– Name; Major; Year
President: Darby DeStefano; Biomedical Engineering; 4/5
Vice President: Cris Collado; Electrical Engineering; 3/5
What are your strengths? Experiences?
Intrinsic Motivation is the fuel that best describes the uniquely qualified and diversely involved team of Darby DeStefano and Cris Collado. We have an exceptional broad range of experiences -Varsity and club Athletics, the Arts, the Honor Board, Greek Life, Residence Life, Gear & Triangle Honors Society and other organizations. Serving as President of her high school SGA, Darby has had the experience of understanding that acting as President is about service to the community. It is about selfless dedication and looking out for the best interests of our entire community no matter the time or stress that is imposed as it is an expected part of the job. As SGA elected Senators, we are in touch with the voices of our constituents. We have learned that our peers feel their concerns are not always being heard. As President/VP, we understand that listening, and not always talking is essential. This is one of qualities the DeStefano/Collado team has to offer. Listening is what allows us to serve the entire Stevens community. All of the candidates can say “I’ve started a club, I have been appointed, I’m an athlete, I am an honor society member…”, these are all things we do. The President/VP positions are not about doing. President/VP positions are about being. Being able to listen, being able to create an environment where all people may be given the opportunity to use their talents, being able to combine input from the administration to meet their needs to those of the students in order to serve everyone. This should be the expectation of the student body. We are both elected Senators on the SGA, where we serve on the Budgeting Committee. Darby is the representative of the subcommittee of professional societies and Cris is the representative of the subcommittee of Non-RSO’s. Outside of the SGA Darby is a member of the Stevens Honor Board, the vice president of the newly formed College Democrats, a member of Gear and Triangle, and a member of BMES. Darby has been a Varsity athlete as well as a club sports athlete and a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as well as the Stevens Choir. Darby also served as a founding member of Stevens Shattering the Silence and the Historian of the Stevens Irish Association. Within the SGA, Cris has actively participated in the Campus Life Committee and is the current head of the Founder’s Day Ball AdHoc Committee. Outside of the SGA, Cris is a Freshman Resident Assitant, the co-service chair of the RA honors society Rho Alpha Sigma, a brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon where he served as the Community service chair and presently as the Scholarship Chair. He is the Stevens Thon Relations chair, a member of the Chi Alpha Epsilon Honors Society, Order of Omega, and the Gear and Triangle Honors Society. Cris is also a Co-op student and a part time waiter at Court Street. Touching on so many campus communities allows the DeStefano/Collado team to share ideas and experiences that alone we would not be able to understand. It will allow us to look outwardly. Fully understanding from personal experience these organizations, activities, and teams and what each brings to the Stevens community. We understand how to best highlight the positive aspects of each and every one.
What is the ideal role of the SGA?
The ideal role of the SGA is to be an external student-centric agent of change. We have the power to create a real difference in students lives. This can only be accomplished by being approachable and by being transparent. This upcoming election requires a fresh outlook on what the SGA should be and has not been in the past. The SGA needs to have more of a presence than ever with a distinct focus on supporting our peers.
What is the primary issue the current SGA faces?
Our student government is internally focused and in a dire need of a cultural change. As an organization that is student run, the SGA is not student-centric. This is what we will change. Structure has been established within the SGA. Anyone can handle the administrative work but what is needed are individuals who are eager to serve their peers transparently. What we need are courageous, passionate individuals who are willing to challenge the process. Individuals who have the desire, the ability, and the proven record to create a holistic experience for every Stevens student.
Do you think the current events funded by the SGA (especially large scale events) represent the wants and needs of the students?
There are large subsets of the culture at Stevens that are underrepresented. It is typical to find the same one-third of students planning and executing events on campus. There is a large cross over of students who are the same people, who do the same things. Often times we miss two-thirds of the population. There is never a way to ensure one-hundred percent satisfaction within the entirety of our community but there are ways to ensure that our actions are in service to a majority of our peers. One way to combat this has to do with the current festival submission process. Festival submissions are open to the community every Spring and Fall semester. Prior to changes made most recently, students would submit their ideas, the student body would vote on the choices, and the Entertainment Committee would execute the event. Within our current administration students who submit the festival proposal are charged with the responsibility of forming a committee to plan and execute the event regardless of experience. We have seen many great ideas come forth and be rejected due to a student’s time commitments elsewhere in our community. This request of students who take the time submit their ideas to have to execute it themselves is unreasonable. It is as if we set our peers up for failure when instead we should be empowering our community by delivering their wishes and wants out of the service we have pledged. An infrastructure is needed that executes the ideas of the Student Body without imposing the tasks and responsibilities of the SGA on the community. We propose to amend the current process in place to put the responsibility and execution of the ideas in the hands of the Entertainment Committee and SGA. That way we can leave our peers time to focus on the things that matter to them most throughout the semester.
