With the slate for President and Vice President of the Student Government Association (SGA) for the 2026-2027 school year being unopposed, the president will be Kyah Smith and the vice president will be Chance Baugh.
The Northerner sat down with Smith and Baugh to learn about the plans they have for their administration.
Smith is a junior accounting major from Cincinnati, Ohio, who plans to earn her certified public accountant license (CPA) and work in public accounting after graduation. She has been extremely involved on campus, being a senator, secretary of administration, vice president and soon, president of the SGA. Apart from the SGA, Smith has been the President of the Resident Hall Association twice and is vice president of the Alpha Lambda Delta honors society.
Although Smith has been involved on campus, she is also a student, which allows her to better understand students’ problems.
“You know how to do those jobs, and I can be able to come up with ideas for them or resonate with any challenges they’re facing,” Smith said. “And then also, I think it just makes it easier to relate to people whenever you’ve done the same job as them. And it is just, it makes it a more well-rounded experience for everyone.”
Baugh is a freshman finance major from Walton, KY and is currently the Haile College of Business senator for the SGA. Baugh is also the Alumni Relations Chair for his fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha.
Baugh understands how big a jump it is going from an SGA senator to the vice president.
“It is gonna be hard to follow her up, but I am glad I can work with her and under her, and she can help guide me when I need it,” Baugh said.
Smith thought it was an easy decision to become president and the next step in her time in SGA.
“I think that just over my time in SGA, my involvement on campus, it’s just been really fun and exciting, and I’ve just found, like, a real passion for advocating for students and being able to make a change,” Smith said.
Together, Smith and Baugh want to “increase the momentum going on campus” and make students feel like they have the resources they need to succeed in college and when they graduate.
“That’s ultimately a goal of ours as well, is to make sure every student is taken care of, and what and whatever that may look like, but they have the resources they need to be successful,” Baugh said.
They also want students to be more aware of the SGA and know it is a resource to use when they have problems on campus.
“I hope, as a result of us working together in our leadership, that people feel more like they can go to SGA with a problem, or they can feel like there’s someone they can rely on and go to and if they’re gonna advocate for them,” Smith said.
Another goal Smith and Baugh have is to grow student engagement. They know that NKU is a commuter school, which makes campus not as lively during the weekend or at all. Smith lives on campus, while Baugh is a commuter student, giving them both the perspectives of on-campus and commuting students.
To work on this problem, they want to bring more student organizations together and increase collaborations.
“I think our student life needs to thrive, so people feel like NKU is a place they want to be, but also that they’re getting all the skills they need. Whether that’s in the classroom or just in a campus organization,” Smith said.
Baugh specifically wants to spend less time in the office and more time on campus, talking with students about their needs and the problems they are experiencing.
“What we see in SGA is students don’t come to us, and it’s like, we have to reverse that,” Baugh said.
He wants to know what students want to see more of on campus on the weekends, to make campus more fun for students instead of just going to class and studying.
“So ultimately, like, that is going to be my thing. Reach out to others. Meet you. Meet someone new every day. Instead of them waiting to come to us, because that is not always going to happen, and we do not really see that much in SGA. We have to be proactive, and we have to go to them,” Baugh said.
Smith and Baugh hope students see SGA as a place for them to go with any kind of issue, and they will do their best to help.