The Rocket had the pleasure of interviewing Connor Pavlicko, the newly elected president of the Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SRSGA), to learn more about himself and the role he has embarked on. As an active member on campus, he is using his experience and his vision to chart a strong path for SRSGA and SRU.
Connor Pavlicko
Aside from serving as SRSGA president, Pavlicko is a junior political science major with a concentration in law and politics and originally comes from Youngstown, Ohio. He is involved on campus as the vice president of the Honors College, treasurer of the Debate Society, and a member of Alpha Sigma Phi. Before being elected president, he gained valuable experience in SRSGA by serving as a First Year Senator when he was a freshman, and last year as Vice President of Campus Outreach.
“One of the biggest reasons that I wanted to run for SRSGA President is because I feel like the university needs a strong voice and also somebody who is familiar enough with the community to be able to listen and advocate for all students on campus,” Pavlicko said.
Role of SRSGA President
To some, the role of SRSGA President may seem entirely ceremonial, but Pavlicko was quick to clarify that the position is requires extensive responsibility.
“If you want to be busy, you will be busy. I think there’s enough things in the university that deserve student attention to where I’m constantly doing something,” he said.
One of the key responsibilities of SRSGA President is meeting with the president of the university, Dr. Karen Riley. The biweekly meetings with President Riley are a way for him to share the concerns and needs of students directly to the administration. He says that even though they only meet for an hour, the fact that the students can have a voice this close to administration is important. Beyond these meetings and advocacy, SRSGA plays an important role in the services that students may use.
The most noticeable service would be the SRSGA Bookstore located in Smith Student Center, where students can purchase materials they need for classes as well as apparel and necessities for dorm living. Another service that SRSGA operates is the Happy Bus, Slippery Rock University’s main method of public transportation, which brings students to and from various parts of campus and town. SRSGA also operates the Preschool and Child Care Center located in McKay Education Building, as well as 15 minutes of free legal advice for students who need it.
Even if a student doesn’t purchase anything in the bookstore, never rides the Happy Bus, never needs to enroll a child into child care, and never needs legal advice, if they are part of a club or organization, then they are impacted by SRSGA.
“If you have a budget for your club, it comes from SGA,” Pavlicko said.
Pavlicko added that every part of the funding process is handled within SRSGA, and urges anyone who has concerns about their club or organization to visit the SRSGA office or to send an email to one of the members so they can assist.
Despite all of the awesome abilities of SRSGA and its president, there are limits to what he can and can not do in his position. When asked what he would do if he had unlimited power, a Chipotle on campus was his request.
“If I could just have a magic wand and just place it somewhere, [opening a Chipotle] is exactly what would happen,” he said.
While Chipotle may not be on the menu, Pavlicko does have some ideas to strengthen the relationship between SRSGA and the student body.
Goals for the new year
Like any new leader, the prospects of what to do is immediately on the top of their minds. For Pavlicko, his goal is to be as big of an advocate for students he can be.
“How can I be the first step of making a change that every student on campus wants to see?” Pavlicko said.
Pavlicko highlighted his work on the Student Life Survey, which is administered every year to the student body through their email to gauge the feelings of students. This is an opportunity for the students to voice concerns, whether they be about housing, parking, or any other inconvenience.
“We take the data from that survey and we say; here are the things that we could get involved in, here’s the things that we can kind of push out,” he said.
While the survey is usually sent to students in the spring, he says he would like to get it sent out earlier to better meet the needs of students.
He also highlighted the SRSGA accessibility crawl and the safety crawl. Both events involve students walking with members of SRSGA to find areas on campus that are not accessible to all students. This could include whether or not a ramp is adequate, or if the sidewalks are in need of repair.
Looking ahead
As for how he hopes to be remembered by his peers, he emphasized his commitment to ensuring that SRSGA is a place that is both comfortable and open for students.
“I think advocacy is the one thing on this campus that is the most important and also under-utilized tool,” Pavlicko said. “I don’t think people realize what their voice can do.”
The president encourages students to come to SRSGA with concerns they have and wants students to know that SRSGA is advocating for every student.
If you would like to gain further insight on the workings of SRSGA, meet your student representatives, or just get involved on campus, he mentioned several ways that students can get involved.
SRSGA meets formally every other week in the Smith Student Center theatre, located on the third floor. The next meeting at the time of this publication will be on Sept. 22 at 5PM. There are designated times in SRSGA meetings when students can voice their concerns to the entire governing body.
On Sept. 29 at 5 PM, SRSGA will be hosting a safety accessibility crawl in the Smith Student Center, where students will examine different parts of campus to ensure that the campus is accessible for all students.
The following day, Sept. 30, will be the ribbon-cutting of the intramural field during common hour. While he acknowledged that the field is already open to students, he emphasized that there will be some other festivities being held, of which he said he could not reveal too much about.
