SUNY Buffalo State students can expect some changes, improvements and a greater college presence from the United Student Government (USG) during the upcoming semester.

USG president Ashleigh-Ann Sutherland said in an email that along with the past events USG organizes on campus, such as Springfest, there “will be more opportunities for the student body to get involved.”

Emily Leminger, USG executive vice president, said that USG’s goal is for students to have a better experience based both on legislation and activities.

“We want students to know that we are here for them and that they are important to us,” Leminger said. “They are absolutely the most important thing about USG. Without our students we wouldn’t be anything.”

USG plans on accomplishing their goals by being more accessible to different school organizations and making their presence known. Students will be able speak to USG members, and address any concerns or questions, in the Campbell Student Union on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“We’re going to be doing a lot of things during Bengal Pause and a lot of tabling,” Leminger said. “We’ll be out there during orientation leader training and during orientation.”

USG also intends on focusing more on effective communication with students and organizations, something that seemed to lack in the past. Organizations have mentioned that there were some difficulties in communicating with USG, but Sutherland said that those issues have been addressed and that it would be a minor issue in the future.

“We are not necessarily making structural changes, but the communication will be better,” Sutherland said. “Once we establish better communication, the feedback that we receive from the student body will be beneficial and we will make changes based on such.”

Even though some organizations have voiced concerns regarding poor communication in the past with USG, Nickey Sereluca, president of Pride Alliance, had a different opinion.

Sereluca said she rarely had a problem communicating with USG and that they’ve always been good at relaying information to Pride Alliance through email. Sereluca also added that the only time she’s had issues speaking with a member of USG has been during the large organization meetings, but that she was able to speak with an executive board member afterwards. Overall, Sereluca said she’s looking forward to the new semester with USG.

“I’m am excited for the (executive board) this year for USG, especially our new president,” Sereluca said. “She has always been one of my favorites and is always there to help us.”

Besides trouble communicating with other organizations, USG also struggled with conflicts between the executive board members and the senators.  Members of USG noticed these conflicts and took action to resolve them and move forward.

“USG is made up of very passionate people, and sometimes passionate people don’t always agree, but we all — including the senators and executives — have a common goal. We’re going to keep that common goal and we’re going to stay focused on it,” Leminger said.

The members of USG said they’re looking forward to the upcoming semester and showing students the changes they’ve made that will better help them and the organizations on campus.

“Our executive board takes everything that we do seriously and we work so well together,” Sutherland said. “I cannot wait for the campus community to see that.”

Sarah Minkewicz can be reached by email at [email protected].

Twitter: @saraminks