The student governing body retreated Aug. 17 and 18, but not in the “running away screaming” sense.

The Northern Kentucky University Student Government Association went on its annual retreat to discuss its goals for the coming year and share them with NKU administrators.

“I thought it was very productive,” said Alyse Bender, SGA president and senior. “The senators seemed really excited to begin a positive year and truly show the students that this is a good outlet to have their voices heard and problems solved.”

SGA has set three goals for itself this year, with no one goal treated as more important than another.

“I’d like to even them out so no one goal gets more attention than another,” Bender said. “They all cover different student issues on campus that need to be addressed.”

The first SGA goal addresses student wellness. It wants to enhance students’ quality of life at NKU physically, mentally and environmentally.

Physically speaking, SGA plans to start the groundwork for a new campus recreation center, create more health insurance options, put mile markers on campus and build a bike path.

The mental aspect would expand library hours, study abroad assistance, tuition assistance, book grants and art scholarships.

Environmentally speaking, SGA would try to bring about smart classrooms in Founders Hall, an expansion of student housing, more academic buildings and a campus safety walk.

The second SGA goal is addressing student concerns. SGA is “committed to have open minds, open doors and open ears,” Bender said, adding SGA wants “to be available to the students as situations arise.”

To begin addressing student concerns, SGA representatives walked campus Aug. 20 and 21 wearing T-shirts reading “What can SGA do for you?” These walkers gave students postcards to fill out with that student’s particular concern. Bender said SGA collected more than 100 suggestions the first day.

SGA’s third main goal is the “Norsification” of campus, a process that would “blanket the campus with school pride,” Bender said. “Making people come to campus and truly love where they’re at.”

A goal encompassing SGA’s top three goals, however, is the issue of trust, Bender said.

“The overall thing we want to increase is trust in the importance of student government. We want to be something students can trust,” she said.

To start encouraging that trust, Bender said SGA wants e-mail a PDF agenda to the university’s listserv, laying out what SGA has done so far, and what it is going to do in the upcoming year, which SGA hopes will keep the NKU community abreast of its affairs. The agenda will be sent out at the end of September. The information will also be available on SGA’s Web site.

Bender looks forward to serving NKU this year, she said. “I’m very excited. I think its going to be a historical year on campus, with the Bank of Kentucky Arena and the new student center going up – there’s a lot going on, so it’ll be a fun year to be in a leadership role,” she said.