Even with a mere two years of prior student government experience between the two of them, Josh Shald and Molly Shea have brought some big changes to WSGA, students and Washburn.

From free printing in Mabee Library to raising the student activity fee, it would be tough to say that this administration duo has led a boring year at Washburn. As president and vice president of Washburn Student Government Association, Shald and Shea credit everything they’ve been able to accomplish this year to their wide range of leadership experience across campus and student diversity in the senate. Both believe the diversity was accomplished through farther-reaching announcements of open seats and encouraging more people to run. However as with anything, there was some resistance to unfamiliar faces.

“It’s happened a few times, where we had to push through a nominee,” said Shald. “But overall I think the senate’s been satisfied with every decision [the new senators] have made.”

Shald formerly held the position of Washburn student ambassador, and Shea was president of the Student Alumni Association Board. Shald believed that despite their limited experience in the political arena, they were able to bring a fresh view to WSGA.

“Our experience came from a wide breadth of university leadership,” said Shald. “Student government was just a crown on those many different experiences.”

Their goal as an administration was to make WSGA more accessible to students and organizations. Both Shald and Shea agreed that this was accomplished mainly by improving the channels through which people communicated with the senate, namely their Web site and hotline.

Between the revival of Safe Ride and bringing the Collegiate Readership Program to campus, this year has been all about giving students the most bang for their buck.

“A student fee is for this year,” said Shea. “You should get as many services as we can provide.”

Overall, both said there were relatively few problems when trying to move actions through the senate, and were able to accomplish nearly everything they had set out to accomplish this year. During their campaign, Shald and Shea touted acceptability, accountability and community as three major points for their plan, and they have said they believe their actions have reflected their promises. The only difficulties came when trying to push-through movements for funding.

“When you’re trying to convince people to give up a little bit of their money, that’s when it gets a little hard,” said Shald.

Looking to the future, the two wanted to leave Washburn a better place than when they left it. Shald said that while he is happy with what they’ve been able to do, he doesn’t view them as accomplishments. Rather, they are just doing their best to serve the Washburn community. They also wanted to stress to the next administration many of the values they held during their time as president and vice president.

“What I would like to instill in the next administration is an attitude of service, and really having an administration that is committed to the students,” said Shald.