-Name; Bachelor’s; Master’s; Year
President: Colin Aitken; Biomedical Engineering; Systems Engineering 4/5 (2013 entry, 2018 graduation)
Vice President: David Roghanian; Mechanical Engineering; Systems Engineering 4/5 (2013 entry, 2018 graduation)
What are your strengths? Experiences?
Colin: My main strength regarding the SGA is creating a structure to enact change. Over the last semester I created the Committee for Club Sports Improvement (CCSI) and together with this group of students, many of whom were not directly involved as officials of the SGA, we were able to enact meaningful change for the club sports department. A main achievement of this group was the reinstatement of physical education credits for club sports, among a myriad of other changes. I am hoping to bring this structure to the entire SGA such that we can effectively use the voice of the student to enact meaningful change on campus.
David: My strengths coming into the VP role lie in my extensive experience in leadership positions with Stevens RSOs, non-RSO student groups, and in general. My heavy involvement in these groups has given me a sense of genuine care for their success and motivation to work hard with them to achieve their goals. I also have a lot of insight concerning management strategies and effective ways of managing people, time, and money from work experience in project management and management consulting. I would appreciate the opportunity to apply my leadership skills to the benefit of the student body!
Do you think the current events funded by the SGA (especially large scale events) represent the wants and needs of the students?
Currently, events hosted by the SGA represent the wants and needs of some students. However, we are looking to increase attendance through better publicity as well as more student input on large events like festivals. If the student body indicates that it is interested in an event and we provide it to them, hopefully they will come. Our comprehensive festivals plan is as follows:
-Create a TechFest/Boken (or other names) ad-hoc committee similar to FDB. This would be a group of interested and dedicated students (not necessarily SGA related, but hopefully with some SGA knowledge of procedures for aid in budgeting and event logistics).
-This committee would brainstorm several (3-5) events which are then posed through the student body through a survey. This survey is publicized by the SGA (hopefully using district communication) and the results of this survey are used to move forward with the most desirable option.
-The committee then submits a formal budget to the SGA, knowing that the acceptable budget range is generally within some threshold (although may vary depending on rollback, enrollment, etc.)
-The SGA considers and gives input on said budget and event, returning an approved budget.
-The committee then executes the event with the given budget.
Should we expect more internal development of SGA or looking outward to further the interests of students? What’s more important?
You should expect both. The internal development of the SGA, however, will be geared to allow the senators to spend more time engaged in student outreach. A structure for this outreach and the tools to enable senators to effectively garner the opinion of their district and the students will be provided by our ticket and the rest of the cabinet. We will focus heavily on student voice and student feedback, with the overall goal of giving the student more control and power over their Stevens experience.
If we were to give an edge to one, it would be outward development; respect is given and not taken, and without properly representing our constituency they will effectively revoke their respect for us. However, if we function more efficiently internally, we can better achieve these goals; for this reason we will be focusing on both internal and external improvements.
Should the SGA be the only student organization to serve as conduits to the faculty and administration?
Not at all. There are several agencies which exist already on campus to communicate with them, and the SGA hopes that they all thrive and flourish. They include, but are not restricted to: The Honor Board, the SFA, the Honor Committee of Gear and Triangle, SAAC (for Athletics), and I’m certain other clubs that I am forgetting. Each student organization is required to have an advisor, and this advisor means that each organization has at least point of contact with the faculty and administration.
However, the academic affairs position was just presented for ratification within our Constitution (vote please!) and this change would bring an academic affairs position onto the Cabinet. A goal of this cabinet member would be to have outreach to each of these groups and a few others to make sure that the students presented a unified front to the faculty, and that the voice of the student was effectively communicated to the proper faculty and administrative personnel.
How would you approach expanding the SGA’s interests as they overlap with other major organizations?
We don’t see any other major organization (other than the EC which is a committee of the SGA) having too many major overlapping interests with the SGA. The role of the SGA is to support and empower the other organizations on campus, so overlapping interests are inevitable and should be encouraged. Compared to each other, organizations outside the SGA are actually fairly unique right now. In the few instances where they are not, our platform would suggest a merger – such as in the recent merger of the Sailing Team and Yacht Club (as they had very similar purposes and membership). We would also recommend collaboration on events; the SGA has done this in the past by pairing with both the SFA and Honor Board, and is excited to continue this trend in the future.
How will you direct the senate in order to accomplish your goals?
To be honest, many of our platform points regarding the internal operations of the SGA have already been discussed. However, the overall idea is efficiency through the idea of quality over quantity. We are looking to reduce senator time commitments in the cases where they are redundant or undervalued and take advantage of this extra time to encourage extended communication with their constituents. Additionally, our VP David will strive to create clear, actionable goals with senators and committee heads at the start of each semester and then work to ensure progress on these goals throughout our term.
How will you form good relations with Stevens administrators to better promote the welfare of the student body?
We will meet with several members of the Stevens Administration, such as the Office of Student Life, on a frequent and scheduled basis. Other members will be met with on a scheduled basis as necessary and as the needs arise. We will have the Student Affairs Committee serve as liaisons with the major administrative departments on campus, some of which we are not well connected to currently. This will create a clear path of access to these departments for the student body.
Click here to read responses from candidates Darby DeSefano and Cris Collado.
Click here to read responses from candidates Thomas Daly and Cat Oesterle.
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