Improving Student Morale a Priority for Puffinburger, FSU’s 2019-2020 SGA President
FROSTBURG, MD – The Student Government Association (SGA) of Frostburg State University represents the student body as they shape the future of the institution. Following the recent elections, the 2019-2020 Executive Board and Senate have been announced.
Originally slated for March 26th and 27th, the elections were pushed back a day due to technical difficulties. Voters then chose their representatives on March 27th and 28th, with voting closing at midnight on the latter.
335 voters selected the 2019-2020 SGA representatives. The results were announced in a campus-wide email on March 29th.
Current Vice President Jenna Puffinburger will take over as President, and colleague Ben Forrest, the current President, will be Vice President. Noah DeMichele will be the Treasurer.
The eight On-Campus Senators are Aliyhah Abdulbarr, Samuel Bankole, Olivia Berge, Madison Davis, Michael Hollingsworth, Jasmine Smiley, Danayt Teklu, and Jessica Thayer.
The eight Off-Campus Senators are Delanie Blubaugh, Hannah Brown, Emma Duncan, Nadia Kahn, Alicia Libonate, Allison Paul, Brianna Ralston, and Josh Trenum.
Donesha Chew, Emma Edwards, Thomas Forrest, Lauren Nordquist, Kristian Robinette, and Daysha Sanders make up the six At-Large Senators.
Abigail Burdock is the Transfer Senator.
President Puffinburger will later appoint a Secretary from the pool of at-large senators and will appoint chairs to the four senate committees (governance, student affairs, public relations, and senate finance) at the SGA banquet on April 25th.
Puffinburger has been involved in SGA since the fall of 2016 when she interviewed on as an At-Large Senator. She then was appointed the Governance Committee Chair during 2017 before winning the role of Vice President for the 2018-2019 school year. She has a history with student government as she was involved throughout high school at the school, county, and state level prior to enrolling at FSU. Puffinburger mentioned that she loves making the student experience better and added with a smile, “solving problems through shared governance is honestly fun for me.”
Forrest will be in his fourth year with SGA when he takes over as Vice President for the next school year. Prior roles include Freshman Senator, Student Affairs Chair, and President. He joined SGA at Frostburg because like Puffinburger, he was involved in SGA leadership in high school and wanted to better FSU during his time on campus. As Vice President, Forrest hopes to “focus on the university’s legislative outreach structure” and “establish a legislative work group for SGA and engage in advocacy in Annapolis and Washington for Frostburg.”
Puffinburger aims to improve student morale, ensure “academic excellence is a priority to the university and that students continue to have a variety of opportunities despite budget shortfalls” during her time as President of SGA. Puffinburger also spearheaded a crowdfunding initiative to get a Bobcat Statue on campus with a team of “other amazing people.” The Bobcat Statue will sit atop the stairs in front of the Compton Science Center and be installed before graduation in May.
Student input is essential according to Forrest. He wants the student body to know that SGA does more than just event funding, but they need to hear from the students to know what they need.
The next SGA meeting will be on Thursday, March 18th at 7:30 p.m. in the Atkinson Room in the Lane University Center.
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