Presidential Perspectives

Hey Tartans,

After about four months of work, our elections reform initiative has come full circle. This past week, Adi and I received approval for our policy changes from the Undergraduate Student Senate and the Graduate Student Assembly. This new document is a significant jump in the right direction, and we will continue improving it to create a more all-encompassing policy. With these changes in place, we hope that elections will run much smoother than they did last year. We should never again see a summer without a permanent student body president, vice-president for finance, and undergraduate Senate in place.

I want to publicly acknowledge all the help we received throughout this process from the ad-hoc Elections Reform Committee, which was composed of former GSA President Beth Ayers, current GSA President Patrick Kelley, Representatives Ruth Poproski, Paul Enders, and Aleecia McDonald, Undergraduate Student Senate Chairman Jared Itkowitz, Senator Sudeep Paul, Vice-President for Finance Joel Bergstein, Director of Student Activities Gina Casalegno, Coordinator of Student Activities Kaycee Palko, and third-floor miracle-worker Meg Richards.

This week also provided us with a valuable discussion at the first installment of the Senate Spotlight Series, in which the student government invited members of the community to voice their opinions on the proposed grading policy changes: the faculty-suggested, university-wide move to +/- grading; and the motion to enable first-semester first-years to operate on a pass/fail basis. Attendees shared their questions and opinions, leading to better ideas. I would like to thank all the students who came.

Finally, to all those trying to find a job, I hope the EOC proved fruitful. Whether it’s an internship or a full-time gig you’re looking for, hopefully you can reflect well on your experiences at Carnegie Mellon and how they have prepared you for that next step. If there’s something missing from your Carnegie Mellon experience, tell me about it — it’s possible that something can be done to make things more suitable for you.

As always, you can e-mail me at cmu5@cmu.edu.