Student body president Kaeden Kelso (right) and vice president Ysatis Jordan ran unopposed in the spring election and won with an 85 percent approval rate. Their top priorities for the semester include consolidation, voter turnout and student involvement, among others. Courtesy of Ysatis Jordan
By Emily Wunderlich
As the fall semester begins, student body president Daniel “Kaeden” Kelso and vice president Ysatis Jordan want new and returning students to know one thing: Student Government is here for them.
“We’re ready to take care of them, we’re ready to support them, we’re ready to hear them,” said Jordan, a senior health sciences major. “If you need something, come to SLC 1500.”
Kelso and Jordan agreed that visibility is among several priorities for the 47th term SG cabinet.
“I want more people in the door, even if it’s them just complaining about something that they want to change,” Jordan said.
One way to do that is by relating to other students, which can sometimes be difficult, according to Kelso, a senior political science major.
“Yes, we are student leaders of an organization, but at the same time we’re students,” he said.
“Once you’re a student leader, once you have a title, (students) sometimes shy away and forget that you’re a student too,” Jordan said.
Consolidation and Student Government
In March, Gov. Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 4, which consolidated the accreditations of all three USF system campuses.
By July 2020, all three campuses will again be united under one accreditation.
“We’re still figuring out what it will really mean,” Kelso said. “There’s a lot of rumors going around, but with the committee that I’ve been tasked with regarding Student Government, we’ve been trying to figure out what exactly it will mean.”
Kelso said he wants to make sure that students get their say and that consolidation helps students rather than hinder them.
To keep students informed, SG plans to provide weekly or bi-weekly consolidation updates at their general assembly meetings every Monday at 5:05 p.m. in the University Student Center ballrooms.
For more detailed coverage on accreditation, visit https://crowsneststpete.com/category/accreditation/.
Voter turnout
With a history of low voter turnout, SG hopes to “revamp” both the election process and voting opportunities, Jordan said.
Supervisor of elections Alexandria Domingo “realizes our problems and the problems that we’ve faced in the past with elections and voter turnout,” Jordan said.
For Domingo, a junior health sciences major, targeting the commuter population will be essential to getting more students involved with elections.
“For people who only come once a week or only come at nights, the voter station might not be tabling,” Jordan said. “It’s not necessarily fair, we are missing a large demographic.”
“(Domingo) has a lot of ideas and I think that she’s going to be able to implement them, but I’m hoping that you guys see a giant difference this upcoming midterm election,” Jordan said.
Student involvement
Low student involvement is an ongoing source of contention among campus leaders when it comes to planning and budgeting events on campus.
That’s why Dwayne Isaacs, director of student life and engagement, is heading up the “Get Involved” campaign.
Kelso and Jordan called it a “coordinated effort” by “literally every organization, every entity” in the Student Life Center.
“We’re going to do our best to make sure students are involved in anything on campus,” Kelso said.
The campaign will have a table at Get on Board day Aug. 23 to help students find the perfect club for them.
Aside from “Get Involved,” students will also have access to a new specialized workout called “Move-It.” The program is part of Campus Recreation’s newly renovated Studio B,
“We are one of two schools in the state of Florida that have this equipment or specialized programming,” Kelso said. “The only other school is Florida State, so not even (USF) Tampa has this, or Sarasota-Manatee.”
Kelso described the equipment as “extremely user-friendly” and the classes as “intense but fun.”
“If you go in there, it’s very inviting,” Kelso said. “I remember when I walked in, it made me want to go work out.”
PeteSync
To track student involvement, campus leaders turn to PeteSync, a website where clubs and organizations promote their events and record how many students attend.
However, PeteSync’s usability needed an upgrade, Kelso said.
“We realized we were putting in a lot of money toward PeteSync, and it was being used but it wasn’t reaching its full potential,” Kelso said.
Now, PeteSync will allow community partners to post internship and volunteer opportunities, creating a more centralized place where students can make connections in the St. Pete area, Kelso said.
“It’s great for your resume, great for a teacher or professor who requires volunteer hours. Everything’s right there at your fingertips,” Jordan said.
However, PeteSync is not to be confused with Handshake, USF St. Petersburg’s online job board, Jordan said.
“Handshake is mostly for paid jobs. PeteSync is for student involvement but it will also have volunteer opportunities,” she said. “We’re not trying to take away from Handshake.”
Syllabus banks
What if you could find the syllabus for any teacher of any class at any USF system campus?
In 2019, that might be possible.
“USFSP has had a syllabus bank in the past, so we’re just bringing it back, and thankfully all three campuses are on board,” Jordan said.
If the implementation goes as planned, students will be able to access the system-wide syllabus bank via the MyUSF website.
“You can go ahead and feel out the professor, feel out how the class is before actually committing to a class, so you can do that during time to register,” Jordan said.
SG plans to propose the syllabus bank to the faculty senate this semester. If approved, the bank would go live in spring or summer of 2019, Jordan said.
Parking
Jordan said one of her top priorities for the 47th term is to leave behind some kind of legacy, some kind of memorable event or possession.
“Something in the spring that we can walk away with that’s big,” she called it.
Jordan identified parking as one of the long-term changes she wants to make, specifically by decreasing costs and increasing parking space on and around campus.
“As a student, I can start advocating for it, but as a vice president, as a student government member (who) holds some weight behind their name, I think that we can bring issues to light with administration and then start getting in those meetings, start having those conversations about what we can do as a university,” she said.
At the time of publication, Student Government has two open positions available: Director of Events and Director of Graphic and Web Design. For more information or to apply, visit SG’s page on PeteSync.
