Championing their prior leadership experience on Executive Slate, the Student Government Finance Committee, and South Asian Students Association, the candidates of Full Slate Ahead are campaigning on increasing the interaction between SG and the student body with initiatives designed to increase the visibility and accessibility of SG–funded events.
Full Slate Ahead hopes to improve student life in terms of fun, access, jobs, and continuity.
In each area, the candidates have developed several proposals that they will implement if elected; for instance, to increase the “fun” on campus, the slate would set aside part of the student activity fee for individual big-item budgets. One such proposal is an “innovators’ fund,” which would allow RSOs to compete for expensive, large-scale events, or a “major speakers fund,” which might be used to bring academic or political celebrities to campus.
“I feel like SG is just a vehicle to help students, and as long as we can make some sustainable changes that students can see, that’s a good thing,” said John Odackal, a second-year in the College and the candidate for VP of Student Affairs. “Now students are going to ask, ‘What can I do?’ To make something like bringing a speaker to campus a possibility with funds is something that’s going to bring in students to be active that wouldn’t normally be.”
Similarly, Full Slate Ahead candidates are committed to increasing student access to administrators, helping students plan for the future through collaboration with CAPS, and increasing continuity among SG representatives and RSO leaders, said Phil Caruso, presidential candidate and a current vice president of the SG Executive Slate.
“All of us have experience with life outside of SG,” said Caruso, a third-year in the College. “Connecting with the students and showing them what SG is doing for them is the most important thing.”
Alexandra Bratsafolis, a second-year in the Law School and candidate for VP of Administration, said she wants SG to promote more interaction between students in the College and those in the University’s graduate schools.
“Full Slate Ahead does the best job of bringing together leadership and ideas from across the student body, combining a thorough understanding of SG with long-term goals to improve it,” Caruso wrote in his platform.