The end of a very short year has come, this Friday (May 1st) I will officially leave office. Thus, this will be my last post on the SG website (not too sure how many people have been keeping up with this anyways, haha.) It has been such an amazing experience working and serving all of you, I urge everyone to continue to be involved, whether it is in Student Government or another student organzation it’ll be a key ingredient to making this place what you want it to be.

I have attached my “State of the Student Body” address for those of you who don’t get the chance to pick up Eagle News, it recaps our year and the many successes that we have had bringing all of our promises to fruition. The Microsoft software has been ordered for availibility in the bookstore and should be available before seniors graduate so you can upgrade before heading out into the real world. I’m going to try and send out an all student e-mail informing everyone of the dates and such. Last part of my “business”, please contact the legislators that we’re mentioned in Susan Evans’ e-mail that went out to all students last week. It is important that they here from us, letting them know how valuable WE think our education is. Maybe that will make them think about how valuable our education is to them.

Goodbye everyone, it has been a blast! Feel free to say hi, bye or I hate you in the hallways, haha. I’ll still be around for a couple of more years and will always try to help you out in anyway that I can.

Thanks for a great year!

-Sean

State of The Student Body 08/09

We are having a meeting to discuss the Microsoft Contract, trying to make that available to you all as soon as possible, making sure we have all of our ducks in a row (strange saying.) As I said in Eagle News I am committed to releasing that program by the times seniors graduate at the latest.

EARTH DAY is coming up this Saturday from 10-5 on the library green. This is the first year that we are celebrating Earth Day on such a large scale, and it is going to be sick. We have tons of student organizations sponsoring this event with us and hopefully within the next few years it will be one of the largest events at FGCU, so take your friends out there and celebrate.

There are a few more Community Involvement events this month that I will get back to you all on with the specifics about dates and such. One is delaing with a school supplies drive sponsored by R.U.L.E.S. and another is dealing with writing letters to our overseas troops, both very worth while events to attend so I’ll get back to you with the dates.

I just wanted to say, thanks so much for all of your support this year. It has been such an honor for me to serve such an engaged and genuine student body and this experience has given me so much pride in our school and what we stand for. It was told to me over the summer by someone in another University’s SG that FGCU is a “sleeping giant” and everyone better believe it, I know I do after seeing the many great accomplishments in Student Government by our student leaders. Make sure you take the time to thank those students who are designing, planning and running these events for the student body, because that is what college is about…I love college.

Thanks,

Sean

Some more quick things…

1) The next Student Organizations Forum is March 12th at 5pm

2) Student Government Elections begin the third week of March so make sure you are paying attention to all of the candidates and what they are doing for you as students…and MAKE SURE YOU VOTE!

3) If you have anythoughts about a fee going towards a renovated Student Union or a new Recreation Facility please talk to your SG officials about it because there will most likely be a quesiton on the ballots about it during elections as well.

Thanks all and have a great break!

-Sean

1) SG elections will be taking place the third and fourth week of March, anyone interested in candidacy must fill out an eligibility packet and turn it into the SG Executive Secretary Stacy Hopkins, both the form and Stacy’s Office are located upstairs in the Student Union.

2) FGCU and The Florida Student Association invite ALL students to attend our Rally in Tally, which is taking place March 3-4. Student Government will be providing all students who attend with transportation, lodging, a game of bowling, and a shirt. This is more than just an opportunity to go bowling with fellow students. This is a valuable chance to meet with sate legisltaors about important issues such as TUITION, STUDENT HEALTH CARE, FEES, and student control over the money WE PAY. There will be sign ups available once we finish finalizing the details, but save the date! I am encouraging as many students as possible to sign up so invite your friends!

3) For those that don’t know I recently introduced a bill to the SG senate that would allow FGCU students to purchase the latest version Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher) as well as any upgrades to the latest Microsoft Operating System for an incredibly low price ($5-$10!) in FGCU’s bookstore. The bill was not passed, therefore the program will not happen unless you want it to. I will be reintroducing the bill in front of senate and need as much student support as possible in order to show your representatives that this is what you want. I am encouraging all students to come to the SG senate meetings on March 10th and 17th at 6:30 pm in SU 213 to voice your opinion about this very important issue.

Please let me know your thoughts,
Sean Terwilliger
Student Body President
Florida Gulf Coast University
(239) 590-7873
sgpres@fgcu.edu

Of course, we also can’t forget NEST FEST is this weekend so if you haven’t already purchased your tickets please go to Germain and get them, they are going quick. Also, SG will be conducting a survey over the next couple of weeks to assure that you guys WANT A NEW STUDENT UNION, we have been running a poll over the past couple of months and have decided to move forward with proposing a fee to the Board of Trustees to help fund a new union, please give us feedback on this because it is a huge decision and Student Government would like to hear student thoughts on it before we get too far into the process.

Feel Free to contact me with any questions you guys might have about anything and GO EAGLES

-Sean

         I hope everyone enjoyed their winter break and is ready for a new semester of classes, club meetings and good times. Just keeping everyone up to date with what Student Government has going on at the moment. We are currently working on a safety plan for those Bio-Fuel shuttles we are working with the administration towards, as well as coordinating efforts with the administration on legislative issues. Legislative session in Tallahassee begins in March so we are working hard to make sure we are representing you in Florida’s capital. We are having a Florida Student Association meeting here at FGCU next Friday so if anyone wishes to come out and meet the student representatives from other Florida institutions please feel free. If you belong to a department or student organization that wishes to receive funds from SG for the next fiscal year please make sure to have your budget applications in by January 20th. Hope everything is going well for all of you and please keep in touch if you want more information about what SG is up to or if you need assistance in any way.

-Sean

-Sean

From the President’s Desk

I wanted to apologize for any confusion that has been caused by FGCU’s policy on holiday decorations. I wanted to clarify that this policy does not affect students.Students are welcome to decorate any personal areas (dorm rooms, cars etc.) Also, students, and student clubs and organizations are allowed to take an initiative when it comes to decorating certain parts of the university. If you do wish to decorate or belong to a student organization that wishes to decorate or hold a holiday celebration of any kind than I, as Student Body President, encourage you to speak to the office of  Student Affairs about doing so. If for any reason you feel that the office of Student Affairs or the university is infringing upon your freedom of expression, as a student, then please contact student government, it is our job to represent you  and if we truly felt that a students’ rights were being taken from them then we would definitely step in. I can assure you that this policy does not affect students in that way.

 We strive to make sure that you are represented and if you have any issues, either dealing with this policy or not, please feel free to contact Student Government.

Thank you,

1. All state Universities would be able to raise their tuition up to 15% every year for the next 7 years.

2. All tuition increases would be voted upon by each respective university’s board of trustees.

3. Bright Futures would only cover the base part of any tuition increase.

4. 30% of revenue generated by the tuition increase would have to go towards Financial Aid/ Scholarships

After the 7 years if each university raised their tuition 15% it would bring Florida’s tuition costs up to the national average. I will be meeting with the other Student Body Presidents tomorrow about this proposal, if anyone has any questions about this proposal please attend the senate meeting on November 25th to discuss it further.

-Sean

See you there!

-Sean