Student Service Association (SSA) Elections are coming up! Students will receive links in their student emails to vote for the next Student Service Association’s leader. The official ballot starts on Monday, April 20th at 8:00 a.m. and closes Friday, April 24th at 5:00 p.m.
But why is this important? Why should you vote? According to Presidential Candidate Graciela Espinoza, most students don’t even know their voices could be heard through SSA. And Liam Bouwman, the opposing candidate, said most students don’t know what the SSA does—which is advocating for student voices in the school. Student issues surrounding topics like Housing and Dining are taken by the SSA and brought up to the school. There are even certain fees that are decided by the SSA.
I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Presidential Candidate Graciela Espinoza and ask her some interview questions. Graciela Espinoza is a junior in the Applied Social Studies program and currently a Director at SSA. She is running with Victoria Higgins, who is a communications specialist, and is also studying Applied Social Science. Diversity and Housing/Dining issues play a big role in their campaign. Graciela has done a lot of inclusion work and hopes to continue to focus on that.
During my interview with Graciela Espinoza, I asked the following questions:
What are your priorities if you get elected?
“My personal priorities are to continue with the current Presidents which is to be transparent as things are happening within out university but also within the UW System. I also would love to continue to work with identity organizations and different resources offices to strengthen the connection of diverse students within the Stout Community, as that has been the goal of the Collaborative Impact chair. My running mate, Victoria Higgins and I both also see on campus living as a priority which includes cleanliness of living spaces (bathrooms/kitchens/etc.) and dining services as a whole, as it has a very mixed opinion within the student body. We also think it is important to connect with students overall, as most students do not even know what the Stout Student Association does, it is SO important that students are made aware of the SSA and how we work as an organization as we impact a lot of students’ lives.”
What have been some successes in your current position?
“My current position as the Collaborative Impact director has given me a lot of great opportunities to connect with students and faculty! The transition into the position was not super clear as the position has been kind of up in the air for a while. However, I had great resources and used them (SSA Advisor, Involvement Staff, Committee advisors) to pave my own way in my position. I think that one area my committee has been putting a lot of focus on is cultural food on campus and trying our best to advocate for diverse meals whether that be more regularly or even monthly to start. I have also gotten to connect with different student orgs and resource offices which have been great to learn more about and teach others about. This position is definitely one to piece together but with support it is fun and allows for a lot of growth within yourself and the UW Stout community.”
What are your policies?
“I think that policies typically come from any student issues that get formed into a more ‘legislative’ form. Our main priorities are to connect with the greater student body and inform them of our existence and purpose and to let them know that they have a voice and opinion on what is happening at UW Stout, especially in things like dining services, housing, bus routes, etc.”
What are changes you would want to make happen to better student life at Stout?
“Looking into dining and housing issues first and seeing what our options are and moving forward with working solutions. I would also like to work with different resource offices to encourage connection among different groups (diversity groups, athletics, schools/colleges). Strengthening the connections on campus will make us a stronger school.”
Have you been in any other roles of SSA?
She currently holds the role as Collaborative Impact Director, and it is her first year as Senator.
Which of the committees have you been on? How did you create an impact?
“I currently sit on the Commencement Speaker Committee which allows me to speak to faculty members/professors/Dean of Students and interview graduates (undergrad & graduate) and learn their stories and backgrounds. I also sat on this committee in my first year as a senator. Additionally, I sit on the Collaborative Impact Team (CIT) where I work with team members from the OSOE office (Office of Student Opportunity & Excellence) to create and work on goals for Inclusive Excellence (IE) during the next academic year.”
In what ways do you plan on giving students the chance to express their voices?
“Students are always invited to attend meetings, whether that be our usual large group meetings (Tuesday 7:00 p.m.) or any of the Standing committee meetings like sustainability, student organizations, financial affairs, etc. The SSA office is also always open, and members are available to help students with any questions or connecting students to other resources. I also invite students to tell us what they think, email, call, come to meetings, COMPLAIN if you need to, students pay a lot of money to attend any higher education, and if
they think there is an issue that can be fixed tell us!”
How do you plan to make sure student voices are heard?
“I do not think that students’ voices being heard has ever been a huge issue, I think the greater issue lies in the fact that students do not know that they have a voice in the issues we deal with on campus. When students do have concerns or suggestions, we listen and try our best to find solutions, but students do not always know that they are allowed to have an opinion on what is happening on campus.”
What are your plans to implement your policies and plans?
“In order to be a good leader, you must create connections and relationships with those you work with. Our current President and Vice President have done a really great job doing this, so it is something I hope to continue. Having connections and people that are willing to listen to the issues that students are having is helpful and can lead to actual change.”
Do you have a plan on how to handle compromises?
“Compromise is important and shows willingness to adapt under different circumstances. Although compromise is important, it is also important to stand strong when speaking about certain issues and looking at different solutions. Connections and willingness to hear opposing sides are important and can open your eyes to new solutions.”
What has been the hardest part of running your campaign so far?
“Honestly, I have had a lot of fun campaigning! This upcoming year will be my last year on senate as a full-time student, so I have just been making the most of it. My running partner and I are friends which make it easy to bounce off of each other and enjoy working with one another. We have been having fun creating handouts, making buttons, and setting up our campaign events.”
How do you plan on going about student engagement?
“Student engagement is one of our main focuses and I think one that has been a focus in the past, however as we all know it can be difficult to grab students’ attention. I am hoping to set up plans to do some events that are geared towards simply finding out what SSA is all about, and how we work with the student body. It is important that students know that we are a resource that has access to tons of other resources!”
