Christopher Mather, IT/CSCI ’03, had always aspired to one day be the head of the Student Senate at RPI, the Grand Marshal. As a freshman, he knew he wasn’t ready and wanted to have a chance to contribute and learn from others before jumping into a position of such great responsibility. However, he never let go of his ambition and determination, and was elected last year as Grand Marshal for the 2002-2003 year.

He gained a lot of experience by working as a senator his freshman year, and then in the chair position of the community relations committee as a sophomore. Working under Joe Grecco, Mather grew as a leader, and decided that his junior year may be the year to run for GM. Instead, he was elected as Gil Valadez’s vice chair. He said, “It was the best decision I could have made, and I learned a tremendous amount from Gil.”

When the time came for elections at the end of the year, Mather still questioned whether or not he was ready, and did a lot of soul searching. Getting advice and opinions from friends, family, his advisor, Greg Hughes, and other Senate members really helped prepare him to know he was ready to take on the position.

Mather was elected GM after earning somewhere around 1600 votes. He said that he had a good idea of how to set things up from his experience with the former GM, but still did lots of studying, such as reading books about leadership. In the beginning, it was Mather and his whiteboard that began the organization of the Senate and led to some of his work seen this year.

While Mather’s plan for the Senate was working first semester, it began to become too big and had some loose ends. Information wasn’t passed along efficiently, and he said that everyone involved was devoting five to seven hours a week to meetings and committees. By winter break, he knew things had to change. “It was humbling when I realized what I was doing wasn’t working,” Mather said. He began thinking of new ways to run the Senate.

When second semester began, Mather had fresh new ideas and was back to the whiteboard with his members, who “were surprisingly active and excited,” and even the “freshmen were actively involved.” Coming up with some key points and a restructuring of committees, things were reorganized and Mather said, “I was pretty proud that we were able to change on a dime.”

The changes cut down on meeting times, put a limit on the number of projects the Senate was to work on, and devoted more of Mather’s own personal time to speaking with members one-on-one to foster their ideas and try to make them a reality. Mather gives credit to the retreat that the Senate took part in at the beginning of the second semester to help them come together and feel more responsible to each other.

The Senate is currently working on a few projects, including an advising system recommendation project to the President of the Institute, an online class evaluation system to help students choose their schedules by comparing courses to their needs, and a project trying to improve Rensselaer athletic attendance. All of these things are in the works, and Mather is optimistic that even if results are not seen before the end of the semester, the projects will prove beneficial to everyone on campus at some time. Some things like the online class evaluation system are near completion, having a finished prototype, and Mather hopes that it will be up and running in the next month or so.

When asked about his experience this year, Mather said, “If I could go back and do it again, knowing what I know now, I’d do it in a heartbeat.” He has had an amazing experience as GM and hopes that future GMs can build upon what he has set in action. Mather also stated that the credit for all this year’s success should be given not to him but the entire Senate.

With elections and graduation coming up soon, Mather plans on working in IT consulting for Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, a management consulting firm in Virginia. Then he would like to go to business school for his M.B.A.

“We’ve put an investment into this, and I’d like to come back in 70 or 80 years or however long we live, and see that we’re still growing,” said Mather.