As we reach the midpoint in the school year, we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made so far as your Student Association representatives and lay out a plan for the semester that is to come.

We began this year with a focus on making small, tangible improvements to everyday life on campus and, to that end, we are proud of the progress we have made. This semester, we have seen Greek-letter items added to the bookstore’s inventory, hundreds of outlets added to study corrals in Gelman library and a network of new Web sites launched to keep you better informed about your student government. The Marvin Center is now open later, offering increased study space, and the new Public Service Grant Commission offers unprecedented financial and operational support for students with a great community service idea and the passion to see it through to fruition.

While we are proud of these improvements, we are also conscious that we must work harder on the larger issues that continue to concern the student body, like advising, dining and housing. We also know we can and must do a better job at minimizing the amount of energy we as an organization put into internal issues. This week, the student body sent us a message that the reformed constitution put before them did not allow us as an organization to effectively address their priorities. We want everyone to know that we heard that message loud and clear, and we plan to move on and rededicate ourselves to the work of advocacy as we head into the spring semester.

This spring, we plan to make progress in our promise of an online syllabi bank, so you know more about the classes you sign up for before registration day. We will continue to hold events like Flag Your Problem, so you can give us input on what you think we should be working on, and we will not rest until we are the best resource all students have on this campus.

We wish you a fantastic winter break and happy holidays. We’ll see you in the spring!

The writers are the president and executive vice president of the Student Association.