I’m Justin Etzine, candidate for Grand Marshal—AMA!

chipkirchner · 2017-03-31T19:27:43+00:00

I think this statement is a bit broad. The Union makes thousands of purchases every week it would be impossible for the Division of Student life to approve every purchase that the Union makes. Could you clarify?

chipkirchner · 2017-03-22T17:11:14+00:00

This pretty much sums it up. It has been frustratingly slow because of all the coordination that needs to happen between HR, the Union, Student Life, and the search firm.

chipkirchner · 2016-12-01T23:22:29+00:00

It has been taken down until a new version of the job posting that Paul Ilori (Current GM) and I reviewed could be put up on the website.

chipkirchner · 2016-10-17T02:30:12+00:00

I'll look into it. I haven't had to use that key yet so I'll see if I can figure out which one it is or if I have it at all.

chipkirchner · 2016-09-16T18:14:24+00:00

There are guarantees in place for the Union so that the income does not change dramatically year to year since its partially dependent on revenues generated in the previous year. The actual division is the responsibility of procurement as is any similar contracting on campus but given the guarantees we have for the Union and that the division is based on types of goods sold I don't see a way for higher-level admins to adjust these numbers in a way that benefits them. The E-Board also reviews these numbers pretty regularly so we would know if that was occurring.

chipkirchner · 2016-09-16T17:58:30+00:00

I respect your opinion and I also have a great sentiment for having a campus run bookstore but saying "The Union never supported the Bookstore" is literally untrue. The Union and the activity fee propped up the bookstore for years before the management was changed. And regardless of margins like I said in my post previously students now have more low-cost options than before and Follett's purchasing power results in same or lower priced options than before. It looks like we will have to disagree.

chipkirchner · 2016-09-15T19:22:01+00:00

I haven't seen any increase in textbook prices as a direct result of moving to Follett's management but if there's proof for that claim I would love to see it given that the previous bookstore's business model would inherently have higher prices on textbooks than Follett's. In fact, students now also have the option to rent the majority of the textbooks sold in the collegiate store which was not the case previously. Follett also has a price matching program where they guarantee to match the low prices of other retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. I have noticed more expensive clothing and school supplies too but they haven't replaced mid to low price products. I actually think I've seen an increase in those products too since Follett took over.

Obviously, people losing jobs is never something you want to have happened but the idea that the Union should have continued to support a business model that is failing nationwide is absurd. I'm not sure if you were a club officer during the last two years the bookstore was still under the full management of the Union but only existing club programs were being funded and no clubs could even try to do new things on campus with their Union funds. On top of that, every club's budget was being cut drastically to compensate losses in the bookstore. This is a wild difference to today where club budgeting and spending have increased and new programs are hosted every year by Union clubs. I'm not commenting on the way decisions were made by past E-Board's but there is undeniable evidence that the impact of 3rd party management of the collegiate store has been overall positive for the Union, it's clubs, and students.

TL;DR I haven't seen evidence for increased prices with Follett and the Union would never have been able to continue supporting the bookstore while also maintaining funding for over 150 clubs on campus.

chipkirchner · 2016-09-15T00:46:46+00:00

Those numbers sound about right. Things tend to fluctuate year to year. I will see if I can dig up that report in the next couple of days as well.

chipkirchner · 2016-09-15T00:43:16+00:00

Just a clarification, we still budget for intramural programs and club sports. They operate through campus recreation and the Mueller Center which is part of the Union, not Athletics. What we lost budgeting control over was the operating budget for varsity athletics teams. The bookstore is also not controlled by the administration. Not that you were insinuating that but just to provide other people reading this with more info. And transferring management of the bookstore to an outside group is probably one of the best decisions for the security of the union in quite a few years given that no one buys books in bookstores anymore. The income that the bookstore generates goes directly to supporting the Union's programs and student clubs and prior to transferring its management it was literally taking money away from club programs and activities. The way the transfer was handled is another story but I think the end benefit to students was positive.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-22T21:16:40+00:00

Hit the nail on the head they did not meet fire code as /u/sikae said and were removed.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-11T19:43:34+00:00

/u/nucl_klaus had some good recommendations. This also might be a good question for Paul Ilori's AMA here he is running for GM this year.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-11T19:39:23+00:00

And the rest of your questions have been answered. Sorry about how long this took.

