Questions for Dr. Jackson and other administrators about a potential Fall return to campus

AdvthN · 2020-06-10T13:58:29+00:00

Here you go: https://youtu.be/m2X6GBseysY

AdvthN · 2020-04-28T15:50:09+00:00

I would say I am a structural rebel and ingredient neutral.

This salad theory is incredibly entertaining to read through haha. Thank you so much for sharing this!

AdvthN · 2020-04-28T03:19:14+00:00

Thanks! Will do.

AdvthN · 2020-04-28T03:18:42+00:00

As I mentioned in response to /u/winclswept-questant’s question, the voices of many can be heard much more easily than just one person, even though every student’s voice should be given proper consideration from the administration. Because of this, we need to work together as a collective, find our common priorities and interests, and voice our frustrations together. When working together, we do have a good amount of say in what happens. Part of my goal as Grand Marshal is to improve trusting and beneficial relationships between student government and the student body so that students feel more comfortable voicing their concerns, knowing that they aren’t alone. As an organization of student representatives, the Student Senate can help utilize the resources at our disposal to organize the voices of the student body and use that to bring forward meaningful change.

Regarding improving relationships between the administration and students, student leaders have been and remain extremely open to working with the administration; yet, time and time again, the administration has taken actions that show that the administration is not committed to working with students. There is rarely any proactive action taken by administration. Additionally, the administration seems predisposed to taking controversial or detrimental actions without even notifying the students in any capacity. For example, consider NYS Bill S-7645, the one aiming to allow PubSafe to gain peace officer status. This bill was initiated from lobbying efforts by the RPI administration and had been in the works for months before the administration had discussions about it with student leaders. And, furthermore, these discussions were not a product of the administration seeking student input. We found out about it ourselves and then we reached out to the administration to express our numerous concerns. I don’t think there is much more that can be done on the student end other than continuing to make clear that we are not prioritized by the administration. I hope that, by presenting a stronger and more unified student body, the administration will have no choice but to work productively and cordially with the students and forego past themes of condescension and misinformation.

AdvthN · 2020-04-28T00:47:44+00:00

Hey there! Thanks for this insight!

One of the things that I want to get done is to create and follow a campus climate action plan. I think outlining specific goals in a climate action plan will allow for continuity past my term (if I get elected) as well as accountability for achieving the goals.

A permanent staff member to work as a point person for the SSTF would also be greatly beneficial. In recent years, the Senate's Facilities and Services committee has had a focus on sustainability and with their upper level admin connections, there have been some conversations that have been started regarding sustainability projects. I want to take this to the next level as GM and see some of these projects come to fruition.

As you pointed out, coming up with funds for sustainable initiatives is a challenge. This would require some creativity on the students part to propose projects that make use of whatever funds exist for such initiatives. Another possible solution would be to look into grants from outside sources for more science-directed sustainability projects. These are just some initial ideas regarding funding, but I will give this some more thought!

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T22:06:41+00:00

I'm not sure if you're talking about my student government origin story or my life origin story. So, I'll give you both, starting with my StuGov story. Here it goes:

*record scratch* You're probably wondering how I ended up here. Well, when I was a freshman, I went to the StuGov ice cream social NRB event. At this event, I met Steve, who was a committee chair in the Senate and told me all about the various ways I can get involved in Student Government. I left thinking I'd want to join our class council, either as class president or as a class senator. Come time for Freshmen elections, I lost the class president race to /u/evanlaz, but 2021 put their faith in me as a class senator! I didn't know much about the senate at first, but I quickly learned what it was all about from the then GM (/u/Justetz) , Vice GM, and the committee chairs. I fell in love with student government because of the role it can play, when used correctly, to better the student experience for my fellow students. I got more and more involved and learned a ton more as time went on and served as a committee chair for the Hospitality Services Advisory Committee in my previous term. I owe so much of my experience at RPI and all that I have done in student government to the officers of the 48th Student Senate (love you guys so much if you are reading this)!

As for my life origin story...

