Vice President of Academic Affairs-elect and political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore Genevieve Lucas will be responsible for advocating for the academic needs of the undergraduate student body and working with the university administration to achieve those needs.

In an interview Thursday evening, Lucas said she’d prioritize improving student engagement and establishing greater trust between students and the administration.

“Engagement is a huge part of this because you have to fill approximately 60 academic governance seats,” Lucas said. “Making sure that all organizations on campus feel they have the opportunity to establish themselves in these seats and have access to them is really important.” 

Vice President of Governmental Affairs-elect and international relations sophomore Abe Jaafar will serve as the student government liaison with local, state and federal officials.

“Especially since we’re coming up on midterms soon, it's going to be a very contentious time on campus,” Jaafar said. “It’s my office’s responsibility to not only ease those tensions, but also get more people involved with voter engagement and get them educated on voter engagement.”

Jaafar said he would administer voter registration drives on campus by utilizing ASMSU resources. Providing students the opportunity to engage in the realm of public policy and establishing a connection with administrators and officials are additional objectives of his, he said.

Students, Jaafar said, want to make a change on campus and may not know where to start and it is the “top priority” of the Governmental Affairs office to ensure students have a route to advocacy.

Vice President of Internal Administration-elect and international relations sophomore Molly Ginther will be responsible for serving as the primary delegate of the student body to the university administration and external partners.

“In my role as AVPIA, I’ve seen how strong internal operations directly shape our ability to represent and serve students across campus,” Ginther said. “It’s important that the person in this position actively works to keep an environment where all voices are welcomed, valued and heard. I want to be that person for you.”

Ginther said she plans to implement a smoother onboarding process for representatives in the government’s general assembly. Representatives can join at almost any point in the academic year, Ginther continued, leading to things getting “lost in translation” and the body becoming inefficient.

Vice President for Student Allocations-elect and advertising management junior Mason Taylor will be tasked with overseeing the allocation of ASMSU funds — expected to be over $1.1 million — to support the government’s programs and student organizations.

Taylor said the current Student Allocations Board, which is charged with dispersing funds and reviewing applications for funding, has frustrated ASMSU representatives and student organizations alike.

Taylor wants to ensure that “every penny” of the funds are used in the best interest of students, he said. 

The first step to combatting those frustrations and creating a smoother function of the SAB is to edit the board’s code, Taylor said. He later added that he wants to establish smoother communications between student groups, the board and the general assembly to allow students to feel comfortable expressing discontents about the board that could be improved upon.

“We have a very intensive code, and it was written pre-COVID, it worked out well for (the previous representatives) but a lot of that code doesn’t hold up today,” Taylor said. “I want to make it as clear as possible that SAB is a system where we are meant to spend that money in the best interest of students.”