2008 Woodie Awards
Student body presidents reflect on past, look to future
Sutmöller leads student government in revamping academic advising, streamlining funding process
Dave Matthews
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Front Page
For those who ask, Associated Student Government's (ASG) Secretary to the Executive Cabinet and chief of staff Melonia Bennett will warn that Student Body President Jens Sutmöller is too modest to brag about what he's accomplished over the past year.
She's right.
Despite leading a student government that laid the groundwork for improving academic advising, revamped its funding process, completely reworked the positions of the executive cabinet, developed a way for student organizations to work themselves out of debt and produced more legislation than any other student government in recent history, all Sutmöller had to say about his tenure as president was that it was "exciting."
Sutmöller said coming into office that he would be focused on long-term goals that would make ASG better for years to come. Even before the school year began, he spent the summer in Oxford working with various cabinet members to improve ASG's most apparent issue, the funding process.
"We did a good job of balancing long and short-term goals," he said. "That maybe today's student may not see, but the student of tomorrow will see."
Bennett said that the work ASG has done, spearheaded by Sutmöller, vastly improved the organization.
"He's done a really good job-he's been really effective with academic advising and the oversight on funding," Bennett said. "ASG became most effective and efficient because of him."
Bennett pointed out that this improvement comes in the wake of two years she said the student body didn't respect ASG as much.
Last year in particular, she said, ASG scrambled to save face when $77,000 was misallocated in February, resulting in a 46 percent cutback in funds for student organizations.
But one year later, Bennett said that ASG has had a total turnaround in terms of image, pointing out that an unheard 45 candidates are running for 24 off-campus senator positions, resulting in ASG holding unprecedented off-campus elections.
She's right.
Despite leading a student government that laid the groundwork for improving academic advising, revamped its funding process, completely reworked the positions of the executive cabinet, developed a way for student organizations to work themselves out of debt and produced more legislation than any other student government in recent history, all Sutmöller had to say about his tenure as president was that it was "exciting."
Sutmöller said coming into office that he would be focused on long-term goals that would make ASG better for years to come. Even before the school year began, he spent the summer in Oxford working with various cabinet members to improve ASG's most apparent issue, the funding process.
"We did a good job of balancing long and short-term goals," he said. "That maybe today's student may not see, but the student of tomorrow will see."
Bennett said that the work ASG has done, spearheaded by Sutmöller, vastly improved the organization.
"He's done a really good job-he's been really effective with academic advising and the oversight on funding," Bennett said. "ASG became most effective and efficient because of him."
Bennett pointed out that this improvement comes in the wake of two years she said the student body didn't respect ASG as much.
Last year in particular, she said, ASG scrambled to save face when $77,000 was misallocated in February, resulting in a 46 percent cutback in funds for student organizations.
But one year later, Bennett said that ASG has had a total turnaround in terms of image, pointing out that an unheard 45 candidates are running for 24 off-campus senator positions, resulting in ASG holding unprecedented off-campus elections.
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