Our Mission
Our first responsibility is to all past, present and future students of The College at Brockport. BSG supports, facilitates, and encourages the development of students as they prepare for roles as leaders in diverse and interdependent communities.
Events
A large part of what Brockport Student Government does, comes out of our Activities Department. This is where all of our unique and engaging events are planned and executed. One of the main focuses of the Activities Department is to create events that are purposeful, meaning that our students can leave with something gained. Whether that be wonderful college memories, bringing awareness to HIV, or offering something to do on a quiet night, we want our students to feel they have attained something from choosing to spend their time with us.
This semester in the Activities Department we hosted over 70 events. We hosted large scale events including the Homecoming Festival and Brocktoberfest, as well as smaller scale events that we put on throughout each week of the semester, such as Taste of NYC and Satisfying Stress Relief.
At our Homecoming Festival we had amusement rides, food trucks, and free t-shirts that were open to students, alumni, family and friends. At Brocktoberfest, we had large inflatable games, a horse drawn hayride, free food, and t-shirts for students to enjoy on this sunny day. As mentioned before, this semester we focused on planning purposeful events such as Reduce Reuse & Recycle, Holocaust Survivor – Samuel Rind, Winter Holidays around the World, Know your Rights, Positive Thinking day, and many others that aimed to provide resources, new information and value for students. We also started E-sports gaming nights and club nights to collaborate on events that clubs needed more resources for that our department could provide.
Homecoming 2019
Brocktoberfest 2019
Communications
This semester our Communications Department has taken actions to expand our advertising efforts and to be more sustainable. We officially switched over our marketing requests to be a 100% digital form. Also, coming into this academic year, we restructured our Communications Department creating 3 coordinator positions. These positions are graphic design, social media and promotional/brand content.
Website Redesign
Our new website is finally published! After months of redesigning, reediting, and discussion, we were able to publish our website in late September. Our website is now more user-friendly and up to date with everything going on in our organization. Go to bsg.brockport.edu to check it out!
Marketing Monday
In efforts to reach more of the student body, we enforced Marketing Monday every week in the Union. This allows us to talk to students about BSG news, upcoming events and have them follow us on social media. During one of our Marketing Monday, we have the wheel for students to spin for a chance to win a prize. Marketing Monday has allowed us to gain over 300 followers this semester on social media.
Event Survey
In order to have effective marketing and events, Activities and Communications created an event survey for students to fill out after attending an event. This survey gives us insight on the satisfaction of the event, demographics of who attended, how they heard about the event, and any other additional helpful comments. We have been able to analyze the results to give feedback to coordinators. This has allowed us to find new ways to improve our marketing and events in the future to try and reach more of our student body.
Advocacy
Part of our role as representatives of our student body is to advocate for their needs. A lot of our advocacy efforts come from, but not limited to, our Advocacy Department and Senate. Our Advocacy Department consists of 3 areas of focus. These are internal, external and SUNY Student Assembly advocacy. This semester we took the time to analyze the student perspective of what goes on in their lives.
Prioritizing Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
At the college level, EDI has been recognized as a system of thinking that should be employed by the student leaders. As a team we looked at applying the previous Advocacy team's strategic plan to this academic semester. Where we looked at all four goals and how each part of Brockport Student Government can take part in sharing the EDI vision. For example, we looked at the office assistant role and thought they can help compile the research and surveys we have/will be doing. The four goals of BSG's Strategic Plan for EDI is to really maximize everything the organizations stands for, for students, by students. How can our college community feel a sense of belonging if one of it's largest organizations takes no steps in making sure everyone has the opportunity to be represented.
Shared Governance
Last academic semester, the College passed legislation on working on shared governance. As the advocacy department, we took the position to make sure that the work for students is done with students. Therefore, we took the time to list out all the campus committees at the campus, and have slowly begun to see what it takes to make sure each student voice is heard on each committee.