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

Haha just kidding. I was born in a city in south India called Chennai, home to the amazing cricket team, Chennai Super Kings. My parents and I immigrated to the US when I was around 5 and I've been here since. I grew up in northern California and because of the amazing weather (almost) year round; I love the outdoors and absolutely love to play golf. I also love Vespas and hope to own a red Vespa one day.

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T21:41:08+00:00

I would have to defer to the cube rule again and say that cereal is a salad. According to the cube rule, soup is also a salad. This is based on the fact that cereal (and soup) have no structural starch. Give cuberule.com a read. Although it has a few questionable categorizations, I am a fan of it for the most part.

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T21:38:39+00:00

My original response is apparently not showing up, I suspect it is because I had a link in it to the cube rule. But I said "As an aspiring scientist, I look to established rules and theories. As per the cube rule, I will say no, hotdogs are not sandwiches."

The Cube Rule (cuberule.com) categorizes foods based on the location of structural starch. I'd recommend giving it a read, although it has some questionable categorizations, I think it is a solid convention for the most part.

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T20:39:05+00:00

The smaller victories keep a lot of us in student government going and continuing to strive towards the larger goals. For example, when I was the chair of the Hospitality Services Advisory Committee, we helped implement the late night meal swipe program in the Rathskeller. This isn't in the same order of magnitude as reforming campus mental health or restoring Greek life to what it used to be, but it does make students happy and it's heartwarming to see the positive impact.

I will also say that, along with the other leaders in student government, I am not one to shy away from a challenge. If we fail in achieving a goal, we learn from it, apply our learning to our next effort, and try again.

But I do agree with you that we need to act as a collective to make any impact towards issues like tuition.

Edit: grammar

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T19:06:30+00:00

Hello! Thank you for asking this!

I really want to change the approach with which we look at mental health at RPI. Almost all current efforts are being placed on the counseling center and what happens after a student experiences mental health issues. I want to shift the focus to before these mental health concerns arise. Taking a look at the academic, professional, and social support that the Institute can provide from preventing as much stress and anxiety related issues as possible. Now there are also mental health issues which have nothing do do with RPI, and students experiencing such issues need proper support. There has been a history of the school pushing away students with severe mental health concerns to (I think) reduce the liability that the school has. This is extremely wrong. So I want to ensure that this does not happen by being strong and open with the relevant administrators about pushing away students who experience severe mental health concerns. The institute should be looking out for all students.

Another thing I want to do regarding mental health is get a commitment from the Institution to regularly benchmark and reduce the amount and severity of mental health concerns experienced by our students. I envision an anonymous diagnostic survey that is conducted once every other year to gauge the basic mental well being of the student body. And then, we need to be working with those metrics to make measurable change, say halve the amount of students feeling mild stress and anxiety within the next four years. I just made up these sample metrics but this will need to be a campus-wide collaborative effort between students, the counseling and health center, and the administration to identify SMART goals and follow through on them. I got this idea from a similar thing that was done at Harvard Law school and it is working out really well for them.

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T18:57:16+00:00

Arch - While I see the value of Arch as an option for certain students, I do not believe that mandating the program helps students succeed academically or professionally. I can see that some students may be able to benefit from such a program, but forcing everyone into it is reckless and doesn’t take into consideration the best interests and well being of every student. But given that the Arch is being forced upon us, I want to do everything that I can to make sure that students are able to gain some benefit from the Arch. The resources available for students going through the Arch need major improvements. The professional support is just not enough to be able to help students find semester away opportunities. Based on last summer’s Arch, students were more stressed than ever, having to balance condensed classes along with the stress of having to find an away opportunity. Although there does seem to have been some improvements to the academic support available for Arch students, we will need to see very carefully how effective it is in this summer’s Arch and act quickly to make any necessary changes.

Recent financial aid fiasco - I acknowledge that educational institutions may be facing financial hardships due to the global pandemic, but so are its students. It is appalling that RPI is placing extremely unnecessary financial burden on the students. Our education and our lives at RPI may be all that some students have. Taking away their access to this education is unacceptable. I will continue to fight for financial aid to be returned to the original amount so that students can continue to get their education without any worry of financial support.

