University of Houston Update:
Re-Establishing the SGA
The University of Houston has long valued the student voice as a vital component of institutional decision-making. Unfortunately, a series of actions taken by the Student Government Association in 2024 and 2025, including structural constitutional changes that undermined internal checks and balances, resulted in operational breakdowns and the inability to hold elections for the current academic year.
In response, the University has stepped in to help rebuild a stronger, more effective and more accountable model of student governance. Over the past six months, UH has taken several steps to re-establish and restore the SGA by engaging with a variety of student leaders and stakeholders to ensure that the new structure will reflect the needs and values of the student body while aligning with widely recognized standards in student governance.
The SGA is expected to be fully restored by March 2026, with elections taking place in February 2026. In the meantime, student representation
continues uninterrupted on all key University advisory committees, with appointments
made by a student-involved work
group convened over the summer.
About the SGA
The SGA serves as the official student voice in University policy, decision-making and services offered at the University of Houston. The SGA is a University-Sponsored Organization with eight paid positions. As a USO, the association receives office and meeting space, as well as professional advising staff. The SGA was allocated a $157,000 budget by SFAC for FY25.
What Happened?
Beginning in 2023, the University of Houston Student Government Association made a series of changes to its constitution, election code and bylaws that resulted in a weakened system of checks and balances, ultimately leading to operational ineffectiveness.
On the last days of the 60th administration (2023-24 term), the SGA amended its bylaws, shifting power from the executive branch to the senate.
At the time, new constitutions were required to go through a student body referendum process, which is typically done by online voting. Changes to the election code in Spring 2024 allowed for the new constitution to be “voted on” via Instagram.
SGA changes implemented in Spring 2024 included:
- Bylaw changes that added the Speaker to the appointment process of all Senate and University committee positions.
- Reorganization and formalization of information about the legislative branch, its powers and offices.
- Inclusion of legislative powers of all senators in the constitution, granting them authority to create and fill positions as necessary to fulfill individual duties and responsibilities.
- Removal of the nomination power for Chief and Associate Supreme Court justices from the jurisdiction of the Office of the President.
- Addition of further procedural steps for the nomination and appointment of Chief Justice
and Associate Justices, including:
- Advice and consent of a majority of the Senate Committee on Internal Affairs.
- Changes to the Attorney General nomination process, requiring:
- The sitting Attorney General to nominate an eligible student (or themselves) for the position.
- The nominee for Attorney General to be approved by a majority of the Senate Committee on Internal Affairs.
- The nominee for Attorney General to receive approval from three-fourths (3/4) of the Senate members present and voting.
Operational Ineffectiveness
As a result of the changes detailed above, the 61st SGA Administration was unable to meet its duties and responsibilities and effectively serve the student body. Key issues included:
- No Election Commission, resulting in no Spring 2025 elections.
- No appointed Attorney General.
- A Supreme Court with only three members out of seven appointed, and no Chief Justice.
- Nearly 20% of Senate seats remained vacant.
- Unfilled University Committee appointments despite multiple nominees.
- Interim appointments were required for the Student Fees Advisory Committee (SFAC) due to blocked appointments. SFAC is responsible for recommending funding allocations for Student Services Fees.
Earlier Attempts at Corrective Measures
In early Fall 2024, the Division of Student Affairs took the following steps to assist the SGA:
- Met with SGA leaders on multiple occasions, urging them to resolve their issues.
- Increased the number of professional staff advisers from one to four.
- Decentralized advising, ensuring each branch had a dedicated adviser.
On November 6, 2024, Paul Kittle, vice president for student affairs, met with SGA leadership to again discuss immediate corrective measures. Following months of inaction, SGA was informed that it must:
- By November 26, 2024:
- Draft and ratify a constitution and bylaws that support a multi-branch governing body, embedding appropriate checks and balances.
- By January 31, 2025:
- Demonstrate proactive efforts to fill all open Senate seats.
- Complete appointments of representatives to all University committees.
- Appoint an Elections Commissioner.
- Appoint an Attorney General.
The University provided the SGA additional resources to assist in these efforts, including access to advisers for consultation on drafts and sample documents that aligned with the listed criteria. After failing to meet initial completion dates, deadlines were extended into 2025.
Constitution Passed by SGA, Fails Student Referendums
- The SGA passed a new constitution and bylaws in February 2025. (Under the governing documents in place at the time, bylaws and election codes were effective immediately, but the constitution required a student body referendum.)
- On February 27, 2025, the new constitution failed to pass the student body referendum. A second referendum failed in mid-March 2025.
- As a result, SGA was unable to hold elections for the next term.
- At the conclusion of the 61st Administration, SGA’s 2025 bylaws, 2024 constitution and election codes were in conflict, making it impossible for the organization to function.
Next Steps: Re-establishing the SGA
At the University of Houston, we value student voices. It is imperative to re-establish a functional SGA as soon as possible to effectively serve the student body. Students deserve a governing body that can advocate for their interests and concerns.
