Mississippi State University has officially chosen its new Student Association president, and it can expect to see some changes very soon.
Newly elected SA president Shelby Balius said working to attain her position helped to put the magnitude of her decision in perspective.
“It’s so amazing to be able to meet hundreds of students during a three or four week span; I saw so many new faces,” Balius said.  “It takes a minute to set in that I would be representing all these people if elected.  It really shows the gravity of the responsibility.”
Despite the pressure, Balius said she is thrilled to have been elected.
“It’s a wonderful feeling, and it’s also very overwhelming at first to officially be the SA president of this university,” she said.  “It’s also incredibly encouraging to see the support from administrators and students I’ve seen today. It’s a very exciting time looking to see what the future holds.”
The first step Balius and the other members of the Student Association will have to take is electing the rest of the executive council and cabinet.
“We want to have those people in place for Super Bulldog Weekend because we have a lot of existing obligations and housekeeping to take care of over the next few weeks,” she said.
“While I’m ready to get started on all of the things we’ve been talking about during campaign, there is still a lot to be done in building the rest of the SA for the coming year,” Balius said.
She also said once the ball is rolling, changes should happen quickly thanks to the relationships and support she gained from her previous positions in the Student Association.
“Having those relationships, the learning curve that would otherwise create a lag in getting down to business isn’t there,” she said.  “We’ve already built a relationship. I can work with the rest of my executives to bring something to the table, and having already gained their respect will definitely help in getting things accomplished in a more timely manner.”
Some of that work has already begun. Balius met with Rhett Hobart, current SA President, on her first day to plan the best methods for transitioning to her presidency.  She also met with the administrators and advisors she will be working with on future projects.
The largest of these projects will be one she has already begun work on. Balius said she intends to improve the process and outcome of teacher evaluations.
“The teacher evaluation process for other SEC schools is very different from what we have,” she said.  “For starters, we still have paper evaluations, which I’ve come to find out is one-in-a-million.”
Other schools, like Ole Miss, have had online evaluations for a few years already. She said this makes the whole process a lot less time-consuming and brings results more quickly.
Balius said other schools make these teacher evaluations public to everyone, whereas, MSU evaluations are only available to teachers.
“Many people don’t realize that only the instructors get to see those written comments,” she said. “That is something that needs to be re-evaluated. Students write expecting to see something come of their responses.”
She said she would love to see these kinds of changes go into effect by next Fall, but a realistic goal would be by fall of 2013.
“We have a lot of momentum. If we harvest that momentum right now, it could be a really great success,” Balius said. “However, it all depends on how long the approval process takes.”
Balius said she will work hard to fulfill her role to the MSU campus to the best of her ability.
“We’re already discussing what we can implement this year,” she said. “We want to work together on all of these platforms so that they won’t just be empty campaign promises.”
She said she, along with the rest of  SA, cannot wait to get started.
“I’m really looking forward to working with my cabinet toward making this year the best it can be with my SA,” Balius said.  “My three years on the SA have been some of the most memorable times of my life. I can’t wait to continue to build relationships and see what all we can accomplish as a team.”
 
CUTLINE:
Shelby Balius had no reason to hide her emotion Tuesday night after being elected SA President.