The Student Government Association recently met with leaders from other schools to talk shop, but in the process learned the power afforded to student governments can vary greatly.

At this weekend’s SEC Exchange, SGA members met with more than 20 student government delegates from throughout the Southeast.

Some came away impressed with the University’s student governing body.

“I think your committee structure is fascinating,” said Allen Richey, LSU’s SGA president. “Our system is more focused on debate and less on programs.”

Richey said after this weekend’s conference he hopes to implement a few changes to make his school’s SGA similar to the structure followed at the University.

But the University’s SGA leaders also learned some of the other SEC schools are granted more power to manage students’ activities.

The budgets of some SGAs from fellow SEC schools include supervision of the salaries of staff members who work with the organizations — something the University’s SGA does not control.

“I can’t imagine a bunch of 20-year-olds controlling the salaries of University employees,” said Ginny Barton, the University’s SGA vice president.

Also, some of the other universities in the SEC can determine how student activity fees are distributed, said Barton, a senior from Chapin, S.C.

She said the University’s SGA plays an important role in deciding the use of the funds, but does not have control of their distribution.

Also a contrast to the University’s operations, LSU’s SGA has a functioning judicial branch that is in charge of hearing cases involving student violations.

At the University, this function is served through the Student Judiciary — a group independent of SGA.

Although the schools displayed some differences in their core structure, Barton said the size and organization of their parent universities are responsible for some of the discrepancies.

Taking their differences into account, the delegates spent the weekend discussing major issues at their universities and looked for ways the organizations could improve themselves.

This year’s SEC Exchange was attended by delegates from the University as well as the University of Tennessee, Louisiana State University, the University of Arkansas and Mississippi State University.

“I know our delegates brought back pages worth of notes,” said Barton. “We all gave suggestions on how we could improve with the resources we have.”

After spending the weekend speaking with other leaders, University of Tennessee SGA president Sarah Keeton said she left with a number of new ideas to implement at her college.

“It was a very re-energizing time for our SGA, and I hope for the other SGAs as well,” she said.