To that end, over the past six months, the University of Houston has taken a thoughtful, student-centered approach to rebuilding and re-establishing the SGA. Our goal with this effort is to clarify and revise SGA governing documents – including the constitution, bylaws and election code – to eliminate conflicts and align with national widely recognized standards in student governance.
UH has engaged a variety of student leaders and stakeholders to ensure that the new structure will reflect the needs and values of the student body while aligning with widely recognized best practices and standards.
We expect to have the SGA constitution, bylaws and election code finalized this fall with elections held in February 2026 and the SGA fully restored by March 2026.
Students Representation During the Re-establishment of the SGA
During this period of SGA re-establishment, students will continue to have a voice and representation on all advisory committees, including the Student Fee Advisory Committee, Safety and Security, Parking & Transportation, Food Services, and Counseling and Psychological Services.
In alignment with past precedent, the same number of students will serve on each committee. To ensure representation at the start of the 2025-26 school year, UH convened a student-involved work group over the summer to determine university committee assignments for Fall 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Structural Overhaul and Elimination of the Party System: Eliminate the party system and certain senator positions (at-large senator and Honors College senator) to reduce divisiveness and improve efficiency and accountability. Consider consolidating SGA’s complex multi-branch structure for a more efficient, unified and student-centered operation.
2. Streamlined Constitution: Focus on core principles, mission and advocacy for student success.
3. Advocacy Over Programming: Shift focus to advocacy for student interests, shared governance and university representation, rather than duplicating the work of existing programming boards. Consider removing any SGA positions or responsibilities that overlap with other University Sponsored Organizations (USOs), like programming and events.
4. Election Reforms: Move the election code into bylaws; cap campaign spending; ban negative campaigning, non-student donations and party endorsements; strengthen ethics rules. Implement a recruitment / education campaign to get more students involved in the process to ensure SGA serves as an effective voice for the student body.
5. Enhanced Onboarding, Accountability and Training: Implement comprehensive onboarding, ongoing training and a points-based accountability system for performance and ethics will lead to clear and fair consequences for non-compliance.
We expect to have the SGA constitution and bylaws (inclusive of the election code) finalized in Fall 2025, with a goal of holding elections in February 2026 and fully re-establishing the SGA by March 2026.
·Yes. Students will continue to serve on all advisory committees — including those for Student Fee Advisory Committee, Safety and Security, Parking & Transportation, Food Services, and Counseling and Psychological Services — in the same numbers as before. Over the summer, UH worked with a student group to assign committee seats for 2025–26.
By ensuring governing documents are clear, providing robust training, defining roles and fostering engagement, UH aims to create a functional, responsive and accountable student government.
Timeline of Events: From Disbandment to Re-establishment of the SGA
The following is a timeline of events outlining how the SGA arrived here and the next steps that the University of Houston is taking to restore the SGA.
| March 2024 | The SGA’s 60th administration amended bylaws, shifting power from the executive branch to the senate |
| Fall 2024 | Division of Student Affairs met with SGA several times to discuss approaches to resolve governance issues |
| November 2024 | SGA informed it needed to re-write constitution to better serve the student body |
| February 2025 | SGA passed a new constitution and bylaws (Bylaws and election codes are effective immediately; but the constitution requires a student body referendum) |
| February 27, 2025 | New constitution fails to pass first student body referendum |
| Mid-March 2025 | New constitution fails to pass second student body referendum |
| March 31, 2025 | The SGA’s 61st Administration’s term expires with no Election Commission, resulting in no spring 2025 elections. As a result, SGA formally disbands. |
| Spring-Summer 2025 | Engaged with student leaders and stakeholders in small group meetings to understand structural and procedural issues and develop considerations for future SGA. |
| August 2025 |
Finalize draft SGA constitution and bylaws Establish Student Review Committee |
| September 1–30, 2025 |
Comprehensive document review by Student Review Committee Student Review Committee to develop SGA Educational Campaign |
| September 1 – December 1, 2025 | Student Review Committee and Election Commissioner to implement SGA Educational Campaign |
| September 2, 2025 | Launch Election Commissioner recruitment initiative |
| October 1, 2025 | Election Commissioner hired |
| October 15, 2025 | Deputy Election Commissioner hired |
| December 1, 2025 |
SGA candidate recruitment begins Email shared with all UH students regarding SGA elections |
| January 20, 2026 | SGA elections begin |
| February 2, 2026 | Last date to register as SGA candidate |
| February 4, 2026 |
Candidate information session Last day to get campaigning materials approved Last day for ballot changes |
| February 6, 2026 | Finalized ballot released via website |
| February 9, 2026 | Campaigning begins |
| February 23, 2026 | SGA Presidential and Vice President townhall debate |
| March 2-5, 2026 | Election voting period |
| March 6-13, 2026 | SGA election results announced |
| April 1, 2026 | New SGA officially formed |