Candidates for SA President
Daniel Egel-Weiss
Background:
Born in Chicago, IL, I have been a Student Association Senator since my freshman year at GWU. I am currently the President Pro Tempore of the SA Senate and Chairman of the Leadership Committee. I am the Undergraduate At-Large Senator, as well. Additionally, I am the President of ZBT here on campus.
Do you think the university should be more transparent in its budget, operations, and strategic planning processes?
I believe there are always opportunities for the University to be more transparent with how money is spent. I have found it very frustrating that GW typically only alerts students to their plans AFTER they have made plans. Students need to have a substantive voice in the discussions facing our community, and we ought to know how the University's plans to spend our money.
Similarly, what can be done to ensure more transparency within the Student Association?
I believe that my working relationship with administrators can help bridge the opaque gap between what administrators know and what students know. There is an opportunity for more openness at GW, and I am ready to take the next step toward transparency. As President pro tempore of the Senate, I have always supported posting Senate meeting agendas, org funding allocations and special working group committee reports.
How would you work to increase student awareness of existing university services that many are often not aware of?
As SA President, I would distribute a weekly newsletter to all GW students updating them on the University's plans and giving them the "inside-scopp" with my discussions with administrators. By directly emailing this to students, the student body will inherently be more involved in the discussions shaping our campus.
Is the affordability of a GW education an important issue to you? Why?
Absolutely. It's important to me simply because GWU should attract the best and brightest to our university, regardless of if they can afford it or not.
How will you advocate for increased university attention to student needs (whether related to academics, housing, health, student organizations, campus life, etc) while keeping in mind that increased spending on such initiatives could lead to higher costs of attendance for future students?
With an endowment of $1.4 billion it should not be a problem for GW to increase quality of life on our campus. There is no better investment for GW than an investment in our students. Ultimately, the cost of attendance will inherently increase with the times, but it essential that we push the university to provide the best services possible for our students.
What are ways you would advocate for lower costs of attendance at GW (such as tuition and fees, housing, dining, charges for services, printing, SA fees, etc)?
I am advocating to eliminate the fee for student orgs to use GWorld machines (currently $150). Additionally, I want to keep the cost of housing low by providing options like "opting out" of cable usage. Students who do not use a service on campus should not need to pay for it. Additionally, dining fees should be decreased. By pushing the university lower the 10% fee it currently charges GWorld vendors to a competitive 4%, we could provide cheaper food options for students.
What are your thoughts on the new requirement that Juniors in the Class of 2018 and onward live on campus? How will you advocate for inexpensive housing alternatives to defray the impact of this policy?
I was one of the first SA members to speak out against this decision. It is critical that we make the cost of housing more affordable for students who must now live on campus. Aside from my "opting out" of cable suggestion, I have also advocated for the elimination of fees for juniors to use printing and laundry services. I believe the Class of 2018 deserves better, but this is what we are working with.
How will you advocate for increased university engagement with students related to budgets and strategic planning?
I will create an open forum for students to discuss their housing and budget issues with administrators. By creating standing monthly meetings with GW's top administrators, which are open to all students, I hope to provide an outlet for student concerns with regard to strategic planning and the budget.
Do you support GW Not For Profit’s proposal for non-voting student representatives on the financial committees of the Board of Trustees?
I believe having more students on the Board of Trustees is an excellent idea. I was disappointed at last night's Senate meeting that the special Senate committee appointed to solve this issue waited to release it's findings, but considering students are the biggest stakeholder in GW's actions, we ought to have a substantial voice.
How will you, in the position you are seeking on the SA, personally listen to the needs of students and their organizations?
I will seek out student recommendations all the time. From walking around Kogan asking what students think, to bringing up these issues in my classes, I am not afraid to solicit opinions from students. that is truly how we can make GW the best university it can be for our students.
Born in Chicago, IL, I have been a Student Association Senator since my freshman year at GWU. I am currently the President Pro Tempore of the SA Senate and Chairman of the Leadership Committee. I am the Undergraduate At-Large Senator, as well. Additionally, I am the President of ZBT here on campus.
Do you think the university should be more transparent in its budget, operations, and strategic planning processes?
I believe there are always opportunities for the University to be more transparent with how money is spent. I have found it very frustrating that GW typically only alerts students to their plans AFTER they have made plans. Students need to have a substantive voice in the discussions facing our community, and we ought to know how the University's plans to spend our money.
Similarly, what can be done to ensure more transparency within the Student Association?
I believe that my working relationship with administrators can help bridge the opaque gap between what administrators know and what students know. There is an opportunity for more openness at GW, and I am ready to take the next step toward transparency. As President pro tempore of the Senate, I have always supported posting Senate meeting agendas, org funding allocations and special working group committee reports.
How would you work to increase student awareness of existing university services that many are often not aware of?
