Q&A: SGA tickets discuss goals and priorities if elected

They are not able to talk to students on campus, so their campaigning has been virtual. As a result, both platforms focused on reengaging students as much as transparency and equity. A prime focus each candidate set was reaching out to RSOs individually.

The first ticket is headed by Katelyn King who is running for SGA president. She is followed by Dylan Baker for vice president and Kevin Bautista-Mancilla for treasurer.

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• King is a junior from New Lenox, Illinois. She is majoring in statistics with minors in communication and leadership. She’s also a campus ambassador involved in Leadership Safari and club sports.
• Baker is a sophomore from Byron studying Human Resource Management with minors in leadership and hospitality. He’s also the digital media director for CMU’s Program Board, campus ambassador, and a leader advancement scholar.
• Bautista-Mancilla is a Waterford junior majoring in health administration and cultural studies with minors in leadership and management. He’s the president for Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a registration coordinator for IMPACT.

The second ticket has Kyle Walker at the helm as the SGA presidential candidate. Next up is Nolan Kamoo for vice president and Olivia Schwartz for treasurer.

• Walker is a Vasser sophomore with an integrated public relations major and a minor in legal studies. He is the current House Leader in SGA.
• Kamoo is a Beverly Hills, Michigan freshman who is studying secondary education with minors in history and leadership. He’s currently the Senate Leader in SGA.
• Schwartz is a Hamilton sophomore with a double major in international relations and sociology with a concentration in social justice. She also has minors in political science, substance abuse and education. She’s currently the executive secretary for SGA.

Central Michigan Life conducted interviews with both tickets to discuss goals, priorities and engagement for Fall 2021.

Why are you running?

KING: "...I fell in love with SGA right away. I got to work on the committee for sustainability and wrote legislation on sustainable game day usage. I got to work with some really amazing people ... In that role, I got to kind of see the other side of things — a side that the student body doesn't normally see. With that, I also applied for the Special Coordinator position this spring. Meaning, I'm also on the executive board working with Brandon and Katie and others. I'm seeing their passion for CMU, seeing the things they want to change, the legislation they're writing ...

So really I'm running just to be a voice for the student body. We run a really diverse ticket. We've seen different sides of the student body, we know what the student wants. We want to represent the student's voice. Not just the student government voice, but that entire student population."

WALKER: "I came to campus my freshman year somewhat naive to some of the other issues that students had on campus. I feel like this past summer I really had my eyes open to them ... When I came back to SGA this year I knew I wanted to do something a little bit more. I started working on meaningful and worthwhile change on campus ... (Nolan and I) found certain university policies and practices that could be done more efficiently. Maybe we can make them a little bit more equitable and fair. And so we ended up starting to run together."

What do you see as the biggest flaw in SGA?

KING: "I think the biggest flaw is definitely underrepresentation ... A lot of the time (in SGA), even when we have representation from different organizations they don't quite want to be there. It's two hours on a Monday night and half the time you don't even get to speak. I've been told when you're in a meeting, you know, you don't really start to pay attention until you hear your voice or hear your name called. That can be true with SGA. We need to make sure that it's not just a checklist for your organization. We need to make sure that this position is very meaningful for everyone."

WALKER: "I think the biggest issue we face is reengagement. We're all feeling the burnout this year from the digital format. But I think with the right policies and projects in place we might be able to come or come back from this year of COVID-19 - where it's dominated all of our professional and social lives. If we're in a better place with COVID-19 next year, which I'm hoping we are, we're going to have a really good shot to take the next step for SGA."

COVID-19 restrictions will likely lift during your administration, how do you plan to reengage the student body?

KING: "It's no lie to say engagement is low ... People want to do things that they want to do, they want to be involved. So, we'll make sure that we're implementing things that the students actually want to see. Getting back to that normalcy will be important. Getting back to those club rooms in Anspach late at night and making sure you're around people and do what you're passionate about. That's going to be possible once those restrictions are starting to be lifted."

WALKER: "One of the best parts of SGA is having big in-person meetings and making connections so that's something I'm really looking forward to getting back to. Right now there's a bit of a disconnect. What our campaign has already been doing is meeting with RSOs to try to get them back at the table. We want all the voices that we can to be represented through SGA. We're also looking at a lot of projects to benefit student life."

How do you intend to increase engagement from SGA representatives?

BAKER: "(Representative work is) not just all strict focus all the time. Although, we will get our tasks done. We will make sure that the students are enjoying being a representative, because ultimately if they're enjoying it more people will want to be represented within SGA. (We will work) to break that intimidating stigma and making it more friendly and honestly engaging for the students ... I do think that the diverseness that Kate, Kevin and I have in our involvement, both with students and faculty will ultimately create more collaborative events on campus."

KAMOO: "I think it all starts with the precedent we set if we're elected. (That means) having those personal connections with people. Our hope is that as the pandemic starts to shift, we can have meetings in person and we can have more personal connections with people ... I consider myself a very engaged person, but being online changes things completely. It's very easy to get tired of being on a computer all the time and we completely understand that. But on the flip side, it's our job to help change that narrative so as things start to shift we can have those one-on-ones and connections with different people. Whether that's conversations with representatives, or whether that's dropping in on committees and making sure that everyone is being included in the conversation."

How do you intend to address SGA budget transparency and fair allocations?

BAUTISTA-MANCILLA: "I'm hoping to continue our weekly budget updates, as well as utilize our website and newsletter. I know those kinds of resources would be great ways to get our student body involved with the budget ... One of the biggest issues with the budget is students and RSOs not having access to it. I know many organizations have asked for help with understanding it. We don't want to make (the process) intimidating or make a program where students are not having those voices heard."

SCHWARTZ: "When I started to look into this position and looking at the budget, I noticed how the information is really hard to find ... I think people have little to no understanding of the Student Budget Allocation Committee (SBAC) funding and how that can benefit their own RSO. Something I would really like to do is reach out to each RSO and various leaders and explain, 'these are the things SGA and I can do to help you ...' 

When RSOs do take advantage of the budget we really have to consider 1) the quality of the program and if it's something SGA wants to support and 2) making sure we're representing a diverse range of events."