The Student Association (SA) Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) is hosting a Quiz Bowl trivia competition on Oct. 15 from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Students can form teams of up to four individuals and register for the competition via the link that was sent from the AAC in an email to all Geneseo students. Winners will receive prizes including a Nintendo Switch, a Keurig, a JBL Bluetooth speaker, and squishmallows. 

The Quiz Bowl competition is one of the events planned by the AAC this semester. According to SA Academic Affairs Committee Director and junior Communications and Black Studies double major Alexa Victor, the AAC is also planning on hosting an Academic Success Panel, in which upperclassmen can give advice and answer academic questions from newer students in their fields.

Victor said that the AAC hosts a lot of programs aimed towards students and student success, and that they’re passionate about providing students with the means to achieve academic success.

“I like to do a lot of programming like the Quiz Bowl and [the Academic Success Panel,]” they said. “I work a lot with faculty advisors, but I do like students. I think that students have a lot of power, obviously, since we’re paying for this, and this is our education. So, as much as I can involve students in something, I will, because that’s my main focus and that’s who I care about. Look out for SA programs because we put a lot of work into them, it is a lot of stress, and we really care for this. We’re students ourselves, we care for the success of other students, and we definitely want these programs to be well-attended.”

Victor said that the AAC struggled finding membership following the reduced amount of programming available during the COVID-19 pandemic, a sentiment mirrored by many on-campus organizations. The pandemic struck while the AAC was adapting to a restructuring, which set back membership and activity, but Victor is hoping to change that in coming semesters. 

“The way [the AAC] used to be run, in the past there was a student from each department that would represent their department, and the AAC used to be completely focused on changing college policy to benefit students and their academics. But there has been a change in the Student Association in general, now the Student Senate handles policy. AAC is now mostly working with clubs, funding and also programming like our events coming up. So, me and my [executive] board helps out clubs with their programming; if they wanted to do a program, we would help them out with funding and finding space. I know the AAC struggled during its COVID year with getting membership but this year I’m hoping to be much more active and get more people involved,” said Victor. 

Students who are interested in applying for funding for their academic club or event or are interested in joining the AAC are encouraged to stop by the SA office on the top floor of the MacVittie College Union. Representatives of the SA will be in the office on weekdays from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. and are available to assist students.

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