By Bryan Ramos | The Rider
The Student Government Association met last Friday to discuss its First Year Internship Program (FYI), which is designed for students to spend time working hand-in-hand to gain the full SGA experience.
FYI gives first-year students interested in the workings of the SGA an opportunity to learn what it’s like to represent an entire university student body. Current SGA members mentor the interns, working closely with one another to learn and build leadership skills.
SGA Associate Justice Marcelina Gutierrez, a communication sciences and disorders sophomore, spent her freshman year in the FYI program.
“What sparked my interest in the program was being the voice of the student body here at UTRGV,” Gutierrez said. “I noticed a lot of people have concerns but don’t want to voice them, so I wanted to be that voice for those people. I wanted to make a difference, so that inspired me to stay in the program. I was determined to put our foot forward and want to make a difference for students here at the university.”
Alberto Adame, senator of the College of Business and Entrepreneurship, said the program provides students an opportunity to build leadership skills.
“You learn about the program, you learn about leadership, which is the great thing about the program,” Adame said during the SGA meeting. “We don’t train you so you can be in SGA, we train you so you can become a leader and, hopefully, be in SGA. Some people join the program and say they don’t want to be in SGA but go on to become leaders of organizations and communities, and that’s fine. That’s the great thing about the program.”
Another topic of discussion was the Special Travel Funds applications. The Financial Affairs Standing Committee approved new dates to extend the window for applications by two weeks. The new timeline gives students and student groups applying a full month to submit their application.
The application window for quarter two is Nov. 17 through Dec. 15; quarter three, Feb. 15 through March 15; and quarter four, May 18 through June 15. This change gives students more time with the application to provide the correct information and make the process less stressful on the applicant.
The next SGA meeting is scheduled at 2 p.m. Friday in Education Complex Room 1.102 in Edinburg and in Biomedical Research and Health Building Room 1.222 in Brownsville. All SGA meetings are open to students.
For more information, follow the UTRGV Student Government Association page on Facebook or visit its V-Link page.
