The Student Government Association has failed to make its Web site informative and comprehensive, as required by the SGA Accountability Act.
The site, which debuted two months ago despite the bill being passed in April, is still missing vital information that the SGA should be working harder to update.
Introduced on April 4, the act mandates that the Web site, www.uh.edu/sga/, must contain profiles for senate and executive members that "include necessary information for students to adequately inform themselves on the issues, and view the work of the Student Government Association."
Time sheets and reports for executive members and attendance and voting records for senate members must be listed, among other specifications.
With no record of meeting minutes since April 18, 2007, and no reports listed for any organization members, the SGA is not meeting the requirements stated in the bill.
SGA President David Rosen and Vice President Sam Dike have cited problems with the SGA’s Web developer and the student government’s preoccupation with other issues, such as textbook prices and parking issues, as reasons for the Web site’s lack of content.
It is commendable that the SGA desires to make the organization more visible and accessible to students, but now it needs to reach that goal. While the SGA may be struggling with a Web developer, the members need to make the Web site a higher priority.
After more than six months since the bill’s inception, the Web site still does not contain all of the information it should. While no timeline was set in the act, that should not be seen as a loophole.
Members may be busy with other important issues, but students won’t know that without having that information available in a readily accessible format. The SGA is in place for the students, and we must be kept up to date on what the organization is doing for it to better serve us all.
