The Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) - guardians of half of every student's $130 student activities fee, in charge of the campus' major programming, and responsible for forging a connection between students and the administration on issues ranging from race to sexuality to academics - has chosen the students who will fill its 80-member cabinet for the '08-'09 academic year.
Those 80 were chosen from a pool of over 200 applicants.
"It's hard to say no to anyone who wants to get involved, but it came down to passion, working well with other people in the department, and drive," said Chris Denice, president-elect of the UGBC and CSOM '09. "Personality is important for a lot of the positions.
Denice has made major changes to the overall makeup of his cabinet-to-be. The cabinet of current president Jenniffer Castillo, A&S '08, is currently composed of six departments: the executive department, the operations department, the student life department, the community relations department, the University affairs department, and the campus entertainment department.
Although Denice's cabinet too will be composed of six departments, the operations department has been transformed into a new communication department, and the community relations department has been re-christened as the social and cultural issues department.
At the second annual Brennan Symposium for Student Leadership and Ethics on Saturday, Denice spoke on the importance of the UGBC's extensive cabinet.
"Students identify the UGBC with what we did for the spring concert, even though there are 80 people working on other issues on campus," Denice said.
The director of environmental issues, a position previously contained within the University affairs department, has been moved to the executive department, where the president and vice president positions are housed, to highlight its importance in the coming year. A director of off-campus issues has also been added to the executive department.
Alex Hirs, A&S '10, is slated to fill the third-in-command position as chief of staff. Other new members of the executive department include: Jackie Calcagno and Anand Savani, both A&S '09, as directors of the mentoring leadership program (MLP); Danielle Rosen, LSOE '09, as director of off-campus issues; Ryan Beck, CSOM '10, as director of environment issues; Vinny DyReyes, CSOM '09, as director of finance; and Alex Lorestani, A&S '09, as director of University speakers. Executive staff members will include Kate Niemer and Sarah Park, both A&S '10, and Justin Pike, A&S '11.
"Environmental issues and off-campus issues have been put in executive because we really want to work on them personally," Denice said. Both issues played an integral part in Denice's platform.
Beck said his main goal in the coming year will be to raise awareness about environmental issues on campus.
"Students care about the environment, but don't have the resources to do anything to help," Beck said. "We have good relations with Dining Services, for example, and can act as a link between students and the administration."
Beck said the job of the director of environmental issues will be to act as a marketing tool for green issues; he said he plans to do this by increasing programming relating to environmental issues on campus.
Beck said he hopes to work closely with Ecopledge and Sustain BC, groups of faculty and students who are concerned with environmental issues, to accomplish his goals.
Other big changes have been made to the department of University affairs, most notably the addition of a director of faculty administration student (FAS) diversification. The director of service issues has also been moved to the department.
Katie Foley, director of University affairs and A&S '09, said her department will work to affect structured change within the school. Under her department's umbrella are directors of FAS, service issues, academic issues, and a director of alternative events.
The academic affairs department will move forward on the diversification of the history core and the cultural diversity core, as well as the development of e-syllabi, an Agora service that will allow students to access the syllabi of potential courses.
"We want to make everyday changes that will make students' daily lives easier, as well as long-term changes within the University," Foley said.
The FAS diversification position will work toward the diversification of the faculty and student body. "Students need to be part of this conversation," Foley said. "We need to foster the environment for more diverse conversations. The people who make important decisions are not connected to the students."
Foley said that the director of service issues will focus on both international and local service by continuing to work on the endowment fund and developing more opportunities for post-service reflection.
In the student life department, Christa Numbers, CSOM '10, has been selected for the new position of director of transfer student resources and will help transfer students make a smooth transition to life at BC. Theresa Hamilton, A&S '09, will head the department as executive director.
Samantha Lipscomb, A&S '10, has been selected as the executive director of the communication department, under which a director of flat screens and TV operations, a director of Web site, three directors of print design, seven directors of visual marketing, and three directors of the street team have been placed. Lipscomb spoke on giving the UGBC a brand that students will recognize - a process, she said, that started with the development of an original UGBC logo.
"We want people to realize when they see the UGBC logo on an event, that it will be a great event," she said.
Lipscomb also hopes to develop a better ideas campaign this summer to raise awareness of the resources that the UGBC offers.
She said she hopes to make the flat screens into a resource for all student groups on campus. She said that as of now, the screens display only UGBC information and bulletins from BC info. She hopes to develop a system in which student groups can publicize their events through the screens as they would through fliers. "We have ideas for 10 locations on campus for the flat screens, but we have to see if they're effective first," Lipscomb said.
Garrett Cockren, CSOM '09, will head the unchanged campus entertainment department as executive director.
"Campus entertainment is looking to bring a couple of big acts next year while still maximizing the budgets. We'll only bring big concerts that students will be interested in," Cockren said.
Alexandra Saieh, associate director of the community relations department and A&S '09, said her department will work to raise awareness of global issues and will work toward developing a 24-hour prayer space on campus. Meaghan English, A&S '09, will act as executive director of the department next year.
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