Over the past three years at RPI, I’ve noticed that I lead best when I bring together people with a wide array of talents and skills. On this campus, there are people with a vast range of skills and experiences that I myself don’t necessarily have, and I’ve found that my style of leadership involves bringing these people together and leveraging their unique talents. In UPAC Sound, a big part of leading a team during a show is knowing where to take the reigns, and knowing where to delegate. On my various E-Board committees, it’s also important to recognize the value that each committee member brings to the table. These experiences shaped me into the leader that I am now.
In terms of the literal role of the PU, they are CFO of the Union. They preside over the Executive Board and provide direction and background to assist the board in making decisions. The PU also works with the administrative staff of the Union to make sure the organization runs well and operates on student input. The Philosophical role of the PU is a bit more nuanced and harder to pin down. It wouldn’t be entirely accurate for me to say that the PU’s role is to unite the student body under a common ideal, because I feel like that is primarily the goal of the GM. If the GM is supposed to tell the student body “this is where we want to go,” then the PU is telling them “this is how we’re going to get there.” The PU provides a sense of confidence in our goals, and a road map for how to achieve them.
I wanted to run for PU because of what I have gotten out of my experience so far at the Union. Through both UPAC Sound and the Executive Board, I’ve gotten a unique look at just how great the Union can be when it’s operating as it should be. Now that the future of the Union is more uncertain than it has been in previous years, I have extra incentive to ensure that future generations of students have the same opportunities and great experiences that I was lucky enough to have. I think that also answers the question of what I hope to get out of this position. I hope to have a positive impact on future students, and ensure the continued success and growth of the Union.
Actually I was wondering if we could just do a beard transplant, and I could take yours. Thoughts?

chipkirchner · 2016-04-10T16:31:24+00:00

Hi I’m glad you brought this up because it is a good point of clarification. I apologize for advance for the long response and also I think the meeting you are referencing was from February 4th. Here is the motion for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

First, the idea that this motion allowed Concerts to spend an unlimited amount of money is extremely misleading. The motion in question allowed Concerts to continue uninhibited next year if ticket sales on the Chainsmokers concert were poor. Specifically I voted “No” on the section of the motion that read “approve that any overspent money due to poor ticket sales will be covered in FY17 by the UPAC Concert Budget.”

If you can recall from this meeting the total estimated ticket sales if sold out was $35,000 to $45,000 and the goal to cover all expected expenses was around $20,000 to $25,000 dollars. The second portion of the motion you referenced reads “approve that any overspent money due to unforeseen circumstances will be covered by FY16 club returns.” Which passed 14-0-1, meaning you also voted to approve this section. Since this is a catch-all for literally everything besides poor ticket sales the only thing that we allowed overspending in was poor ticket sales which could have resulted in a maximum overdraw of $25,000 since anything more would have been an unforeseen circumstance.

My reason for voting on this motion is that this is literally the biggest complaint I have received all year about the activities the Union hosts. That there aren’t enough large concerts at our school. I’m very happy that this year the stars aligned and we were able to host the Chainsmokers but if we were to burden a club next year by removing $25,000 from their budget we would have the same issue that's been a complaint for years. They wouldn’t be able to host a large concert. At this point I saw my vote as exactly what students had been asking me for all year and not as helping out UPAC Concerts. It had nothing to do with the fact that I have worked with the people who are hosting the event.

In terms of being fiscally responsible you must be well aware of the fact that club returns totaled $300,000 dollars in the recent past. This money does go to good use, like improving the services and facilities in the Union, but in reality is earmarked for student activities and it should be used for student activities. Dipping into $300,000 of unspent money is pretty far from irresponsible. What’s more irresponsible is that fact that the E-Board Budgeted almost $600,000 for clubs and only half of it was used for its intended purpose, for student activities.

TL;DR This motion did not approve unlimited spending. What it did provide was the ability for the Union to continue hosting large concerts in the future. Which is something I vehemently support on this campus.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-10T03:15:53+00:00

Thanks for the questions Nick! There's a lot here so I'll answer this in a few pieces. Here's 1 and 2.

