RESOLUTION 14-05
Summary
This resolution introduces a change to the current membership requirement of Student Government Association members. The current Student Government Association membership requirement (both for entrance and continual membership) is that students within the Student Government Association maintain a 2.25 GPA on a 4.0 scale. We hope to encourage SGA members to consider a higher GPA requirement, namely a 2.5 GPA. A higher GPA requirement is likely to encourage a more academically-sound group of students, and will challenge current SGA members to raise their grades and focus more on school, which should take precedence over collegiate extra-curricular activities. Moreover, students with financial aid lose their financial aid when their GPAs drop below a 2.0, which is quite close to our required membership GPA. We have come together to change this GPA requirement because we believe that a student in Student Government should not only have strong leadership qualities, but also be in strong academic standing in order to maintain success within our association.
Research
The following universities, which maintain comparable SGAs to our own, require a higher GPA (on a 4.0 scale) of their members.
- Eastern Kentucky University Requires a 2.5 of cabinet members
www.sga.eku.edu
- Bowling Green State University Requires a 2.5 of all members
www.bgsu/offices/sa/studentgovernment
- University of Cincinnati Requires a 2.5 of all members
sites.ucfilespace.uc.edu/sg
4. University of Dayton Requires a 2.6 of all members
The following shows student organizations at Wright State University and their respective GPA requirements (on a 4.0 scale).
1. Kappa Delta Sorority Requires a 2.8 of all members
2. Phi Kappa Tau Requires a 2.4 of new initiates
3. Zeta Tau Alpha Requires a 2.6 of all members
4. Intrafraternity Council Requires a 2.5 of IFC e-board members
5. Black Student Union Requires a 2.3 of E-board members
6. Rainbow Alliance Requires a 2.5 (President & Vice-President); Requires a 2.3 (Internal Affairs Director, Program & Public Relations Director)
7. University Activities Board Requires a 2.0 of E-board members
8. Fraternity/Sorority Governing Requires a 2.5 of E-board members
Council
9. Sociology Club Requires a 2.0 of E-board members
10. WSU Bowling Club Requires a 2.0 of all student member athletes
Dialogue
Kyle Powell, Vice President of WSU Student Government, approached senators about this resolution originally. Several SG students have expressed their support of this resolution. Many of SG members who have shown support for this resolution realize that the GPA requirement for SGA members should be higher. This issue has also been discussed with SGA advisor, Gary Dickstein, to understand the implications of the passage of this resolution on current SGA members and their future projected GPA’s respectively. It was also proposed by a few current SG members to allow Associates, who fall under Director positions, to be allowed to maintain a 2.25 GPA. This was considered by those behind this resolution and was included in this revised version of the resolution. Additionally, since this resolution will be voted on after the election of SGA members for the 2014-2015 academic year, it was proposed that this resolution not take affect until the 2015-2016 academic year.
14-05: A Resolution to Modify Student Government Members’ GPA Requirements (Section 6.04 of the Student Government Association Constitution)
WHEREAS, Section 6.04 of the Student Government Constitution states “Good Academic Standing” for SGA members shall be defined as a cumulative GPA of 2.25 or higher, and
WHEREAS, the student government associations of Eastern Kentucky University, Bowling Green University, University of Cincinnati, and the University of Dayton all require higher GPAs than Wright State’s SGA, and
WHEREAS, if a Wright State University student’s GPA drops below a 2.0, they will lose their financial aid and be in bad academic standing with the university, and
WHEREAS, several other well-known organizations in Wright State have higher GPA requirements than Student Government, and
WHEREAS, students within student government are considered leaders among a primarily academic institution.
WHEREAS, students looking to further their leadership skills and abilities by becoming an Associate in Student Government may not be the most high-achieving students within Student Government Association and are also unpaid positions,
RESOLVED, by the Student Government of Wright State University here assembled, that:
(1) The required GPA for future Student Government Association candidates (beginning in academic year 2015-2016) must be a 2.5 on a 4.0 GPA scale.
(2) The required GPA for future Student Government Association Associate positions (beginning in academic year 2015-2016) must be a 2.25 on a 4.0 GPA scale.
Introduced by Matt Johnson, Michelle Coale, Kyle Powell, Megan Gray, Fady Al-banna