Evaluating what that specific committee does, when they meet, who has traditionally been apart of the committee, gaining student interest by reaching out to different student organizations and seeing if their missions align with the committees. It is a challenge within itself to reach out to these organizations because there has never been a formal system to appoint students to campus committees
Combatting Food Waste
This semester, we met with Cathy Legacy, the Associate Director of BASC and Anna Hintz, BASC’s representative for sustainability to talk about the ways BSG could collaborate and support sustainable initiatives to combat issues like Food Insecurity. This semester has consisted of many conversations and meetings with students, faculty and staff attempting to gauge the urgency of the need and possible solutions. Upcoming, Advocacy is planning a fundraising and food drive event in collaboration with the School of Business. All of the proceeds collected will be given to Brockport’s Food Shelf. Next semester, we will be taking a closer look at food insecurity and how it affects our students. Advocacy will be working with BASC more closely to investigate food consumption and waste to ensure that both the college and BASC are being held accountable for our contributions to food waste ensuring a more sustainable campus. Lastly, Advocacy is starting a Food Recovery chapter at the college that will allow students to aide in relieving food waste by donating leftover food and donating it to local food shelters.
Aside from food waste, the Advocacy department is working on making sure that students from all backgrounds are being accurately represented on campus. We want to ensure this facet in every aspect, from the faces we see in our departments to the food we eat in the dining halls. We are aware that food plays an integral role in culture and the food being served (or not being served) plays a huge role in whether or not students can feel comfortable while away at school. It is with this knowledge that we set out to identify places that serve culturally diverse foods off-campus, as well as encourage students to submit any suggestions to BASC.
Housing
Advocacy partnered with the Activities department to update the Off-Campus housing list. This housing list is resource for student’s looking to live off campus. The list includes full and shared homes, private bedrooms and apartment listings. Feel free to pick up a list in the office or go to our website resources for the most updated version of the Housing List.
SUNY SA Role
This semester we have organized the students to attend the SUNY SA Fall Conference and provided feedback on 7 resolutions put forward by SUNY SA. We then took these resolutions and shared them with the appropriate BSG committees so we can implement them on our campus, such as finding an LGBTQIA+ Safe Space on-campus. Some ways we have helped BSG support the community is by organizing BSG adopting a family for Gifts of Gratitude. Our SUNY SA coordinator has also sat on the SLEET Committee and has helped to organize BSG in regards to RISE Training. We organized BSG Advocacy Common Hour in order to help people learn what advocacy does and how they can utilize the department. They have also been working on the Green Book with the rest of the Advocacy Department and is specifically focusing on transportation options. Currently, we are also looking to help better represent Brockport Downtown students, we have done this by creating a survey that will be promoted at Brockport Downton and working with the activities department to bring programs to the Downtown Campus. Advocacy has been working to help BSG become more inclusive and culturally competent by sending out weekly advocacy tidbit emails that include training and events that are happening around campus, this email has included events such as the Diversity Conference, Community Conversations, Racial Bias Training and more. Lastly, our SUNY SA rep has also worked on the BSG EDI plan and has worked with the executives and office assistants to ensure that everyone is doing their part.
Clubs & Organizations
This semester we added one club to our club roster and two are currently in the process of forming and becoming an official club.
- The Brockport Debate Society – Became an official club on October 18th, 2019. This club is aimed at helping hone the skills for intellectual debates for the students at Brockport.
- The College at Brockport Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalism – Is currently in the process of becoming an official club here at the College at Brockport.
- Inclusive in STEM – This new club is currently under review to see if they are hitting a niche of the Brockport student body that was not previously being hit.
Letter from our president & Vice President
Dear Students,
This year we set out with a focus on making BSG a better place to work, and a more high functioning organization internally. As executives we saw it as our duty to ensure that everyone involved with BSG, whether an employee, a club representative, or a student seeking help, has the best possible experience working with us. We set our course to tie up some of the loose threads in BSG operations and to shift the culture where we could. This started by hiring an amazing team of directors and coordinators. With our executive departments in capable hands we sought to make working at the often disorganized Student Government not only more smooth, but more engaging and enjoyable. The first part came with institutionalizing a lot of the practices typically passed down from administration to administration, year over year. This came in digitizing a lot of the motions of how we keep records and conduct business, as well as how we gather and share information among BSG through the Office365 suite available through the school. The latter part came through active practices of being in the office and tending to the needs of people first, so that the initiatives of others are able to shine through rather than only our own. As our semester has wound up and eventually wound down we’ve seen our staff and partners go through each of their own troubles but have been ready to jump at each occasion and provide support wherever we can. As we finish our year and pass the torch onto the next administration we hope to see the same freshness and compassion carry BSG through the upcoming terms.