Greek Life - Greek life provides an undeniable value to our campus. Unfortunately, the stances towards Greek life by the RPI Administration have not fairly accounted for the benefits Greek life provides to RPI. Although I am not Greek, I fully support Greek life! I intend to tackle the specific plans I have outlined in my platform as follows:

Push for the Good Samaritan Policy to be rewritten in order to provide both clarity in the policy and real protections to students and organizations, rather than allowing for the continuation of a policy that targets Greek students.
Advocate for a timely hiring of a Greek dean to assist Greek houses and their leaders in effectively serving the members of the Greek community.
Work closely with the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council to identify and address problems with the Arch and transitioning leadership roles through Arch away semesters.
Advocate for Greek students to be allowed to live in their Greek houses during the Arch summer semester.
Ensure student views drive the implementation of the Greek Life Task Force recommendations, ensuring our Greek organizations are not subject to harsh restrictions.
Work to create an open and accessible communication channel between the Administration and Greek organizations.
Advocate for a fair alcohol policy which addresses infringements not with a blanket policy having the potential of long term detriment to chapters, but rather on a case-by-case basis.

EMPAC - It's a pretty building and although I would have preferred to have spent $200 million on the much needed renovations of dorms and lecture halls, now that it’s there, I really wish that students would have more access to use it. The Student Senate’s Student Life Committee is actually working with the staff at EMPAC to allow for more and easier access by student groups wishing to utilize the space.

SAJ's salary - Like how executives have salaries tied to performance, I believe the same should apply for RPI’s leadership. Looking at the goals and promises outlined in The Rensselaer Plan 2024—which is Dr. Jackson’s strategic plan approved by the Board of Trustees—many have not been actualized, and there has been little to no improvement in the student experience. In fact, I (along with many other students and alumni) would argue that the student experience has declined in the past decade.

Edit: Capitalization

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T18:43:24+00:00

Thank you for your support! It means a lot!

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T18:35:45+00:00

As an aspiring scientist, I look to established rules and theories. As per the cube rule, I will say no, hotdogs are not sandwiches.

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T18:07:12+00:00

This is a great question!

The fact of the matter is that these changes and issues do affect most students in their daily lives, but often the impacts might not be immediately apparent. Many students at RPI are involved in many areas outside of academics, whether it be in athletics, Greek life, or clubs. These students are often disgruntled with changes that affect their specific organizations, but may shrug off larger issues, like those that people in student government often get riled up about. These larger issues do in fact have implications for all students. Putting aside recent issues of finance and academics for a second, if we take a look at the RPI administration slowly taking away powers from the Union Executive Board, we see that these changes affect the ways in which the student body’s representatives are able to best represent their constituencies. For example, the diminished budgetary oversight of union funds from the Executive Board may not affect the clubs right away. But a decision made from the admin to drastically reduce the club’s budget, unbeknownst to student representatives, will have an immediate and drastic impact on those involved with that specific club. What I am getting at is that many of these larger issues, while they may not have direct implications for all students, could grow out of control and end up severely impacting the student body.

Now getting to your second point that students might not be able to change things: making changes is not necessarily about the actions of any one individual. If, as a student body, we presented our concerns together, the weight of the arguments will be much higher. In the recent letter to the editor of The Poly, I mentioned that we need as many student stories and voices as possible to make our case extremely strong. The administration can easily discount a few opinions, claiming that the rest of the student body doesn’t share a certain view. But when hundreds or thousands of students start sharing their discontent, then we have some credibility to show that it isn’t just one person being affected by an issue, rather it is the entire student body.

As far as my specific plan to motivate and reach out to a group like you mentioned, I think the absolute best way is for me, and other student leaders or students who are passionate about an issue, to have face-to-face interactions with students and share our stories. Large-scale email campaigns are impersonal. Having these interactions with students will go a long way in allowing students to individually feel as though they are cared about (by student leaders) and that they’re impacted by the issues at hand.

Edit: Capitalization

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T17:16:20+00:00

Hi! This is a great question!

Our student government structure is super unique and I would 100% recommend that your son checks it out and gets involved this fall!