As SA President, I would distribute a weekly newsletter to all GW students updating them on the University's plans and giving them the "inside-scopp" with my discussions with administrators. By directly emailing this to students, the student body will inherently be more involved in the discussions shaping our campus.
Is the affordability of a GW education an important issue to you? Why?
Absolutely. It's important to me simply because GWU should attract the best and brightest to our university, regardless of if they can afford it or not.
How will you advocate for increased university attention to student needs (whether related to academics, housing, health, student organizations, campus life, etc) while keeping in mind that increased spending on such initiatives could lead to higher costs of attendance for future students?
With an endowment of $1.4 billion it should not be a problem for GW to increase quality of life on our campus. There is no better investment for GW than an investment in our students. Ultimately, the cost of attendance will inherently increase with the times, but it essential that we push the university to provide the best services possible for our students.
What are ways you would advocate for lower costs of attendance at GW (such as tuition and fees, housing, dining, charges for services, printing, SA fees, etc)?
I am advocating to eliminate the fee for student orgs to use GWorld machines (currently $150). Additionally, I want to keep the cost of housing low by providing options like "opting out" of cable usage. Students who do not use a service on campus should not need to pay for it. Additionally, dining fees should be decreased. By pushing the university lower the 10% fee it currently charges GWorld vendors to a competitive 4%, we could provide cheaper food options for students.
What are your thoughts on the new requirement that Juniors in the Class of 2018 and onward live on campus? How will you advocate for inexpensive housing alternatives to defray the impact of this policy?
I was one of the first SA members to speak out against this decision. It is critical that we make the cost of housing more affordable for students who must now live on campus. Aside from my "opting out" of cable suggestion, I have also advocated for the elimination of fees for juniors to use printing and laundry services. I believe the Class of 2018 deserves better, but this is what we are working with.
How will you advocate for increased university engagement with students related to budgets and strategic planning?
I will create an open forum for students to discuss their housing and budget issues with administrators. By creating standing monthly meetings with GW's top administrators, which are open to all students, I hope to provide an outlet for student concerns with regard to strategic planning and the budget.
Do you support GW Not For Profit’s proposal for non-voting student representatives on the financial committees of the Board of Trustees?
I believe having more students on the Board of Trustees is an excellent idea. I was disappointed at last night's Senate meeting that the special Senate committee appointed to solve this issue waited to release it's findings, but considering students are the biggest stakeholder in GW's actions, we ought to have a substantial voice.
How will you, in the position you are seeking on the SA, personally listen to the needs of students and their organizations?
I will seek out student recommendations all the time. From walking around Kogan asking what students think, to bringing up these issues in my classes, I am not afraid to solicit opinions from students. that is truly how we can make GW the best university it can be for our students.
Nick Gumas
Background:
My name is Nick Gumas and am a proud progressive from New York City. I am a junior double majoring in political science and political communication. This year I spent my second term in the SA Senate serving as Chair of the Student Life Committee. For the past two years, I have also been president of Allied in Pride where I have organized events for the LGBT community and advocated for policy changes to benefit the community.
Do you think the university should be more transparent in its budget, operations, and strategic planning processes?
Yes. Over the past year, leaders in the Student Association have worked closely with the Board of Trustees to help improve transparency. These efforts have led to unprecedented access for the SA President. I intend to continue to build on these relationships because that is the only realistic way that we as students can work to increase financial transparency.
Similarly, what can be done to ensure more transparency within the Student Association?
Yes. In fact, these items are already public on the Student Association website. The problem is finding this information is difficult as the website is confusing to navigate. Part of my platform is to engage students through a new SA website. This website would become a central hub for University resources and services with the goal of making resources such as those aforementioned more accessible to everyone.
How would you work to increase student awareness of existing university services that many are often not aware of?
A large part of my platform is helping the SA become more of an organization that works to connect students to resources. It is ironic that we go to a university that spends so much money on PR but does such a poor job marketing the resources and services that are available to students. Currently, students need to know what they are looking for throughout various department websites in order to find something. If elected president, I would work to connect the resources and services that are available to students to the SA website so that students have a central point of reference when looking for help.
Is the affordability of a GW education an important issue to you? Why?
Yes. I am a student who has already incurred a large amount of debt, and I understand firsthand how outrageous the cost of higher education is not only at GW but also in this country. We have created an environment where individuals must go to college in order to qualify for the most basic jobs, while at the same time jacking up the rates of these colleges so that people spend the rest of their life paying off student loans. It would be great to see GW champion affordability.
How will you advocate for increased university attention to student needs (whether related to academics, housing, health, student organizations, campus life, etc) while keeping in mind that increased spending on such initiatives could lead to higher costs of attendance for future students?