I then had the chance to meet with Presidential Candidate Liam Bouwman, where I had asked my list of questions, but also got a chance to just chat with him. He and his running mate Ava Nelson are both juniors in Applied Math and Computer Science and Fashion and Retail, respectively.
Why do you think you would be the best candidate?
“Ms. Nelson and I believe we would be best for this position due to our leadership perspective. Overall, one of the major issues with SSA is that over time it may need a realignment. It’s entirely natural that things need changes; it’s why we allow for changes to the SSA constitution and bylaws. This isn’t the fault of anyone specific, but it’s something we believe we’re able to do. I have specific experience with this in the military. While we strongly believe that SSA shouldn’t be run like the military, I do think there are important lessons I can use from that to improve SSA. Including mission focus, accountability, transparency, and belief in chain of command. You will see this in the importance I place on directors and senators. Many of these bleed into the next question…”
What are your priorities if you get elected?
“One of the biggest things we need to do is define the mission of SSA. To us, the core mission should be to represent and advocate for students above all else. We should assess where we are and where we want to be. We need to critically evaluate what stands in the way of getting there and how to navigate around it. Our biggest priority is making SSA known by the general student body as a useful and helpful resource. So, we look to create responsive ways to contact SSA through RA’s or digitally. Many students find it uncomfortable or are unaware that they can come into the office. We believe that using other methods, we can get a foot in the door with students so they can share their concerns with us.”
What have been some successes in your current position?
“In my current position as senator like many others I feel that I hold very little power. A feeling I hope to change through a culture change. Still as vice chair of legislative affairs with the director of legislative affairs, we tried to do a lot. Unfortunately, we were shot down on many of our ideas because they were out of the scope of legislative affairs. Some of those ideas we had included improved RA relationships and a digital connection forum, which are now our platform.”
Do you think these are okay questions for a student government president election to ask?
“100% transparency is always important. Everyone should feel comfortable talking to anyone and everyone in SSA. Some of the things we would also like to see changed are tampons and pads being free, not just in the MSC, but also in all Stout buildings. Sanitary products should be as accessible as possible in every building. Another thing we would like to implement is speeches at freshman orientation; we would talk about what branch of SSA does and why it’s important that people know about us. A practice that we would like to have continued when Mr. Bouwman and I graduate.”
Which of the committees have you been on? How did you create an impact?
“In addition to legislative, I have been on the Student Tech committee. While student tech I sat on the first and only Student tech committee panel. The candidate for director student tech has endorsed us in what we want to do.”
In what ways do you plan on giving students the chance to express their voices?
“Students technically have the ability to speak to SSA at any time. But we need to ask ourselves if students aren’t utilizing the current pathways, why are they failing. We’ve identified a couple of ways. First, students don’t want to come to a long formal meeting for a complaint they have. Second, students often feel their problem warrants some kind of response. Third, students aren’t aware that SSA exists or don’t trust SSA with these problems. In combination, we have two main problems which are trust and availability. That’s why we believe giving students the ability to complain to or inform us digitally will address the availability issue. We believe that through connecting closer with RA’s we can gain trust where if a student raises an issue to their RA, their RA can direct them to us. We also hope that through word of mouth of hearing and addressing issues we can gain student trust.”
What is your plan to implement your policies and plans?
“SSA currently has a good relationship with administration. We hope to use a mix of SharePoint and Connect for digital complaints. We have already spoken to a number of RA’s, and we hope to get the ability to go to RA training to be able to talk to all the RA’s and answer any of their questions.”
Do you have a plan on how to handle compromises?
“Compromise is something that’s very important to me. Already Ava and I have talked about a lot of policies with current directors. The president’s job shouldn’t be to run everything. The president’s job should be to set direction and ensure no one below them is being overwhelmed. I believe strongly that SSA has some of the most talented and driven people on campus. They just need to be encouraged and in an environment that lets them put their skills to work. I know I do not have all the answers; it’s why I have talked and worked with so many of the prospective directors. It’s why we have been endorsed and have endorsed them.”
Why don’t students get involved?
“They don’t want to go to meetings. They don’t feel like their problems are big enough, even though they most likely are. They don’t trust the SSA or just don’t even know what it is.” While talking, Liam told me about his hopes for SSA to partner with Housing in the future so that students can connect with them about issues through their RAs. This is part of their accessibility plan, where the goal is to create a space where more students feel comfortable and able to get their voices out. Another aspect of this we talked about would be an online complaint submission box to make it easier and faster for students to share. “Finding the office can be weird and hard,” Liam also brought up.
“My big thing is,” Liam stated, “Presidents obviously can’t do anything; they should be making sure people can do what they need to do while also handling solutions to hard problems.” Liam said his Military experience gave him good insight into leadership. Senators feel like they can’t do what they need to do to complete their jobs, and the President should be able to give them what they need to do their jobs. And he feels Ava and himself are the right people for that job. Liam continues, “The biggest issue is less SSA being known; it is an issue, but largely SSA struggles to get things done if not done by over achievers. There is a lot of, but the institution needs to change so that student gov doesn’t need to overachieve it should just be how it is set up.”
Make sure to VOTE in the SSA election; you may not interact much with the SSA, but they are here to make your experience here at Stout better. Both Candidates have a lot of good ideas that they want to share with us… So why not get more involved?
