Zac Broughton - Emily Hajjar - Garrett Gowen
President - Vice President - Trustee
Making Students Matter!
Campaign Platform
Zac, Emily, and Garrett have spent a majority of their college careers representing students to the administration in an effort to enhance the undergraduate experience. Everyday they continue to collaborate with students from all walks of life in order to tackle the many challenges that we face as a student body. Between the three of them exists a combined total of nine years working with and fighting for students. Their level of experience and involvement ranges from serving as an RA or Peer Mentor, to representing UMass as an athlete. They have also been members of and worked closely with Greek Life, the sustainability community, as well as our other RSOs, Agencies, and Student Businesses. Join them in their mission to Make Students Matter at UMass Amherst.
The Mission:
More Financial Aid/Support 50/50 State Funding Plan:
Cheaper/Free Textbooks Through Open Source:
Balanced Approach to Working with the Administration:
For the last few years, the students at UMass have seen a variety of approaches to working with the administration. With a new chancellor and the potential for additional changes within the administration, the SGA needs to balance its approach. Zac, Emily, and Garrett have extensive experience working with as well as fighting against the administration. Whether it was working to increase funding to student groups or challenging the Peer Mentor cuts, they understood that each issue requires a different approach. Their combined experience will allow them to:
Reasonable Construction Schedules:
Implement and Protect Student Bill of Rights:
Cheaper Student Parking:
Increase Support for All Student Groups (RSOs, Agencies, and Student Businesses):
Promote and Celebrate all Aspects of Diversity:
Increase and Promote UMass Pride:
Review, Enhance, and Educate Students on Campus Security:
Defend Students to the Town of Amherst:
Increase Student Engagement With Sustainability:
Fight for and Expand Student Space:
Lift Ban on Alcohol at Student Events:
Amherst First:
Collaborate with Graduate Student Senate:
President - Vice President - Trustee
Making Students Matter!
Campaign Platform
Zac, Emily, and Garrett have spent a majority of their college careers representing students to the administration in an effort to enhance the undergraduate experience. Everyday they continue to collaborate with students from all walks of life in order to tackle the many challenges that we face as a student body. Between the three of them exists a combined total of nine years working with and fighting for students. Their level of experience and involvement ranges from serving as an RA or Peer Mentor, to representing UMass as an athlete. They have also been members of and worked closely with Greek Life, the sustainability community, as well as our other RSOs, Agencies, and Student Businesses. Join them in their mission to Make Students Matter at UMass Amherst.
The Mission:
- More Financial Aid/Support for 50/50 State Funding Plan
- Cheaper/Free Textbooks Through Open Source
- Balanced Approach to Working with the Administration
- Reasonable Construction Schedules
- Implement and Protect Student Bill of Rights
- Cheaper Student Parking
- Increase Support for All Student Groups (RSOs, Agencies, and Student Businesses)
- Promote and Celebrate all Aspects of Diversity
- Increase and Promote UMass Pride
- Review, Enhance, and Educate Students on Campus Security
- Defend Students to the Town of Amherst
- Increase Student Engagement With Sustainability
- Fight for and Expand Student Space
- Lift Ban on Alcohol at Student Events
- Amherst First
- Collaborate with Graduate Student Senate
More Financial Aid/Support 50/50 State Funding Plan:
- 150 Years Public, 150 years more.
- UMass Amherst is the official public university of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The state legislature should provide at least 50% of the funding so that students can continue to attend UMass as a public higher educational institution. Zac, Emily, and Garrett have fought to increase state support to UMass for the last four years and they will continue to do so. UMass should be a financial option for potential and current students rather than continue down the slope towards privatization.
Cheaper/Free Textbooks Through Open Source:
- Open Source is an online tool that allows professors to place and get textbooks that students can view for free. Only a few professors at UMass Amherst have used this resource and we must continue to encourage more to do so. This opportunity saves students hundreds, if not thousands of dollars every year on textbooks. As the digital age continues to develop, we must explore options that will allow students to save as much money as possible. We cannot just focus on tuition and fees but all elements that affect students financially.
Balanced Approach to Working with the Administration:
For the last few years, the students at UMass have seen a variety of approaches to working with the administration. With a new chancellor and the potential for additional changes within the administration, the SGA needs to balance its approach. Zac, Emily, and Garrett have extensive experience working with as well as fighting against the administration. Whether it was working to increase funding to student groups or challenging the Peer Mentor cuts, they understood that each issue requires a different approach. Their combined experience will allow them to:
- Connect a diverse group of students with administrators by fighting for advisory boards at all levels.
- Host regular issue-focused workshops that are open to all students.
- Require semesterly status updates from all major departments and divisions, including a State of the University Address from the Chancellor.
- Have weekly one on one meetings with relevant administrators.
Reasonable Construction Schedules:
- It is unacceptable that acre upon acre continues to be consumed across campus by construction projects that students did not have a say in. As a result of this practice, student businesses such as People’s Market and Earth Foods continue to lose thousands of dollars in profit. Many of these construction sites also eliminate outdoor space that is often used by student groups for spring events. These actions cannot and will not be allowed to continue. It is important to develop and expand our campus for the future but not at the experience of current students.