I believe my long record of accomplishments in the SA demonstrate my ability to successfully advocate for student needs, without shifting a large cost to students. During my time in the SA, I have worked to expand the number of courses that fulfill GPAC requirements, establish anti-discrimination rules, successfully advocate for the implementation of a campus-wide hazing survey, create the Student Space Catalog, and help Julia organize the successful health and wellness campaign to bring health and wellness resources to a centralized location on campus. With the exception of the health and wellness initiative, none of these proposals cost the University any money.
Most if not all of my policy proposals are also cost neutral. A peer-counseling program, for example, would be staffed by student volunteers and organized by graduate students in studying relevant fields. Establishing living learning communities to help boost our retention rate for freshmen also won’t cost the university money.
What are ways you would advocate for lower costs of attendance at GW (such as tuition and fees, housing, dining, charges for services, printing, SA fees, etc)?
I think the best way to approach reducing the cost for students is tackling the housing rates. If the University is going to mandate that third year students live on campus, it is only fair that the revenue from the mandate goes directly back into lowering housing rates and improving the quality of the residence halls. Additionally, I fully support and intend to continue Julia’s advocacy on flattening housing rates over students’ four years at GW and increasing the number of options available to students by creating a price differentiation by room type.
In terms of printing, I have advocated, along with Green GW, for GW’s printing services to offer incentives for students to print double-sided by reducing the cost of double-sided printing. Universities like Georgetown and American offer such incentives and it can make a big difference over time not only in money students will save but our environmental impact.
What are your thoughts on the new requirement that Juniors in the Class of 2018 and onward live on campus? How will you advocate for inexpensive housing alternatives to defray the impact of this policy?
I think the housing mandate was a huge mistake and I am frustrated that a University that boasts allowing its students to experience Washington, D.C. will not let third year students do just that by living off campus. As I said earlier, I think it is only fair that the University uses the revenue gained by the mandate toward lowering housing rates and improving the quality of residence halls. Going forward, I would continue Julia's already successful advocacy efforts in flattening housing costs and offering more choices for students.
How will you advocate for increased university engagement with students related to budgets and strategic planning?
Again, the key to successful student advocacy is building strong, respectful relationships with administrators. When it comes to strategic planning and budgeting, it is important to have these same strong relationships with members of the board of trustees. I was fortunate enough to be a student leader invited to the board of trustees’ student dinner, where I sat next to the vice chair of the board, and chair of their finance committee, Ellen Zane. Ellen and I had a great conversation about affordability and recognizing the importance of prioritizing student resources and academic excellence in our budget. Meaningful change is initiated through these conversations and I am confident in my ability to be a forceful ally for the college affordability movement.
Do you support GW Not For Profit’s proposal for non-voting student representatives on the financial committees of the Board of Trustees?
I support the idea of more student representation on the board of trustees, but I think the way that some members of the Student Association have gone about advocating for the issue has been counterproductive and unnecessarily combative. Board members and administrators have no obligation to listen to anything we say, and when we name call and make demands nothing gets done. As I mentioned, the SA president now has unprecedented access not only to the board of trustees, but also to one-on-one meetings with the board’s chair. This is the pathway that I think would yield the best results for successful student advocacy. It has been successful in both the health and wellness campaign and the Gelman renovation project, and I intend to replicate it to accomplish my policy goals for the University.
Going forward, I think the SA president should report back to the Senate what was discussed at board meetings. Julia already does this to a certain extent, but I would make sure that students outside of the SA realize that this is the opportunity to come and learn more about what the board is working on.
How will you, in the position you are seeking on the SA, personally listen to the needs of students and their organizations?
I will direct members of my cabinet to routinely reach out to student organizations on campus the same way that I visited nearly 100 student organizations this past fall as chair of the student life committee. If I as one person could do it, certainly a team of about a dozen can. Communicating what the SA is working on to student leaders is essential to the success of our advocacy projects. And continually receiving student input directly from students will only strengthen our efforts.
My name is Nick Gumas and am a proud progressive from New York City. I am a junior double majoring in political science and political communication. This year I spent my second term in the SA Senate serving as Chair of the Student Life Committee. For the past two years, I have also been president of Allied in Pride where I have organized events for the LGBT community and advocated for policy changes to benefit the community.
Do you think the university should be more transparent in its budget, operations, and strategic planning processes?
Yes. Over the past year, leaders in the Student Association have worked closely with the Board of Trustees to help improve transparency. These efforts have led to unprecedented access for the SA President. I intend to continue to build on these relationships because that is the only realistic way that we as students can work to increase financial transparency.
Similarly, what can be done to ensure more transparency within the Student Association?
Yes. In fact, these items are already public on the Student Association website. The problem is finding this information is difficult as the website is confusing to navigate. Part of my platform is to engage students through a new SA website. This website would become a central hub for University resources and services with the goal of making resources such as those aforementioned more accessible to everyone.
How would you work to increase student awareness of existing university services that many are often not aware of?
