University Accessibility
As President and Vice President, we will work tirelessly to ensure UMass is accessible and inclusive to all students, and that every person on campus finds a place to call home, the resources they need, and a community to engage with here at UMass.
Lower Tuition and Fees
With student debt passing the $1.3 trillion dollar mark and the price of attending university continuing to increase, UMass needs to prioritize the financial situation that all students put themselves in when they decide to further their educations.
Housing
As the price of living in residential halls increases and the town of Amherst has one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country (less than 2%), finding an affordable place to live in Amherst can be extremely difficult.
Meal Plans
Constant changes to Auxiliary Services dining plans and options have driven up the cost of eating on campus, and students are watching meal plan options vanish.
Optional Fees
Things like textbooks and parking permits may seem like necessities to most students, yet they are not presented that way by the University. The “optional costs” that are given to students when they decide to participate in campus life continue to rise, while options and access to alternatives are not expanding.
Textbooks
Funding Transparency
Information concerning rising fees and fee allocations needs to be readily available to all students. As it stands, students have a difficult time justifying fees because the increases in cost do not mirror rising utility costs or wages.
Combating Privatization
UMass Amherst is a public research institution of higher education, a place created to serve the Public of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, however in recent years the rise of campus privatization has begun to blur the lines between what is public and what is private here at UMass.
Title IX and Diversity Promotion
Addressing Gender-Based Violence
UMass is currently under Federal investigation for its mishandling of cases of sexual assault and sexual harassment on campus, this is a huge problem. Organizations like the Coalition to End Rape Culture are doing amazing work to end gender based violence on campus and if elected we plan on working with them to reach their goals. That being said, UMass administrators, the Student Government Association, and the UMass community needs to be doing more to mitigate, and ultimately eliminate, gender-based violence.
Queer Rights
The State of Massachusetts has a long history of fighting for the rights of the Queer community, UMass specifically has had a large stake in the fight for queer rights which can be seen through things like gender inclusive housing and one of the oldest Stonewall Centers on a University campus, however UMass must continue to strengthen the protection and resources available on campus to the Queer community.
Racial Diversity
Over the past five years, UMass has seen a decrease in the number of Students of Color attending the University, as well as low numbers of tenured faculty and staff who represent a diverse number of communities, and because of recent hate crimes on campus, Students of Color are feeling less and less safe at UMass. While the Diversity Strategic plan is a step in the right direction, UMass is still not meeting the needs and requests of prospective, current, and former students of color on this campus.
Administrative Transparency
Students need to have faith that their Student Government actively promotes their well-being, and should feel that it is an accessible body to reach when they are in need. Far too often, students feel disconnected from the SGA because of the failure in transparency, the failure in outreach, and the failure in commitment to the student body. We will work to rebuild that trust by improving both Executive and Legislative branch transparency, and transparency between the students and administrators.
Executive
Student Engagement
Environmental Justice
More than 30,000 people occupy our campus in some capacity. The waste produced by keeping such a large campus functioning is excessive, and must be more effectively managed. From waste management to energy usage, UMass needs to be more conscious and active in the way it manages a campus. We, as a community, need to work harder to protect our environment, eliminate excessive energy usage, and recognize the injustices we inflict by irresponsibly managing our production and waste.
Promotion of Student Businesses
Student Businesses play a vital role in the UMass community, and many of them support UMass students for over 40 years. It is important that we protect the legacy and history of the student business while ensuring that they reach their fullest potential.
Campus Neglect and Safety
Campaigns like "What the FAC" have illustrated the detrimental effects of campus neglect, and the dire need for better structural support. From the potholes on Orchard Hill, to the condition of the FAC, as well as most residence halls and academic buildings, not being ADA compliant, to the lack of sidewalks and streetlights in Amherst, the University needs to take the hazardous conditions of the campus and the town more seriously.
Student Space and RSO Support
A vital asset to the UMass community is the massive number of RSOs, multicultural organizations, clubs, and groups on this campus. However, these groups lack the fundamental support from the University to flourish and thrive.
Unionization
In recent years we have experienced the unionization of undergraduate students who are Resident Assistants, as well as the attempted unionization of Peer Mentors.
Community Engagement
The Pioneer Valley and Western Massachusetts is a vibrant region with a number of diverse and important communities that are impacted by UMass. However, there is an underutilization of available community connections at UMass; in order to strengthen UMass’ ties with the community and improve the lives of our students, we need to continue to foster healthy relationships with the Pioneer Valley community.
UMass Campus
As President and Vice President, we will work tirelessly to ensure UMass is accessible and inclusive to all students, and that every person on campus finds a place to call home, the resources they need, and a community to engage with here at UMass.
Lower Tuition and Fees
With student debt passing the $1.3 trillion dollar mark and the price of attending university continuing to increase, UMass needs to prioritize the financial situation that all students put themselves in when they decide to further their educations.