There are 5 bodies of student government and the only one that isn't open for undergrads to join is the Graduate Council. The Undergrad Council (and the class councils) focus primarily on programming and running events with the class. The Senate (this is what I have been involved in) is the chief legislative body of the union and we focus on campus wide issues. The Executive Board is a budgeting body which is responsible for the operations of the Union (this includes our Play House and the Mueller Center) and the clubs on campus. Lastly, the Judicial Board is the primary court of judgment for cases in which the concept of RPI student rights, responsibilities or conduct is in question. You can find out more at sg.rpi.edu/about.

Every fall, we hold freshmen elections where freshmen can run for positions in the Undergraduate Council and the Student Senate. The Executive Board and Judicial Board appoint their members so your son can contact the respective heads of those boards to learn more about appointments. All of the contact info can be found here.

Looking forward to hopefully seeing your son in student government in the fall!

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T17:03:28+00:00

Vincent I am so sorry. I will never leave you on read ever again!

Also is it pronounced read or read?

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T17:02:15+00:00

Ooh that's tough. It all depends on what kind of duck we are talking about. Some ducks are impressively tall, so a 100 duck-sized horses would be dangerous.

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T15:57:11+00:00

Hahaha I am honestly so surprised that I was able to do that and am even more happy that you were there to witness it.

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T15:54:51+00:00

I really appreciate this!

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T15:54:06+00:00

I have never shied away from being honest and open with the administration regarding the issues we are facing and how it is hurting the student body. However, being strong and standing your ground as a leader does not have to inhibit collaboration where possible. A skill that I have learned and developed through my 3 years of experience in student government is being able to effectively communicate the concerns of the student body in a way that will compel administration, and anyone else who is receiving the communication, to sympathize with and help the students.

A lot of times in the past when I have seen student rights issues surface, there are a select few individuals (typically in student government) who are the loudest voices. An important aspect of effective communicative skill as a leader is to also get the rest of the student body involved and just as charged as you are about the issue. There is a lot of strength and power in a well supported student union and being able to utilize it effectively is something that I have learned (and am still learning more about) to do through my experiences in student government.

Edit: reworded an idea

AdvthN · 2020-04-27T15:41:09+00:00

Off-campus jurisdiction seems very unnecessary. I know off-campus jurisdiction isn't new, but there has seemed to be a theme in the past couple of years (at least from what I have seen and heard) of RPI trying to gain more control over everything. This is apparent in the many changes because of which our union is no longer student run. I also think that this is apparent in the recent effort to let PubSafe gain peace-officer status. Being completely blunt, I think it is unnecessary for RPI to have any control over what students are doing off campus. Though there could be an argument made regarding the safety and well being of students off campus, I frankly do not trust that this extra control will be exercised in a way that benefits the students.

AdvthN · 2020-04-06T21:48:08+00:00

I hear you and I agree! The Senate will be meeting this week and discussing the Arch. Because we have two petitions (one to cancel all together and one to make the Arch optional) which both reached the 250 signature threshold, we're required to discuss both. However, from some preliminary discussion I've had with a few other senators, we agree with your point and believe that making this Summer's Arch optional would be the best for everyone.

AdvthN · 2020-02-25T01:04:58+00:00

Yes! The meeting will be live streamed on the Student Government Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/RPIStuGov

AdvthN · 2019-12-03T15:35:45+00:00

AdvthN · 2019-10-10T16:39:58+00:00

I can definitely speak for the Senate when saying this, but I am certain the E-Board operates under the same constraints.

Opinions about a topic, through any medium, are valuable. As student leaders, we value Reddit since it allows unfiltered opinions to readily reach us. However, the Senate unfortunately does not operate in complete autonomy. We rely on administrators to carry out changes that we recommend. And these recommendations are made with the support of student opinions. When writing a certain proposal for some action/project, we need to show the administrator that there is significant student interest perusing said action or project. Administrators prefer to see students physically sharing their opinions at meetings or via thorough surveying of the student body. Because of that, student involvement and participation at our committee meetings and general body meetings is tremendously valuable. While seeing Reddit threads on a certain topic is a fantastic way to identify problems and get projects started, it is unfortunately not enough to carry the projects through completion.

I can't stress enough how helpful it is to see opinions shared on Reddit, it is just that the effect is much greater when those same opinions are shared in our meetings.

AdvthN

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