A large part of my platform is helping the SA become more of an organization that works to connect students to resources. It is ironic that we go to a university that spends so much money on PR but does such a poor job marketing the resources and services that are available to students. Currently, students need to know what they are looking for throughout various department websites in order to find something. If elected president, I would work to connect the resources and services that are available to students to the SA website so that students have a central point of reference when looking for help.
Is the affordability of a GW education an important issue to you? Why?
Yes. I am a student who has already incurred a large amount of debt, and I understand firsthand how outrageous the cost of higher education is not only at GW but also in this country. We have created an environment where individuals must go to college in order to qualify for the most basic jobs, while at the same time jacking up the rates of these colleges so that people spend the rest of their life paying off student loans. It would be great to see GW champion affordability.
How will you advocate for increased university attention to student needs (whether related to academics, housing, health, student organizations, campus life, etc) while keeping in mind that increased spending on such initiatives could lead to higher costs of attendance for future students?
I believe my long record of accomplishments in the SA demonstrate my ability to successfully advocate for student needs, without shifting a large cost to students. During my time in the SA, I have worked to expand the number of courses that fulfill GPAC requirements, establish anti-discrimination rules, successfully advocate for the implementation of a campus-wide hazing survey, create the Student Space Catalog, and help Julia organize the successful health and wellness campaign to bring health and wellness resources to a centralized location on campus. With the exception of the health and wellness initiative, none of these proposals cost the University any money.
Most if not all of my policy proposals are also cost neutral. A peer-counseling program, for example, would be staffed by student volunteers and organized by graduate students in studying relevant fields. Establishing living learning communities to help boost our retention rate for freshmen also won’t cost the university money.
What are ways you would advocate for lower costs of attendance at GW (such as tuition and fees, housing, dining, charges for services, printing, SA fees, etc)?
I think the best way to approach reducing the cost for students is tackling the housing rates. If the University is going to mandate that third year students live on campus, it is only fair that the revenue from the mandate goes directly back into lowering housing rates and improving the quality of the residence halls. Additionally, I fully support and intend to continue Julia’s advocacy on flattening housing rates over students’ four years at GW and increasing the number of options available to students by creating a price differentiation by room type.
In terms of printing, I have advocated, along with Green GW, for GW’s printing services to offer incentives for students to print double-sided by reducing the cost of double-sided printing. Universities like Georgetown and American offer such incentives and it can make a big difference over time not only in money students will save but our environmental impact.
What are your thoughts on the new requirement that Juniors in the Class of 2018 and onward live on campus? How will you advocate for inexpensive housing alternatives to defray the impact of this policy?
I think the housing mandate was a huge mistake and I am frustrated that a University that boasts allowing its students to experience Washington, D.C. will not let third year students do just that by living off campus. As I said earlier, I think it is only fair that the University uses the revenue gained by the mandate toward lowering housing rates and improving the quality of residence halls. Going forward, I would continue Julia's already successful advocacy efforts in flattening housing costs and offering more choices for students.
How will you advocate for increased university engagement with students related to budgets and strategic planning?
Again, the key to successful student advocacy is building strong, respectful relationships with administrators. When it comes to strategic planning and budgeting, it is important to have these same strong relationships with members of the board of trustees. I was fortunate enough to be a student leader invited to the board of trustees’ student dinner, where I sat next to the vice chair of the board, and chair of their finance committee, Ellen Zane. Ellen and I had a great conversation about affordability and recognizing the importance of prioritizing student resources and academic excellence in our budget. Meaningful change is initiated through these conversations and I am confident in my ability to be a forceful ally for the college affordability movement.
Do you support GW Not For Profit’s proposal for non-voting student representatives on the financial committees of the Board of Trustees?
I support the idea of more student representation on the board of trustees, but I think the way that some members of the Student Association have gone about advocating for the issue has been counterproductive and unnecessarily combative. Board members and administrators have no obligation to listen to anything we say, and when we name call and make demands nothing gets done. As I mentioned, the SA president now has unprecedented access not only to the board of trustees, but also to one-on-one meetings with the board’s chair. This is the pathway that I think would yield the best results for successful student advocacy. It has been successful in both the health and wellness campaign and the Gelman renovation project, and I intend to replicate it to accomplish my policy goals for the University.
Going forward, I think the SA president should report back to the Senate what was discussed at board meetings. Julia already does this to a certain extent, but I would make sure that students outside of the SA realize that this is the opportunity to come and learn more about what the board is working on.
How will you, in the position you are seeking on the SA, personally listen to the needs of students and their organizations?
I will direct members of my cabinet to routinely reach out to student organizations on campus the same way that I visited nearly 100 student organizations this past fall as chair of the student life committee. If I as one person could do it, certainly a team of about a dozen can. Communicating what the SA is working on to student leaders is essential to the success of our advocacy projects. And continually receiving student input directly from students will only strengthen our efforts.