Another USS election season has come and gone.

But we aren’t satisfied. Every year gives us the opportunity to see sorely needed changes around the university and the community, as it is the duty of the Undergraduate Student Senate to represent the students’ needs. Every year we get hyped up around USS election time.

Yet, year after year, it seems once the votes are in, the passion for the position seems to fade. Senators get comfortable in their positions, and no substantial changes are made.

This year, we want to see some improvements, some concrete changes that show the student body that we are getting what we pay for.

Executive director: We liked Ross Miltner’s call for better programming, but we need more than just lip service. Get started designing surveys, configuring polls, distributing informal questionnaires to the students.

Academic Affairs: Preston Mitchum has learned from his past mistakes. We have no doubt that Mitchum will put forth extra effort into representing the students on academic issues such as the plus/minus grading system and the XF grade.

Business and Finance: The removal of permanent seats on the Allocations Committee was the focal point of Sean Groves’ platform, and we’ll be curious to see how this unfolds. If the permanent seats are removed, we would want to see a fair system set up, where each group had the opportunity to serve on the Allocations Committee.

Community Affairs: Justin Jeffery’s proposal to have coffee with the mayor is a good one – how many students can even name Kent’s mayor? We are pleased that Jeffery has concrete plans to improve the relationship between Kent State and the surrounding community.

Governmental Affairs: We like Amy Groya’s ideas for informing students about local and state candidates for political office. Many students don’t even bother to vote unless it’s a presidential election, and they don’t understand the impact that senators and representatives have regarding higher education.

Research and Development: Kourtney Wolfgang made better programming and finding more effective ways to poll students a large part of her campaign. We hope she is successful at both because the two goals do go hand-in-hand. Better programming affects the campus in so many ways, going far beyond just giving students a chance to leave their dorm room.

Student Advancement: Benjamin Feld wants to get students more involved in organizations on campus. Good luck with that. This upcoming school year, Feld should focus his efforts on the Student Leadership Development Board, which seems to be a more promising goal.

Student Relations: Christen Coppola didn’t get our endorsement, but that doesn’t mean she can’t turn it around during her tenure. Prove us wrong. Show us why you deserved to win. We hope she follows through on her plan to attend student organization meetings and have student forums with the new president.

University Affairs: In our endorsement, we stated that Megan Sedello didn’t accomplish much during her first term. Let’s see if she can do better this time. She wants to bring back the All University Hearing Board but has had almost a full year to get that done. Here’s hoping she accomplishes this.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.