Catalyst pushed one goal during campaigning — transparency. It's something they've stuck through during their year in office. Executive board members took full accountability when confronted about a few mistakes that were made early in their reign.
Last spring, just after Catalyst took office, its president Kayla Stanton violated due process for College Republicans' application for a Student Government Association membership. Stanton removed credentials board chairman Kevin Thurman from his position without having the power to do so. SGA entered the summer semester without a budget, and many senators were openly upset.
Vice president Chris Buck said the slate came into power during a time of transition without an adviser. The slate still admits to making the mistakes. Secretary Mary Karner said they will be working with the next slate to make sure their transitions go more smoothly.
Catalyst also has a list of 14 accomplishments that exceeded their platform points that range from providing transportation to Lucas Oil Stadium for the Indiana University and Ball State game, the Pepsi Refresh project that improved Bracken Library's appearance and connecting more with senators and students through various events.
The slate fulfilled 15 out of 16 platform points. Even though they made a few mistakes, Catalyst took full accountability and that is something we can respect. They also went above and beyond their platform points to make themselves more visible to the Ball State community.
Catalyst earned an A- in our books, which is a half step higher than the grade we awarded the slate before them, Student Connection.
Communication and Transparency
Stanton said she would issue a "Monthly Word from the President," which has been published on the Daily News website. The slate has kept up with weekly blog updates that each executive board member has rotated each week on their Facebook page. The slate said they would sponsor a Ball State webpage for students to voice issues, which doesn't seem like it has been used by students, but it exists. The slate also said it would better utilize the cabinet and senators. They brought in cabinet members regularly to work with younger senators and to brainstorm after Winter Break to keep ideas flowing throughout senate.
Treasurer Megan Gish planned to reorganize the budget to better allocate funds. When she came to office, about $3,000 was left over from the previous slate, money that could have been used to help student organizations throughout the year. Gish said about $830 will be left for the next executive board, in addition to the $88,000 they receive each year.
School Pride
Catalyst hosted the inaugural T-shirt trade-in, where students could exchange T-shirts from other colleges for an SGA shirt from the company Cool Cheyenne.
In the end, the group donated 790 shirts to Muncie Mission, lower than their goal of 1,000, but still an accomplishment.
They created a Technology Advisory Board that issued a survey to help show administration how students use Blackboard and what features they like or don't like. They also served breakfast at an event called Start Your Day with SGA at the Scramble Light in order to meet students in the fall.
Student Services
SGA hosted a Student Services block party and reorganized the Spring Activities Fair, which helped them get closer to other organizations. They also started a leadership fund that has helped eight students go to leadership conferences and bring their experiences back to campus. Alliance and Velocity have said they want to continue the leadership fund next year.
Community and Student Sustainability
Catalyst worked with Ball State's chapter of the Alive Campaign to promote suicide prevention through events. They created a Day of Service partnership and teamed with Ball State Energy Action Team and Council on the Environment for events as well. Stanton said she believes all senators know fully what BEAT and COTE do now, which is an accomplishment to her.
However, Catalyst was not able to work with Muncie schools to build leaders. They did everything short of knocking on office doors, Stanton said. This is the only platform point on which they faltered.
Other notes
As leaders, they seemed to connect with students in a lot of ways slates haven't tried before. Both Alliance and Velocity have said they want to carry on several of Catalyst's goals. It seems that Catalyst will leave a mark on SGA that will live longer than their term, which is a goal for any leader.
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