Thursday’s SGA meeting was Darien Flowers’ final meeting as executive president. Flowers thanked the Senate, his fellow executive board members and SGA adviser Jana Lynn Patterson for the work they’ve done throughout the past year and encouraged those remaining on SGA next year to keep up the great work.

“This has been the highest honor of my time at Elon to work and lead all of you, 50 of the most accomplished and well-established student leaders on this campus I know,” Flowers said. “It has been a labor of love. Sometimes we have all had fervid discussions, but I think that’s our job. I think that this is a special organization, that many of our common organizations and our institutions don’t have the opportunity to tackle the things that we do. And you are all in a very special place to have the opportunity to have the access to that.”

The majority of the meeting focused on a presentation by Becky Olive-Taylor, associate dean of academic support. Olive-Taylor explained to SGA the results of a Fall 2011 survey about faculty’s effectiveness as advisers in terms of their importance, student and adviser satisfaction and belief that it is an adviser’s responsibility to deliver. 

“We think juniors and seniors have got it all together and they don’t need that much help with advising,” Olive-Taylor said. “What we need to be asking is what is the different type of advising juniors and seniors need versus freshman and sophomores.” 

Many of the questions revealed juniors and seniors seemed less satisfied about advising on the whole.

Olive-Taylor said she would like to be able to speak to department chairs this semester to go over the results of the survey and ask what they want from advising.

“What do you want advising in your department to help your majors know, do and value that they may not get just from taking courses?” Olive-Taylor said, stating examples of what she would ask department chairs. “What does the advising relationship help your majors know, do and value as a business, finance major, as a broadcast major?”

SGA and the student issues committee were also commended for their contribution to the implementation of the mail center electronic notification system. With this new system, the mail center will likely send out text messages or emails when students have received a package. The resolution to recognize the student issues committee for their efforts passed with a vote of 32-1-4.