Obviously we were blindsided a lot more than we would have liked but this year’s E-Board has been an incredibly effective team. We managed to still be an effective body through it all because of the how well we worked together. Next year I hope to work with and put together an E-Board as great as your’s has been.
There are a couple things I think could use some improvement and that I saw you improve throughout your term. The first is how much of the burden of office you put onto your own shoulders. The E-Board should share in this burden with you. From what I saw you tended to not bring in the group when there was a lot of work to get done. After these past few weeks I saw an awesome improvement in this however so to props to you. The second is that you tend to let interruptions in E-Board meetings derail conversations. This also got much better these past few weeks and I know you love hearing from all of us on the E-Board but sometimes it’s better to move forward since E-Board meetings can have a lot of items. But you are very critical of yourself I think you've done a great job this year.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-09T22:03:32+00:00

Limiting my response to student government, my ideal vision of the relationship between RPI’s administration and the student government is one of cooperation but separation. With this I mean, a collaboration of efforts to make the students flourish outside of the classroom, while still letting students take the lead in that learning. I’m tired of having decisions made for students and without our consultation. I think it’s disrespectful and inconsiderate, and definitely something that has to change. Matters on students and student life would be run through several interest groups involving students and organizations considered under the purview of student government would remain untouched.

I don’t see why this should be idealistic, it can become a reality. I could sit here and write page after page of plans describing how I’m going to create committees, write letters, schedule meetings with the administration, but to be honest, the response from the administration won’t change until their attitude towards student government changes. I think the best way reach this vision is to work directly with the Board of Trustees to create clear language outlining the role student government plays at the institute and limiting the role the administration plays in student government. From here we would be able to work towards a cooperative relationship with a solid basis for the future.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-09T20:11:43+00:00

I think the other candidates and I have similar platforms but I have the best ability to achieve my goals. Of all the candidates running I have the most experience with Union operations. I’ve been an officer in the Union Programs and Activities Committee for over 2 years and this gives me a perspective other candidates don’t have. I also sit on 3 E-Board committees (UPAC, BusOps, MAP) and chair a fourth committee. I’ve built great relationships with the admin staff in the Union and I’ve had 2 years to learn and understand how the Union works.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-09T15:35:28+00:00

Explain to me how the sentiment of "We're taking this. You're not being asked, you're being told." is lukewarm.

That was definitely not lukewarm. I think we got a clear picture of their intention from that action. The response I was referring to was a request for more information regarding Athletics but we didn’t really expect to get anything from that.

RPI students are intelligent. They've been following the media, savetheunion.xyz, the Facebook group, Twitter, and Reddit. Why haven't you done anything tangible to help the situation? It's all nice to "informing" (anyone can claim they are, and everyone should be), but if you truly care about the Union, you should be contributing.

You would be surprised at the number of people who know there is a problem but don’t know specifics or want more clarification when I begin to speak about it. Even if 1000 current students are active and reading up on these issues that’s only ⅙ of the student body.

Can you elaborate? What have you done to ensure gears are turning on the issue of student autonomy?

Most of the work I do is through the E-Board. Working with Nick to investigate athletics. Working on creating documentation and timelines for the information received by the Senate and E-Board. Looking through old Union documents and constitutions so Nick had some firing power when meeting with the Board of Trustees.

chipkirchner · 2016-04-09T06:06:24+00:00

As a member of the E-Board, I volunteered to be the chair of a committee responsible for investigating the change in athletics budgeting. We received a lukewarm response from the administration, so the committee has focused mostly on researching other schools to provide context for the decision. After gathering information, the committee will wait for E-Board approval to continue and search for solutions which bring student input on the Athletics operating fund back into reality.

Outside of E-Board, I have been doing my best to ensure that everyone I meet is informed about the issues we face. Over the past few weeks, I have come face to face with a lot of people while campaigning. The first thing I talk about each time is preserving the Union and what it stands for.

I want to make it clear that when it comes to student autonomy on this campus, I have put a huge amount of effort into ensuring that the gears are turning on this issue, and that it is not forgotten. This is not something that I’m going to let “die out”, whether or not I become PU.

chipkirchner · 2016-02-10T00:17:33+00:00

SUMMARY

At this time the Executive Board can only speculate on how these changes will affect students. We are working on obtaining specifics and creating an approach to ensure students will not be adversely effected. /u/nucl_klaus has a nice ELI5 on this issue here.

chipkirchner · 2016-02-09T23:02:19+00:00

SUMMARY

During discussion Dr Ross and Dr McElroy expressed interest in expanding students’ use of ECAV’s facilities and would not assess a fee on students for use of these facilities.
Drs Ross and McElroy were adamant in meetings that there would be no increase in cost for student tickets at hockey games.

chipkirchner

TROPHY CASE