Student Association’s Executive Committee members for the 2015—2016 academic year were elected approximately two weeks ago. The eight new members are currently undergoing training for their respective positions, which require extensive knowledge of SA policy as well as a number of individualized duties to properly serve the campus community.
SA President senior Harrison Dole didn’t emphasize a specific training program, however, current SA Executive Committee members are responsible for training their successor.
“My strategy has been to let the Executive Committee train each of their individual successors in their own personal way,” Dole said. “I don’t feel that there’s any one standard way to train the entirety of the Executive Committee and I don’t trust anyone more than I trust my current officers to understand their positions.”
Next year’s Director of Academic Affairs sophomore Samantha Moore––who has met with predecessor numerous times already––sees this training as being crucial to the position.
“[Training is important] because people are relying on you,” Moore said. “You want to serve to these people to the best of your best ability and you want to serve the school. It’s responsible and it’s fair to the people who you’re trying to work for that you know what you’re doing.”
Next year’s Vice President sophomore Michael Baranowski explained that he has been meeting with current Vice President junior Paul Michael and is learning about what goes into this position, such as getting a better understanding of Student Senate, club sports and other SA facets.
Moore echoed this sentiment, noting that she’s been meeting with her predecessor and has already attended the regional meeting where she met with governments from different local schools.
Junior Sarah Dukler––who will replace senior Alexis O’Hara as Director of Student Programming––has been focusing her efforts on learning what makes the board work, the logistics of the position and ways to better increase communication between Activities Commission and SA.
In addition to the one-on-one meetings, Dole has plans for both the current and future Executive Committee’s to come together and train as a group.
“I’ve just met with [incoming President junior] Andrew Hayes … we want to sort of bridge the gap between this year’s current Executive Committee and next year’s Executive Committee,” Dole said. “What we’re looking to do with the remainder of the semester is meet at least twice, hopefully three times, to discuss different portions of the job of being a member of the SA Executive Committee and what that means from a group perspective as opposed to an individual one.”
Moore explained that once she officially takes on her new position, she plans on having new individuals trained sooner.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came into the position, even though I knew a lot about the position,” she said. “I want to make sure everyone gets training.”
Other goals for next year that Baranowski, Dukler and Moore all share include rebranding, increasing collaborations between SA and other campus organizations and increasing the visibility and accessibility of Student Senate.
The changing of the guard will occur on April 29 after the SA meeting is adjourned, which is when the newly elected Executive Committee will officially take on their positions.