The organization is broken into five main departments: communications, elections, financial, program board and Senate.
The program board, run by Program Vice President Sophia Rodriguez, a senior, handles the concerts, entertainers, speakers, “late night” activities and other entertainment events. It is the “more visible” aspect of MUSG, Legislative Vice President Mary Kate Havlik said.
The communications department, headed by Communications Vice President and sophomore Nicole Garland, handles public relations and advertising of MUSG events.
Financial Vice President Blake Wallace, a senior, and the financial department create the MUSG budget and handle all matters dealing with money.
The Senate is run by Havlik, who is also a senior. This is the main legislative body of MUSG. It writes and passes recommendations from the students that then get handed on to university administration.
Each academic college and residence hall is represented in the MUSG Senate. The number of students living in the hall determines the number of representative senators, who are elected by the members of their hall.
The elections department, headed by sophomore Brad Held and junior Sarah Klatt, coordinate the elections for senators in the fall and MUSG president and vice president in the spring.
The primary elections for Senate seats will be held Sept. 11 and the final election will be held Sept. 19, Klatt said.
MUSG adviser Jon Dooley said being an MUSG senator or committee member can be demanding, but it can also have its benefits.
“Students really go away with a sense of leadership and better leadership skills,” Dooley said. “They become very effective to the needs of the student body and can go on to shape their communities.”
One thing MUSG members are working toward this year is the purchase of a plaque that will go with the flags bought last year. The flags, which will fly between the Raynor and Memorial libraries on Wisconsin Avenue, will be dedicated Sept. 11.
The resolution for the plaque was presented to the Senate at the final meeting of spring semester, but it did not pass. There will be another vote on the flag plaque resolution Sept. 4, and MUSG hopes to have all issues concerning the resolution resolved by the first Senate meeting of this semester, according to Havlik.
MUSG President Kate Agnew and Executive Vice President Paul Bergl said student needs and concerns will be the cornerstone of their work this year.
“We’ll be working on improving the student seating options at the Bradley Center for basketball games,” Agnew said. “In addition, we’ll be working with the Rec Center. Since new workout equipment has just been added, we want to see how students are responding to it and possibly change the sign-up procedure.”
Agnew and Bergl also want to make sure student organizations and club sports have better resources. They plan to examine the university’s admission policies to try to help avoid the housing crunch experienced last school year.