In our last post, we gave you some tips for how to pick the right issues for SGA to work on.
But after you decide what to work on, sometimes the hardest part is just figuring out where to start. Here are a set of questions you can ask - to help you take a problem, and turn it into a campaign that SGA can work on and win.
- What is the problem?
- Why is it a problem?
- What are the solutions?
- What is the process?
- Who are the decision-makers?
- What do they care about?
- What's our goal?
- What's our strategy?
- What are our tactics?
Here's an example of how you can use these questions to turn a problem into a campaign - using an example of the problem of ATM fees on campus.
Problem: Students - especially low-income students - are getting screwed by ATM fees on campus. Most of us don't have our bank on campus, and we take out money in smaller amounts so we pay more fees.
Solution: Have ATMs on campus that don't charge fees.
Process: The Student Union Business Manager signs a contract with the bank to allow them to put an ATM on campus. He could implement a new policy that bans ATMs that charge fees.
Decision-Makers: The Student Union Business Manager.
What do they care about? He does genuinely care about keeping costs low for students. He also cares about student opinion, and what the school's peer institutions are doing.
Goal: Get the Student Union Business Manager to implement a new policy that bans ATMs that charge fees from campus.
Strategy: Demonstrate personal stories, demonstrate widespread student support, and demonstrate peer institutions that have similar policies.
Tactics: Get 10 low-income students to meet with the Student Union Business Manager to tell them their personal stories. Collect 1,000 petition signatures. Write a short report about other schools that have banned ATM fees.
WIN!
