The Student Government Association unanimously ratified an updated academic initiative at their weekly joint session meeting Tuesday, effectively setting their agenda for the coming semester.

The initiative, which underwent months of workshopping in SGA’s senate under Executive Vice President Will Palauskas, highlights issues within each of the nine individual academic departments at the college that the organization will aim to solve in the coming year.

“I’m just so excited that we’re finally getting to the [academic] initiative,” Palauskas said. “A lot of hard work from everyone here has gone into this.”

This year’s initiative contains both ongoing agenda items from past years and new focuses, including recurring subjects of complaint from students this semester like the recent restructuring of the dance program, access to the Equipment Distribution Center, and printing costs.

The 60-page initiative took over an hour to ratify, as each department’s section had to be individually examined and voted on.

Palauskas, who recently announced a write-in campaign for the office of executive president, would head up the integration of the initiative next semester should he win the election. His campaign comes as current Executive President Raz Moayed prepares to step down to attend Emerson’s LA campus next semester.

Tuesday also marked the last joint session meeting of the semester and the official end of Assistant Vice President of Student Success Sharon Duffy’s term as SGA advisor—2019 was Duffy’s nineteenth year in that role.

Director of Student Engagement and Leadership Jason Meier will be the organization’s new advisor at the start of the spring semester.