As the Innovation University, “student leaders” on campus are always concerned with creating and leaving a legacy. But with that said we ask you, what is wrong with tradition? We will establish tradition on campus. School spirit is considered a questionable aspect of this campus and is in need of dire support, this is one way to facilitate spirit, by supporting tradition and giving our community the feeling that their expectations will be filled each semester. That being said as an SGA we still need to foster meaningful collaboration between students. We need to give our student body opportunity for meaningful expression with the trust that their elected senators and cabinet will work in service of them to see these things accomplished.
Should we expect more internal development of SGA or looking outward to further the interests of students? What’s more important?
We guarantee you an externally focused SGA. It is like having a beautiful house with an inadequate foundation. There are so many great things our Institution has going for it such as our national rankings but the areas we lack in as a community are happiness and spirit. We will foster a community of collaboration where we support each other in our respective endeavors. We will foster a community where those who may not necessarily want to get involved will have the means to express their thoughts and be heard. We will foster this environment by listening to understand not just to answer a question.
Should the SGA be the only student organization to serve as conduits to the faculty and administration?
The SGA should not serve as the only conduits to the faculty and the administration. Often times our peers feel intimidated to approach “student-leaders” and ask for guidance on how to address the idea, suggestion, or issue that they may have because they have been made to feel insignificant. It is our responsibility to empower our peers so that they too are comfortable riding the elevator ten floors of Howe and entering the office of Student Life or approaching different members of the community to unite together to make a change. It is quite common to find that the same group of students serving on different boards such as The Student-Faculty Alliance, Student Advisory Board, and Undergraduate Advisory Committee. This is often a result of only communicating these opportunities to those students that are viewed as “student-leaders.” We need to eliminate this view. A leader is anyone who steps forward to offer assistance. When opportunities arise to discuss ideas we often come up with creative solutions. We need to empower our peers so that we have a broader group of students serving in positions where their talents will be utilized and they will be able to provide a more realistic view of the Stevens experience. We will address this by evaluating the processes in which opportunities are communicated and offered.
How would you approach expanding the SGA’s interests as they overlap with other major organizations?
The SGA is a position of service not a position of privilege. This is the thinking we must embrace. The SGA needs to direct focus on the quality of work over the quantity. We need to focus externally on our community and not internally. It is best to limit our interests to those of our community and work to facilitate and support student organizations. We need to work on sustaining those initiatives already in place before beginning new ones. This can only be done by listening to our community and understanding how our peers are working to accomplish its goals. Symbiotic relationships need to be encouraged amongst our community but this can only be done if we operate transparently and openly encourage the opinions and involvement of others. We will promote meaningful collaboration between student organizations to minimize competition between organizations and to promote greater quality of student events. We will unite students from different parts of campus to accomplish these goals.
How will you direct the senate in order to accomplish your goals?
We are seeking this position to serve the interests of our community and not our personal agendas. It is not about the President/Vice President directing. It is about having the trust of the Student Body and Senate invested in us in order to serve and fight for the interests of our community as conduit to the Administration. We will work hand in hand with the senate to build a foundation for the future of the SGA where creativity, discussion, and debate are encouraged and considered a norm, where Senators arrive inspired and passionate about serving our community and sharing new ideas. We will provide Senators with a better experience and provide them with the support they need to carry out initiatives within the community. Together every Senator and Cabinet member will change our culture so that we are a transparent entity that is known as a unit of change. Our own attitudes will pervade campus so that we may unite a campus known for its differences and encourage our peers to safely explore those differences.
How will you form good relations with Stevens administrators to better promote the welfare of the student body?
We both have relationships with administrators throughout campus and within Student Life. Due to our unique involvements on campus we have pre-established relationships with the administration as we are comfortable with confronting pertinent issues throughout campus. As an R.A. Cris is in constant communication with Dean Ballentine the Dean of Residence life as well as Dean Berkeley who is the Dean of Student Development and Enrichment Programs. Cris currently works alongside the Asssitant Director of Student Life Chris Shemanski. Darby most recently has worked with Associate Dean of Student Life and Title IX Coordinator Damell. The framework is in place for a seamless transition.
Click here to read responses from candidates Thomas Daly and Cathrine Oesterle.
Click here to read responses from candidates Colin Aitken and David Roghanian.
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