- As President and Vice President, we will lobby the legislature of Massachusetts to demand a tuition and fee rollback.
- We will work with the legislature and UMass administrators to make sure more funds are being committed to the University for the purpose of directly serving students.
- We will work with UMass administrators, UMass alumni network, the colleges within UMass, and students to guarantee ample funds, scholarships, and grants are available for students.
Housing
As the price of living in residential halls increases and the town of Amherst has one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country (less than 2%), finding an affordable place to live in Amherst can be extremely difficult.
- As President and Vice President, we will work with Residential Life and UMass administrators to lower the price of dorms and make sure the costs stays affordable for years to follow.
- We will work with SGA Senate and Graduate Student Senate to ensure a permanent ban on privatized dorms, a scheme that would put students at risk and take jobs away from graduate students.
- We will work with Town Gown, Off Campus Student Center, and SLSO to create a rent control system for Off Campus Student Housing, as well as guaranteeing affordable, livable, maintained off campus housing
- With the expansion of Commonwealth Honors College into other residential areas like Southwest, we will push to prevent CHC from absorbing more residential space from other UMass Students who also need places to live.
Meal Plans
Constant changes to Auxiliary Services dining plans and options have driven up the cost of eating on campus, and students are watching meal plan options vanish.
- As President and Vice President we will work with Auxiliary Services, student groups like Real Food Challenge, and UMass administrators to lower the cost of both meal plans and the cost of food on campus so it is affordable and accessible to all students.
- We will work to ensure students have access to all types of meal plans regardless of academic year, residential status, and credits, making a fair and equitable set of meal plans available to all students.
- We will work with student businesses and Auxiliary Services to make sure student businesses can accept all types of meal plans and exchanges.
- We will work to simplify the process of changing or removing a meal plan regardless of academic year, residential status, and credits.
Optional Fees
Things like textbooks and parking permits may seem like necessities to most students, yet they are not presented that way by the University. The “optional costs” that are given to students when they decide to participate in campus life continue to rise, while options and access to alternatives are not expanding.
Textbooks
- As President and Vice President, we will work with colleges and academic departments to ensure professors release their syllabi before the semester starts, allowing ample time for students to purchase textbooks, or find more affordable alternatives.
- We will work with organizations like MassPIRG to support Open Source Textbooks, and other affordable and environmentally-friendly options.
- We will work to evaluate what the University deems to be an optional fee and make sure necessities do not fall into that category.
- We will make sure not only that the cost of parking permits stays low, but that the proper maintenance is performed in the parking lots, including properly paving and plowing lots, installing video surveillance, and reassessing the number of functional blue lights in each lot.
- We will make sure that Professors and academic departments cannot charge students additional fees for course material, course trips, or course practicums after students receive their bursar bills.
- We will work to make sure students can receive internship credits free of any cost regardless of whether they are working during the semester or during the summer.
Funding Transparency
Information concerning rising fees and fee allocations needs to be readily available to all students. As it stands, students have a difficult time justifying fees because the increases in cost do not mirror rising utility costs or wages.
- As President and Vice President, we will demand accountability and transparency from the UMass administration to make information on fees and costs more available to students.
- We will work on creating a program that tracks and publicizes how and why fees are going up on a platform that is understandable and accessible to all students.
Combating Privatization
UMass Amherst is a public research institution of higher education, a place created to serve the Public of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, however in recent years the rise of campus privatization has begun to blur the lines between what is public and what is private here at UMass.
- As President and Vice President, we will work to push corporate sponsors like Coca Cola, Monsanto, and Starbucks off our campus; private sponsors often come with lofty demands and requests when they donate money to our campus.
- We will push UMass to reach out to local businesses and organizations in the Pioneer Valley and Western Massachusetts to make space for them on campus.
- We will work to push sweatshop labor products out of the campus store and replace them with products that are fairly and union made in the United States.
Title IX and Diversity Promotion
Addressing Gender-Based Violence
UMass is currently under Federal investigation for its mishandling of cases of sexual assault and sexual harassment on campus, this is a huge problem. Organizations like the Coalition to End Rape Culture are doing amazing work to end gender based violence on campus and if elected we plan on working with them to reach their goals. That being said, UMass administrators, the Student Government Association, and the UMass community needs to be doing more to mitigate, and ultimately eliminate, gender-based violence.
- As President and Vice President, we will focus on three major facets of addressing gender-based violence on campus: Prevention, Prosecution, and Properly Funded Resource
- We will work to improve sexual assault and harassment trainings given to students at New Student Orientation, as well as those given to Resident Assistants and Residence Directors at their trainings.
- We will with agencies and RSOs to properly train members about sexual assault, harassment, and how to be an active bystander.
- We will work to disseminate information to students to make sure they fully acknowledge the rights and liberties they have granted to them under Title IX and the Clery Act.
