Kali Price v. Alicia Weaver

Editor’s note: Today, the undergraduate student body is voting for future senators of the Undergraduate Student Senate. A number of the candidates have sent in columns detailing why your vote should belong to them.

Academic Affairs: This senator is responsible for student input into academic policy.

Kali Price

This entire year for me has been about living the college experience to the fullest. I realized during the summer that I was going to graduate in two years and all I had to tell people about my years at Kent State were the time I covered Kent State’s short run at the NCAA Tournament once and how I wrote a few hundred articles for the school paper.

Something was missing.

So I joined Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority last fall and now I’m the chapter’s Panhellenic delegate and public relations chair. I also taught University Orientation – now First Year Colloquium – because I wanted to help a group of students transition to Kent State.

In January executive director candidate Katie Hale called me and asked me to run on her ticket for Undergraduate Student Senate.

I realized how amazing it would be to make such an impact on Kent State, and I decided to run for academic affairs. I think it is the most interesting position, and the I.O.U. – Improve Our University – ticket was perfect for me, as well.

As a candidate for academic affairs, my biggest platform goal is to change the KAPS report to make it easier to read and more understandable. Every student should be able to use the KAPS report for graduation. The system is difficult to understand, and there are many mistakes in the information in it. I plan to work with First Year Colloquium to help integrate the KAPS report into its curriculum. I will help design a new pamphlet showing students how to use it. As an orientation instructor, I know the system isn’t taught as well as it can be. I want to personally work with the FYC program to make sure the changes are well-implemented into the curriculum and make the new pamphlet available in the USS office and every college advising office.

I also plan to work with Faculty Senate to educate students about the new freshman forgiveness policy. Faculty Senate recently approved changes to the freshman forgiveness policy, allowing students of any level to repeat lower division – 10000 and 20000 level – courses and the higher grade will be used in the calculation of GPA, regardless of when it was taken. The policy will not go into effect until Spring 2008, but when it happens, I want to make sure every single student on this campus knows about the new policy and how they can use it.

I hope to make the plus/minus grading scale more universal. Currently the plus/minus system is left up to the professor, but I feel the scale should be more universal, beginning with the department.

I also hope to keep the library open later. Along with Katie Hale’s goal of accommodation, I want to work to keep the library open later at least during midterms. It is already open late during finals week, but students need a place to study during midterms, as well.

I hope students plan to vote today and take more of an interest in USS. The senators are here for undergrads and if elected, I’ll be the students’ voice to the faculty and administration.

Make the right choice, and vote I.O.U. to improve our university.

Alicia Weaver

I am certain that through my dedication and experience, I am the right person for the academic affairs position.

In recent weeks, it has become apparent that many students are unaware of USS and would like to be more involved in the activities and decisions made by this group of undergraduate students. If elected, I would like to work with my peers to put a face to USS. We can work together by creating surveys, hosting forums and other programs so students feel more connected to the USS.

The role of USS is very important, and I feel that as a whole, we need to make students proud that we are their leaders. If elected, I am going to build a connection with faculty members, advisors, departments and colleges so that academic polices are better explained. I would like to see more student input in these policies.

If elected, I will make it my ultimate goal to be available to meet with students and work together to make academic polices easier to understand. I believe academics are most essential when choosing a university and when working toward a degree. I believe that by utilizing my resources and the departments on campus, we can work together to increase retention at Kent State. My past leadership experiences will help guide me as I take on the role of academic affairs senator. I have already been involved in numerous campus organizations and have networked with many departments across campus. I have had experience implementing my own programs as past president of my hall council as well as through Week of Welcome.

I find it valuable to listen to students and see what we can improve on as a whole. I have done this through working with the Week of Welcome and creating events that will encourage involvement and pride toward Kent State. I have planned Back to School BlastOff!, Spirit Festival, the outdoor movie, Commuter Connections, Buzz Sutherland and other programs during the Week of Welcome. I can promise that if elected, by the end of my term, students will be more involved in my position and feel better connected to USS. I encourage each undergraduate student to look over each candidate and their platform to help elect the best, most qualified Undergraduate

Student Senate today. Leave it to Weaver!