I’d like to start off by thanking everybody who took the opportunity to vote last Thursday. Our entirely student-run Union is one of the most unique aspects of our campus and the student government process is an important part of our school’s culture. I would like to encourage everyone to be active on campus, to channel your energy not into anger, but rather into school spirit and positive actions.
For those of you who would like to get more involved in the economic decisions made for the Rensselaer Union, including club, athletic, and facility finances, I urge you to consider applying to the Union
Executive Board or the Athletic Board. The Athletic Board is a standing board of the E-Board which deals specifically with athletic budgetary matters. This board has not been formed in the past several
years, but will be essential in the near future for the addition of the East Campus Athletic Village to be as smooth and beneficial to students as possible. There are application forms throughout the Union, or you can e-mail pu@rpi.edu for more information. While the Union is only a subset of the entire Institute, it presents us the opportunity as students to set an example for the administration and the rest of campus as to what we mean when we ask for increased communication with students, openness, and transparency.
Over the next year I plan to focus the E-Board on ensuring that student activity fee dollars work for students and go toward providing services that students really want and need. Doing this will require successful communication. The openness and simplicity of the Union Annual Report this spring was an excellent first step in showing the inner workings of the Union budget to everyone. Between more open documentation of our activities and use of the “Derby,” I believe that communication will continue to improve.
At the same time, we need to develop ways for students to express their thoughts, opinions, and desires when they see what is happening with their money or when decisions and events impact their lives here at RPI. As always, anybody can e-mail me at pu@rpi.edu, but I also hope to look into more interactive forms of communication such as online forums exercising the power of tools, including the new Union website and Facebook. Communication and input will be essential in representing student interests and understanding their needs.
