The Student Government Association has filled a position that was vacant last semester — parliamentarian.

Crofton freshman Nicki Seay, who is new to SGA this semester, will serve as parliamentarian. Her responsibilities will be to make sure that proper parliamentary procedure is being carried out during SGA meetings.

“From what I’ve seen so far, everyone pretty much runs everything in parliamentary procedure,” Seay said.

Seay has past experience with the role because she was involved in the National FFA Organization all four years of high school. She said one of the first activities in FFA was a competition in which Seay and her teammates had to run a meeting using parliamentary procedure and were judged on how well they did.

“I really liked it — it’s actually one of my favorite parts of FFA,” Seay said.

But Seay liked parliamentary procedure for another reason — it runs in her family.

In fact, both Seay and her father were chairs of FFA during their senior years in high school, a position that She said is similar to Kaylee Egerer’s position as SGA Speaker of the Senate. Seay also said that Egerer does a lot in her position to maintain parliamentary procedure.

She first got involved in SGA through Cory Dodds, director of information technology, whom she knew from FFA. Seay was an FFA member while Dodds was a state FFA officer.

“I think Nicki will do a good job in her new role,” Dodds said. “Many FFA members become well-versed in parliamentary procedure through various activities, and Nicki is no exception.”

Egerer said Dodds recommended Seay for parliamentarian because she’d be a great fit.

“I started coming to meetings and figuring out what SGA was about, and I jumped on board,” Seay said.

There was not a parliamentarian last semester because of lack of interest in the position, Egerer said. Also, most of the executive board, including Egerer, knows the rules of parliamentary procedure and can help make sure they’re being followed.

Seay said she wasn’t involved in SGA last semester largely due to the fact that she was on the forensics team and did not have time to do much else.

Egerer said that Dodds is a “parliamentarian guru” but couldn’t hold the position while he was already IT director.

Oftentimes, this particular position is filled by people who might not have won the senatorial election but still want to participate in SGA, Egerer said.

“I think every deliberative assembly like the SGA should have a strong parliamentarian because it’s important to have someone who knows the details and nuances in order to protect the rule of the majority and rights of the minority,” Dodds said.