Best Regards,
Emma Chilson-Cline, BSG President
Samuel Druzbik, BSG Vice President
Restructuring the Office
This year we restructured our office space to function best for student needs. We moved our Advocacy Department across the hall into our Activities and Communications office to increase interdepartmental collaboration. We also created a shared conference room for clubs, committees or other meetings to happen in a room reservable internally, and moved our Senators and Court Justices to the main office. In addition, we encourage an open office culture, with all doors open and a warm welcome offered to any students stopping by.
We also instated three new Senior Coordinator positions for our executive departments and hired four new office assistants to invest in student employment. This allows us to fill in gaps in the work as our roles expand and change, and to allows new and different growth opportunities for students at various levels in their development as leaders.
Implementing a Policy Manual
In collaboration with our Senate, Advisors, and Cabinet we passed a bylaw which requires the current and all future administrations to implement a Policy Manual, which will hold the weight of the BSG Constitution. We then allowed and encouraged active and open participation in the process of editing the policy manual which the President and Vice President drafted over the summer. This feedback came privately and at open discussion sessions. The final policy manual was passed through the Senate by the end of the semester and now BSG will have this procedural guide for years to come.
Making OER a Reality
OER, or Open Educational Resources, are materials that are released to the public domain for free consumption. In a collegiate setting, these resources can lower the cost of materials, as well as provide interesting and diverse information to students.
This year, we have set out to educate students and faculty about what OER is and how it benefits each of us. We have met with many of the stakeholders to make this happen and have begun hosting trainings and open discussions for students. Our goal is to give every student the tools to ask for lower costing materials, and to assist faculty on their path to making that possible.
Student Input
With the technical difficulties associated with ECHO this semester, BSG has had to find new ways to reach students for feedback and conversations. Our Activities Director created an event feedback form, and our Communications Director implemented Marketing Monday which allows for direct interfacing with students regularly. And our Senate Campus Affairs Committee also used student surveying to help craft their agenda for their semester’s work as guided by student feedback, and with our open office policy we invite feedback actively.
While these have been a great way to increase direct communication with students, there has been progress made on the reinstatement of ECHO, and will be operational next semester.
Treasurer Report
To ensure transparency and to protect the interests of the Brockport students we serve, Brockport Student Government engages a CPA firm to perform an annual audit of our financial statements and to issue an opinion on those statements. These financial statements include the statement of financial position as of May 31, 2019, and the related statement of activities and change in net assets and cash flows. The Bonadio Group was contracted in 2018 to perform this service for three years starting with the 2018 audit.
The 2019 opinion issued by The Bonadio Group:
“In our opinion, the supplementary information is fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the financial statements as a whole.”
In non-CPA speak… the financial statements are accurate and reliable for the Brockport Student Government (BSG) as of May 31, 2019. This also means that we created our records according to the standard accounting principles used throughout the nation.
Edward Ryan, BSG Treasurer
Additional information
Collaboration
This year, the Collaborations Committee underwent a structural change. The committee is an executive committee, meaning we were able to move it back to cabinet in order to eliminate communication and scheduling issues. This year, we approved 16 requests, ranging from the Master of Social Work program’s Lunch seminar, and Hazen Center for Integrative Care’s open house, to Brockport Military Engagement Committee for the Veteran's 5K and the Student Dance Organization’s Master Class.
Trainings
This fall we had the Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Training, a budget and tier system presentation, committee effectiveness training, and RISE training. We also have held two OER workshops, a Stress Management Workshop, and a Microsoft Teams training.
Personnel
This semester we assisted in hiring a Communication Coordinator and Student Court Justices. Also, we updated our interview questions in order to be more effective in the interview process. This new form was passed through legislation in late November. We are also in the process of updating our job descriptions to better align with each individual position.
