Junior integrated marketing and communication (IMC) major and Vice President of Campus Outreach Sammy Hovis is responsible for putting together campus events like the Student Government Association (SGA) movie series, as well as managing SGA’s website and social media accounts.
“One of the promotions that we started this semester is our ‘senator spotlight,'” Hovis said. “We showcase a senator every Monday to show students who we are and to make our senators visible to the student body and to our followers on our social media platforms.”
Hailing from Meadville, Pa., Hovis cites her campus tour to Slippery Rock as what swayed her to attend the university.
“SRU actually wasn’t originally my first choice, but after I toured the campus I knew that I wanted to go here,” Hovis said.
Her passion for SGA was created in high school during Hovis’s time on the student council.
“I was in student council in high school, so during my freshman year of college, I really wanted to get involved with student council/government at a college level and continue my experience with it,” Hovis said.
And so to Slippery Rock Hovis went with her new passion. However, it wasn’t until her second semester on campus that she pursued this passion.
As a commuter senator, Hovis said she worked with commuter students addressing common problems such as parking and off-campus housing.
“I served as a commuter senator for one year before being VP,” Hovis said.
During that time, Hovis also served on the campus outreach committee. After a year, Hovis zoned in on becoming the vice president of campus outreach herself.
“I decided to run for a leadership role as VP of Campus Outreach to really gain more experience in SGA and be able to put the material I am learning in the classroom as an IMC major to work,” Hovis said.
As an IMC major and an SGA executive board member, Hovis said she doesn’t see herself pursuing a government job, but is open to one down the road.
“I would love to work as a marketing manager for a company or work with social media and advertisements for a corporation,” Hovis said. “As VP of Campus Outreach, I work with the Happy Bus, the SGA Movie Series, make flyers for our events and programs, collaborate with other clubs and organizations and manage the website.”
Hovis recently worked with the Black Action Society (BAS) to have a pre-movie discussion on the movie “Race” that was shown as part of the SGA Movie Series.
Hovis said the campus outreach committee will also be participating in Spring Fling later on this semester with ARHS and other clubs and organizations.
Hovis sought out the vice president role after being a part of the committee. Once in that role, recreating the SGA website was one of her top priorities upon election. Hovis said the prior website was outdated and didn’t match the new logo. It took Hovis the entire summer after being elected to transform the website to what it is now.
“When I was elected as VP, one of the main things I wanted to do was redesign the website,” Hovis said. “My main goal was to make sure that students could easily access all of our services and information.”
According to Hovis, the website, srsga.org, has been one of her greatest accomplishments.
“One of my biggest accomplishments in SGA was completing and redesigning the website,” Hovis said.
Up until this point, Hovis has no regrets while in office, and that’s something she hopes to maintain for her last semester involved in SGA.
“Unfortunately, no, I will not be running for SGA later this semester,” Hovis said. “Going into my senior year next year, I plan to do an internship off campus during the spring 2018 semester before I graduate and will not be able to fully commit to the organization.”
Also part of the University Program Board (UPB) and Rock PRoductions, it’s unknown at this point if Hovis will continue to be a part of those organizations.
Hovis said she wants to be remembered as a good leader and someone who made a difference.
“In my time on SGA, I have learned so many skills that I can use throughout my professional career,” Hovis said.
Those skills include leadership, public speaking, managing groups of people, holding meetings, planning events and advertising.
“As an IMC major, getting this experience before I graduate is very beneficial and will hopefully help me in any future career that I pursue,” Hovis said.
At this point, Hovis said she is enjoying her time in the organization and is focused on completing her final tasks this semester.
“I think that SGA is good for anyone that wants to get involved and be a leader on campus,” Hovis said. “As a non-political science major, SGA has taught me so much in my two years of being involved in this organization and I am very grateful for the time and experiences that it has given me.”
