There is still one week left in the fall semester, but the student government is ready to enter the spring with optimism that they can achieve some major goals.
Last month, University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) president Gavin Keirans brought the initiative of a 90-day plan before his assembly. Drafted by each committee in UPUA, the plans would outline what to do each week to accomplish major goals.
UPUA Chief of Staff Matt Smith said roots of the 90-day plan began when Keirans (senior-business management) was elected into office. He came up with a "block plan" that rolled over into this semester, Smith (senior-international politics) said.
The No. 1 goal of UPUA is to serve as a representative body that is both informed and interested, Smith said, and the 90-day plans are an explicit way of being transparent and building faith between the student government and the rest of the student body.
"If everyone looks at it objectively, it's about doing the best thing for the student body at Penn State," Smith said.
Although UPUA Student Life and Diversity Chairman Christian Ragland said his committee proved itself to be very proactive prior to the implementation of the 90-day plan, he supports the initiative to lay the groundwork for all committees to continue with their ideas.
The major goal outlined in his 90-day plan for next semester is the drafting and passing of legislation to ensure none of this semester's efforts were done in vain, he said.
"A lot of times we can do all the events that we want, but if there's no policy, there's no way to make it last for a long time," Ragland said.
Other committees are looking toward next semester too, like the Governmental Affairs Committee, governed by Colleen Smith, and the Internal Development Committee, governed by Dustin Dove.
Smith (sophomore-biology) said the governmental affairs committee recently amended its plan to reflect State College borough officials's decision to push back the vote on the proposed Nuisance Gathering Ordinance until February 2010. Smith said she and her committee are dedicated to finding a solution that is "100 percent student-friendly."
Internal Development Chairman Dustin Dove (senior-secondary education) said the Internal Development Committee will focus on revising the election code. The committee is looking to complete this yearly task before the election season, as it came through late last year.
The student body president's initiative looks promising, Keirans said -- so far.
"The real judgment will be seen at the end of 90 days," Keirans said.
There are three months left before election season begins, and Keirans said he wants the focus now to be on concrete and tangible goals -- like the start of UPUA's Legal Services and the implementation of an extended hours White Loop service.
"There's a need for the organization as a whole to turn on a different gear," Keirans said. "We need to accomplish the laundry list of goals that we set out."