- We will work with students to make sure survivors of gender-based violence have the proper rights and respects they need when coming forward and reporting cases.
- We will work with the Dean of Students Office to ensure survivors feel safe coming forward, can maintain autonomy over their own stories, and receive the respect and support they deserve.
- We will work to ensure all UMPD officers undergo Sensitivity Training so they are properly equipped to work with survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of gender-based violence.
- We will work to ensure the resources that support survivors are properly funded, fully-staffed, and well-maintained.
- We will work with the Center for Women and Community and the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health to strengthen and improve the resources that are provided to help survivors of gender-based violence, and students in need of health, trauma, and psychological support.
Queer Rights
The State of Massachusetts has a long history of fighting for the rights of the Queer community, UMass specifically has had a large stake in the fight for queer rights which can be seen through things like gender inclusive housing and one of the oldest Stonewall Centers on a University campus, however UMass must continue to strengthen the protection and resources available on campus to the Queer community.
- As President and Vice President, we will support and assist the Stonewall Center in its efforts to create Gender Neutral Bathrooms in both residential halls and academic buildings across campus.
- We will support and assist students in their effort to create a non-discrimination policy at University Health Services for Trans students, also ensuring that the needs for all trans students are met at UHS.
- We will work with CMASS and the Stonewall Center to ensure equitable and safe spaces are created and maintained for Queer People of Color.
- We will work to actively recruit and create spaces for Queer voices within the SGA, while working with the community to amplify their voices across campus.
Racial Diversity
Over the past five years, UMass has seen a decrease in the number of Students of Color attending the University, as well as low numbers of tenured faculty and staff who represent a diverse number of communities, and because of recent hate crimes on campus, Students of Color are feeling less and less safe at UMass. While the Diversity Strategic plan is a step in the right direction, UMass is still not meeting the needs and requests of prospective, current, and former students of color on this campus.
- As President and Vice President, we will work with UMass Admissions Department and UMass administrators to push for a more active recruitment of Students of Color to the UMass campus.
- We will work Student Bridges, BSU, CMASS, the Malcolm X Cultural Center, the Yuri Kochiyama Cultural Center, the Josephine White Eagle Cultural Center, the Latin American Cultural Center, and other multicultural organizations to ensure the protection and safety of Students of Color on campus.
- We will work with the aforementioned organizations and the UMass administration to make sure Students of Color can access the resources they need once they come to campus, and that the University is expanding their resources.
- We will make sure that retention is a priority to faculty, staff, and administrators on campus. Creating safe spaces, accessible resources, and financial support for students of color on campus is vital to ensuring students of color graduate.
- We will work to achieve the “5 in 5 Plan”, which proposes a 5% increase in the percentage of students of color on campus over the next five years.
Administrative Transparency
Students need to have faith that their Student Government actively promotes their well-being, and should feel that it is an accessible body to reach when they are in need. Far too often, students feel disconnected from the SGA because of the failure in transparency, the failure in outreach, and the failure in commitment to the student body. We will work to rebuild that trust by improving both Executive and Legislative branch transparency, and transparency between the students and administrators.
Executive
- As President and Vice President, we will commit ourselves to better outreach to the UMass community.
- We will make the Executive Cabinet Meeting Minutes and any SGA decisions more easily accessible for all students.
- We will host monthly Town Hall meetings where the student body can meet and discuss any problems or concerns they are having on campus in an open and judgment-free forum.
- We will work with WMUA to have monthly interviews where students can call in and ask the President and Vice President questions about policy, problems, or anything related to UMass.
- We will work with the Daily Collegian to print weekly or biweekly letters from the President’s desk that summarize everything the President, Vice President, and Cabinet are working on.
- We will work with the Speaker, Associate Speaker, and the Senate to release Senate minutes, motions, and decisions on a widely-accessible platform.
- We will work with the Senate to reform Back-to-the-People events in order to get Senators and Chairs into their communities, and talking with students about problems they are facing.
- We will mandate that all Senators release their attendance and voting records via Social Media, the SGA website, and the SGA Facebook page.
- We will work to ensure the Wellman Document is followed by all administrators on the UMass campus when making decisions.
- When involved in the decision making process, we will release all decisions that are made to the public that affect student life and that occur in non-confidential committees.
- We will make sure both Student Government leaders and other campus leaders are actively involved in committees, working groups, and other bodies that are making decisions about student life.
Student Engagement
Environmental Justice
More than 30,000 people occupy our campus in some capacity. The waste produced by keeping such a large campus functioning is excessive, and must be more effectively managed. From waste management to energy usage, UMass needs to be more conscious and active in the way it manages a campus. We, as a community, need to work harder to protect our environment, eliminate excessive energy usage, and recognize the injustices we inflict by irresponsibly managing our production and waste.
