Name: Ana Hugener
Party: SEAStheCurve
Bio: Ana Hugener is a SEAS sophomore from Chicago, Illinois studying Financial Engineering. She is currently the Publicity Chair for Scientists and Engineers for a Better Society (SEBS). As the Publicity Chair for this club Ana must communicate with members of the club about their responsibilities for events, create Facebook events to publicize the events, and organize flyer distribution. Ana is also the Co-Publicity Chair for her sororities’ spring Philanthropic event. Through her experience in publicity, Ana has learned the value of transparency and empathy within communication and hopes to strengthen these characteristics in conversations occurring in the Columbia community.
Platform: As VP of Communications Ana hopes to strengthen the effectiveness of conversation and communication within the Columbia community. This would include conversations between students and the administration but also increased interaction within the student body itself. Obtaining this result will partially stem from campus-wide transparency but also from broadening existing programs to create a more welcoming campus atmosphere.
CSA:
• Piazza page to have online and live CSA advising – the concept of this Piazza page can extend to other forms of advising including CPS and ISSO
• Have a greater presence of Peer-Advising in conjunction with CSA advisors
o Create a Mentorship program where Freshman/Sophomores are connected with Juniors/Seniors of their major to ask relevant questions
Mental Health:
• Organize a widespread, thorough, and anonymous survey of students’ opinion of mental health on campus and how it should be addressed
• Bring into effect the improvements students have already been asking for but are moving too slowly to implementation
• Improve communications between students and Psychological Services, which will encourage students to communicate their concerns
School-Wide Events:
• Enhance the publicity of events specifically for SEAS students to guarantee all SEAS students who could be interested in an event are informed of it
• Work to bring greater diversity to SEAS Career Fairs to ensure all majors are represented
Transparency
• Work to diffuse the tension between the administration and students by making communications between the two more clear, direct, and understanding
• Having a live feed from Senate meetings with the administration so that all students can witness relevant and important conversations that are happening at Columbia
Internships and Jobs
• Propose an update to the CCE website and make the process of making an appointment with CCE simpler and quicker
• Maintain bonds with alumni who volunteer their contact information so that students can use them as a resource in their job search
Name: Julia Joern
Party: Back to the FUture
Bio: Julia is a junior from Minnesota studying Biomedical Engineering. On campus, she has served on the executive boards of multiple student groups, including Engineers Without Borders–Morocco, BMES, and CUSJ. Julia is additionally the Sisterhood Chair for her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. She is excited to run for the position of VP of Communications because she believes that improved awareness of the vast resources and opportunities available to students can greatly improve the SEAS experience. In her free time, you can find Julia dodging taxis on her bike or pursuing her goal of finding the best chocolate chip cookie in Manhattan.
Platform: Julia’s three main goals as VP of Communications are to increase the availability and accessibility of SEAS resources, to eliminate the disconnect between students, faculty, and administration, and to provide major-specific mediums to increase student collaboration. Julia plans to foster a greater sense of community and teamwork among SEAS undergraduates and within SEAS as a whole.
Resource Access & Availability:
-Centralize and organize resources that are currently available to SEAS students and promote them from day 1 at NSOP
-Provide an online platform for the publishing of student group events and activities specific to SEAS based on academic, social, and professional interests
-Continue to publish ESC meeting notes and meeting videos, but additionally provide brief, more accessible key updates of the most important council goals and progress
-Revamp the ESC Facebook page to build a more active online student community
Improved Relationships between Students, Council, Faculty, and Administration:
-Advocate for the importance of undergraduates as a part of a large university
-Meet with SEAS clubs and student organizations semesterly to ensure that their concerns and opinions are being heard and relayed to both the council and the engineering administration
-Hold weekly office hours in Lerner and Mudd to hear everyone’s voice
-Provide an online communications infrastructure for collecting student input to guide and inform student life and policy decisions
-Develop relationships with administration to understand the most effective ways to present council information and goals in a way that gets things done
Major-Specific Resources:
-Encourage department-specific town hall events that facilitate communication between professors, students, and advisors within a department based on student ideas for improvement
-Develop and increase participation in major-specific Facebook groups to encourage collaboration among students
-Compile major-specific peer advice and resources to provide important information to students who are deciding between majors or who have chosen a major but are seeking guidance