicated to the student body. MSA hopes to address the root cause of the issue by being generally more involved on campus.
“I think a lot of people just aren’t really aware of what MSA is and what MSA does,” Maddy Jensen, newly appointed senator at large, said.
Senate Public Relations Director Vishvi Aurora said she thinks this lack of knowledge is harmful to MSA’s mission.
“If you have a place with 30,000 people … even 20% not knowing [about MSA] makes a huge … difference to what participation or concerns they might have,” Aurora said.
Senate Speaker Lane Cargile said he wants MSA to better utilize social media to connect with the student body.
“Social media is our next big push and doing more than just posting a graphic or a little informational,” Cargile said. “We want to get us on there so [the student body] feels more comfortable knowing this is just a student running this account.”
MSA is planning to bring back “Tell us Tuesdays,” a weekly Instagram poll to gauge student feedback.
MSA also hopes to make Welcome Week more resourceful for students.
“We bring a lot of involvement opportunities on campus, but how about we have a few days where you would just interact with your colleges and get to know their resources that you might need,” Aurora said.
Aurora said MSA hopes to help students engage with their individual schools and programs on campus as early as possible, allowing new students to familiarize themselves with academic resources and get involved with their majors.
Cargile said he wants to build on the work of previous years. One of his goals is to build a map locating the all-gender bathrooms on campus. To Cargile, accomplishing these goals is a big part of building trust with the student body.
“[MSA] kind of got the reputation of like, ‘Oh, they do a lot of big dreaming, but only two or three things get done’ … helping to communicate those goals … with the community is good for having a realistic expectation of who we are as a student government and how we reach people,” Cargile said.
Cargile said MSA wants to be an accessible resource to the whole student body and is open to everyone’s ideas.
“This is an amazing place … but I’m not going to deny that there’s always an opportunity for going from good to the best,” Aurora said.
The leaders of MSA want student input to help improve Mizzou.
“No matter what it is, reach out, we’re here to try to help problem solve. And then, if you have an interest in helping fellow students that way, get involved,” Cargile said.
To contact MSA with an issue head here.
A Student’s Guide to MSA
The Missouri Students Association joint cabinet consists of two sections:
The Executive Branch consists of the student body president, vice president, chief of staff and treasurer, which exist to approve legislation proposed in legislative meetings.
The Legislative Branch consists of 81 student senators including the senate speaker. The Senate Cabinet is broken up into five committees: Academic Affairs, Budget, External Affairs, Social Justice and Campus Affairs.
MSA also has positions available in the Judicial Branch:
The Judicial Branch consists of student judges selected and approved by the Executive and Legislative branches to help mediate the elections for MSA.
Function: The individual committees of the Senate meet between joint cabinet meetings to propose and debate legislation. During joint cabinet meetings, the Senate votes on proposed bills, and the president can sign them. Once passed, the decision is sent on to the concerned authority on campus.
How to get involved: Have a concern that you think needs to be addressed on campus? There are two ways to get your idea to the proper officials. The first and most accessible option is to show up to a meeting or contact an official: either the specific committee meeting or the monthly joint cabinet meeting. The second option is to join MSA yourself — applications for first-year senators are open year-round and can be found on the MSA Legislative Branch website.
Edited by Emma Flannery | eflannery@themaneater.com