- As President and Vice President, we will work on creating a better waste management system for tailgating, UPC events, and other occasions
- We will work to reduce campus’ dependence on UMass branded water bottles while simultaneously slowing their production, and create more accessible water refill stations.
- We will promote and support the UMass Campaign for Fossil Fuel Divestment.
- We will work to ensure that more campus waste is being effectively disposed of via composting and recycling.
- We will continue to build a cohesive campus understanding of environmental justice by displaying the detrimental impacts that global communities face because of unsustainable actions.
Promotion of Student Businesses
Student Businesses play a vital role in the UMass community, and many of them support UMass students for over 40 years. It is important that we protect the legacy and history of the student business while ensuring that they reach their fullest potential.
- As President and Vice President, we will work actively to promote the student businesses by regularly utilizing their services, and encouraging students and RSOs to take advantage of great, student-managed, cooperative enterprises.
- We will work with the student businesses to prevent Auxiliary Services from harming them, as well as help to guarantee their permanent space on campus, and make sure they have full access to the offers that other campus dining faculties have, such as dining dollars.
Campus Neglect and Safety
Campaigns like "What the FAC" have illustrated the detrimental effects of campus neglect, and the dire need for better structural support. From the potholes on Orchard Hill, to the condition of the FAC, as well as most residence halls and academic buildings, not being ADA compliant, to the lack of sidewalks and streetlights in Amherst, the University needs to take the hazardous conditions of the campus and the town more seriously.
- As President and Vice President, we will work with groups like What the FAC to make sure that all parts of campus are equally and equitably taken care of for the safety and betterment of students.
- We will work with the PVTA and other student service to make sure more buses run during peak hours of the weekend to support safe traveling of student.
- We will work with the Bike Coop and Campus Facilities to re-install bike lanes both on campus and around Amherst for students who travel via bike.
- We will work with UMass Administrators and Town Gown to ensure that all roads are properly paved, with adequate sidewalks and crosswalks for pedestrians, and plenty of street lights for all roads in Amherst.
- We will make sure both UMass Campus Facilities and Amherst Town Facilities maintain sidewalk and road treatment during inclement weather, as well as being held accountable for when they neglect said sidewalks and roads.
Student Space and RSO Support
A vital asset to the UMass community is the massive number of RSOs, multicultural organizations, clubs, and groups on this campus. However, these groups lack the fundamental support from the University to flourish and thrive.
- As President and Vice President, we will work to improve and strengthen the support system for RSOs.
- We will work to create a better system for publicizing and promoting student groups and events on campus through the use of newsletters, social media, and print literature.
- We will push to prioritize students when booking space in the Student Union and in the Campus Center, as well as other venues across campus.
- We will work on reallocating more space across campus for students by reevaluating the potential use of the Hatch, Hampden, and more.
- We will reinstate the Student Union and Campus Center Advisory Board that would work to determine better and more efficient ways to be using the space and prioritizing students.
Unionization
In recent years we have experienced the unionization of undergraduate students who are Resident Assistants, as well as the attempted unionization of Peer Mentors.
- As President and Vice President, we will work to prevent the University from union busting.
- We will support, promote, and endorse unionization of other students and staff, from athletes to 03 workers.
- We will stand with graduate students and Resident Assistants when they bargain for fair contracts, fair working conditions, fair wages, and any other grievances that affect their lives and the lives of students on this campus.
Community Engagement
The Pioneer Valley and Western Massachusetts is a vibrant region with a number of diverse and important communities that are impacted by UMass. However, there is an underutilization of available community connections at UMass; in order to strengthen UMass’ ties with the community and improve the lives of our students, we need to continue to foster healthy relationships with the Pioneer Valley community.
UMass Campus
- As President and Vice President, we will continue to strengthen ties with UMass graduate students and the Five College campus network in order to ensure that information and opportunities regarding respective needs are met and made available in an adequate manner
- We will create opportunities for faculty to connect their work and research to students through increased visibility pertaining to student’s varying academic interests. We will work to publicize opportunities for students to get involved with faculty and staff by promoting the work faculty members are doing through newsletters, social media, and print literature that can be easily accessed by the UMass community.
- We will work with local businesses and community organizations to find jobs, internships, and co-op placements for students to gain real life-skills and knowledge to help them in their fields and future careers.
- We will work on expanding PVTA services to include more cohesive routes for students and community members to easily access neighboring towns/cities for academic, social, and work needs.
- We will work with UMass administrators and community members to make sure everyone is benefiting from the resources that UMass has, while ensuring that UMass is reaching out to community members and organizations beyond Amherst.
- In order for UMass and the Greater Pioneer Valley to equitably benefit from one another, UMass must reach out to the surrounding areas, like Holyoke and Springfield, and create opportunities for the UMass community to entrench itself in the lives of those community members, while bringing UMass’ access and resources to those communities.