Implement and Protect Student Bill of Rights:
- This semester Zac is a member of the Students Bill of Rights committee, a group that is designed to outline and promote all students rights across campus. More often than not, students are unaware of the rights they have and as a result face ridiculous sanctions from the university. It is time to stand up against the administration and ensure that students are protected from ludicrous charges. Students are adults and it is unacceptable for them to be treated like anything else.
Cheaper Student Parking:
- Fight the administrations continuous efforts to eliminate Freshman Parking on campus.
- Work with Physical Plant to increase student parking options in and around campus. It is not fair that students living in Southwest are right next to various parking lots yet there are limited options for students living in Orchard Hill and Central.
- Work with Physical Plant to improve the conditions of lots and discuss efficiency of blowing lots after winter storms.
- Fight to lower parking fees, making it more affordable for students who must bring their cars to campus. Charging students an additional $400 for parking per semester on top of the thousands of dollars they already pay in fees is not acceptable.
Increase Support for All Student Groups (RSOs, Agencies, and Student Businesses):
- Fight and defend the Student Activities Trust Fund fee increase, that 71% of the students voted in favor of, before the Board of Trustees.
- Fight against unnecessary regulations that RSOs must abide by in order to remain active, schedule rooms, or process their budgets.
- Work with RSO leaders to enact finance reform so that it is easier for RSOs to receive and spend their budgets.
- Prevent other departments across campus from being able to take previously schedule space away from RSOs due to priority. RSOs and students in general should always be and have priority.
- Encourage all RSOs to switch possible purchases to student businesses including printing and food.
- Fight against business franchises and promote the expansion of student businesses throughout campus.
Promote and Celebrate all Aspects of Diversity:
- Collaborate with any interested student groups on campus to plan a diversity celebration week, one that would focus in on all aspects of diversity, acceptance, and tolerance.
- Lead regular round table discussions with students, faculty, and administrators on the various elements of diversity on campus.
- Host a variety of engaging trainings and informational session that are student run and student focused, including Ally Training and Rape Culture Training.
Increase and Promote UMass Pride:
- Develop a lasting relationship with the Student Athlete Academic Council (SAAC) to promote a positive and supportive attitude towards student athletes.
- Free buses to Football games.
- Work with Collegian to get equal coverage of all sports.
- Highlight, promote, and support our club sports as much as we do our Division I teams.
- Advertise games, meets, and practices through the SGA social media outlets.
Review, Enhance, and Educate Students on Campus Security:
- Lead a campus wide safety walk to determine unsafe areas on campus and check if safety equipment is working effectively. One at night and one during the day.
- Work with the administration and UMPD to provide safety protocols to all students so that they know what to do in various emergency situations.
- Check to ensure that all on campus call boxes are in good working condition.
Defend Students to the Town of Amherst:
- Help to elect students to the Town Meeting of Amherst so that they can finally stand up against attacks from the town, such as the $300 fine for noise violations or open containers.
- Fight to lift the ban that limits the number of students that can live in an apartment or house.
- Defend all Greek houses from unwarranted, unannounced searches.
- Fight against the Town ban that prevents the chartering of additional Greek houses.
Increase Student Engagement With Sustainability:
- Work with the sustainability community to design and implement a composting program across campus, including in residence halls and academic buildings.
- Work to get more “mixed paper” receptacles throughout campus.
- Ensure that the university is actually recycling and not throwing all of the contents in each designated receptacle into the same container, something that continues to happen in the Student Union.
- Work with OIT to allow double sided printing options at printing stations to save paper but also save the students and the university money.
Fight for and Expand Student Space:
- The Student Union is the only building on campus that is suppose to be controlled by students, however in reality, this is not the case. Every inch of space in the current Student Union should be designated student space and overseen by the Student Government Association in collaboration with the Center for Student Development.
- The current Student Union is extremely outdated for the type of atmosphere at UMass. Today there are over 250 student groups that work out of a Student Union designed for 20. It is time that the SGA makes getting a new Student Union a top priority. A new Student Union should be equipped with up-to-date technology, adequate meeting space, lounge space, offices, storage rooms, venues for student businesses, agencies, RSOs and the diverse programming events that they continue to put forth.
- Student groups on campus should not have to pay to use any space inside the Student Union. It is their building and it should be free for them.
Lift Ban on Alcohol at Student Events:
- Student groups host a variety of large scale events that engage, educate, and embrace students and culture. It is time for the administration to treat UMass students like the adults that they are and allow groups to serve alcohol at student sponsored events for those who are of age. Events that serve alcohol can help provide students with an alternative to unsafe party practices.
Amherst First:
- Since 2003, UMass Amherst has been the flagship campus in the five campus system. While it is cost effective to share all our resources with our fellow UMass students across the system, it is important to recognize that we are the leading campus and should be treated as such in regards to finances, recognition, and any other resources. UMass Amherst must lead the system in research, education, and overall experience.
Collaborate with Graduate Student Senate:
- Work with GSS representatives on issues that affect both undergraduate and graduate students including housing, administration advisory boards, etc.
- Establish regular joint leadership meetings between SGA, GSS, Faculty Senate, and administration.