A good start

After the elections debacle finally ended last year, the expectations surrounding this year’s IU Student Association administration could not have been much lower. 

Many on campus left for the summer whispering that the organization should be dissolved outright. But while the whispers continued, we set to work, and nearly a year later, I believe IUSA is in a much better place.

We started the year off well, securing meal point rollover for everyone through Vice President Dan Sloat’s work on the RPS Meal Plan Committee. I had the opportunity to name graduate student Abby Schwimmer the first IUSA director of sustainability in the fall, and she is now partnering with sustainablity student groups across campus and securing signatures for an optional green energy fee.

Legislative and Governmental Relations Director Jill DeLuna spearheaded a bill with State Sen. Vi Simpson for a statewide tax holiday on school supplies, which ultimately arrived in committee chambers of the Statehouse. RJ Campbell and the diversity department collaborated with Union Board to approve the installation of gender-neutral bathrooms in the Indiana Memorial Union.

Treasurer Robin Featherston brought the IUSA budget out of deficit and set down new fiscal safeguards for future administrations while coordinating the funding request for the next biennium. Student Services Director Peter SerVaas worked with the Indiana Attorney General for an informational session on identity theft.

Director of AID Brian Saligman has overseen funding of hundreds of independent student groups, while making it easier to apply for funding through a new online format. Chief Policy Advisor Torrey Kittle directed a revision of the Elections Code that replaced the outdated one used last year, while Internal Affairs Director Cerena Olsen oversaw the development of a much more user-friendly IUSA Web site.

Public Relations Director Stefanie Smith helped us launch the new “mobile advertising” initiative – the IUSA bus, which will run for 12 months and cut the spending budget of the previous administration by more than 75 percent, with much greater visibility for the organization.

Volunteerism Director Sharon Wen partnered with University Information Technology Services and student affairs to advance the upcoming online student portal, finally offering a solution to disparate student group calendars, while Abby Skinner opened new lines of communication with the Office for Women’s Affairs in her role as director of women’s affairs.

Under the direction of Vice President for Congress Andrew Hahn, the IUSA Congress has met quorum every meeting this year and will soon implement a clicker voting system in an effort to modernize itself. We partnered with the Bloomington Faculty Council to increase faculty textbook adoption rates, and with Student Trustee A.D. King to get International Standard Book Numbers back on display at bookstores. Bus service has been extended to 1 a.m. on school nights under our leadership, and I have nominated students to serve on all standing University committees this year.

The Indiana Daily Student charge I have taped on the wall in my office from last May reads, “We’re calling on President-elect Luke Fields and everyone else representing us in IUSA next year to be aggressive in recreating the organization into something that serves students with honor and respectability.”

I think we’ve done just that.