With the year coming to a close, the SGA executive branch is already transitioning from the leadership of outgoing President Nagela Nukuna to incoming President Sujay Peramanu. As this change of the guard takes place, it will be of paramount importance for Peramanu and his team to look back upon Nukuna’s tenure in order to arrive in office with an idea of what works and what does not.
In essence, there are many lessons to be learned from Nukuna’s term as SGA undergraduate president. One of the highlights was her continued advocacy on behalf of the student body on many legislative issues, including the contentious HB-51. Peramanu should take notes from this approach; Tech’s students should always have a voice in legislative debate that affects them.
Accordingly, partaking in serious conversations for advocacy or other purposes should be handled with a degree of professionalism. This is another area in which Nukuna and her staff have excelled. In addition, Nukuna was able to engage with students on a personal level at events like “Take Back the Night.” Peramanu needs to prove he can do so as well.
An area within which the incoming administration can continue to make improvements in is transparency. Students deserve to know what the leaders that they voted for are doing, even if initiatives are not always successful or fruitful. Additionally, the platform used during the campaign should be utilized in deciding what projects are going to be undertaken. If something does not work out, there should be a public explanation why along with efforts to work towards a goal in the spirit of what was originally planned for.
Lastly, Peramanu should ensure that the valuable but unfinished work from Nukuna’s term — like the CIOS result dissemination — sees a finish.
A year of undergrad SGA in review
