Engaging Students and Working with Administrators

Bringing Students and Administrators Together

For far too long, USG has functioned as a barrier between students and University administrators. We collect feedback, run surveys, and transmit these responses to the relevant University authorities as our primary method of advocacy. This hasn’t been working. Our lack of in-depth engagement with students prevents us from being able to speak for them and makes University administrators less likely to listen to us, as we are no longer viewed as representative of the student body. Instead of having meaningful input into the policy-making process, we are often used by administrators to socialize policy decisions that have already been made. Here’s how I plan to fix this:

• Centering Student Voices

• As President, I would directly connect Princeton administrators and the students most impacted by current University policy or proposed changes, giving them the support of USG and empowering them to be their own advocates. USG should not just represent the larger student body but be a partner with students, working together to create policy. 

• I believe that connecting students with administrators directly makes them more likely to listen than if they heard of issues related to student life, disciplinary processes, or any other topic through USG as an intermediary. As President, I’ll use this model to affect real change and center student voices in USG’s approach to policy work. 

• USG’s President as an Organizer-in-Chief

• USG currently opens our meetings to the public, hosts office hours, and sends out emails asking for student feedback. While these are all worthwhile practices that should be continued, USG also needs to meet students where they are. 

• I see the role of USG President as one that can organize the student body to advocate for greater change. Whether this means working with existing student groups, reaching out to students not included in them, or creating new groups altogether, USG should be at the forefront of organizing campus, empowering students to come together and advocate for themselves, and building community in the process.

Proactive Student Outreach and Engagement

USG should not just be waiting for students to come to us with an issue or for University administrators to propose a policy change we have to combat; we should be constantly and actively soliciting student feedback. USG needs to be a body that every student feels comfortable engaging with to voice ideas, concerns, or criticism of student life, University administration, and USG itself. Here’s how we can create this environment:

• Advocating with Student Groups 

• While I’ve helped the Mental Health and DEI committees do outreach to affinity groups and students with marginalized identities on campus, this outreach cannot only come from these committees; USG should be engaging with these groups as a whole. 

• As President, I will restore the Undergraduate Student Life Committee’s Campus Liaison program to include not just administrative bodies but a wide array of student organizations including affinity groups, athletics teams, and eating clubs and co-ops to get a better picture of student life across a wide range of identities and see how USG can work to make campus safer and more supportive for all students.

• Engaging Through Events

• USG should connect our programming more to our policy work. This means being present at the events we run to engage with students and solicit feedback, not just on the events themselves but on any issues students want to discuss. This also means running more programming, like weekly open houses that attract students with food and fun activities, making USG a more present, open, and welcoming organization that students feel comfortable going to with their concerns.

• One avenue for increased engagement around events that would increase USG’s presence on campus is by creating more open communication and collaboration with class governments. USG’s executives should be at these events to gather student feedback and see how programming can best work to build community on campus.

• As President, I’ll also be present at big events on campus sponsored by Projects Board, like TASA’s Night Market, to engage with students, take in their feedback on the event and USG in general, and provide oversight of spending through Projects Board that can help them better support future requests.

Elections Reform  

USG’s elections, especially for those without previous USG experience, can be a convoluted and inaccessible process. This not only prevents students from having as much of a say in the process as they should, but also prevents us from attracting candidates, as seen by how many uncontested positions there initally were in this election cycle. Here’s how USG can make elections more inclusive, energetic, and engaging for the student body:

• Bringing Back Open Houses 

• USG’s elections team historically has run open houses with USG members who currently hold positions up for election, allowing the student body to better understand what these roles entail and what makes a successful candidate for them. However, USG has not hosted these events as long as I’ve been at Princeton. Last year, I served on USG’s elections working group and helped run one of these open houses, but as the working group failed to be institutionalized, this programming did not come back this year. 

• As President, I would work with USG’s elections team to bring these open houses back to recruit candidates and increase engagement with and awareness of USG elections in the larger student body. 

• Simplifying Election Rules and Times

• Many of USG’s current election rules are overly burdensome and restrictive on candidates in the name of leveling the campaign playing field. While I think many of these regulations are reasonable, some are not, and all deserve to be simplified so they are better understood by candidates and voters. As President, I would work with USG’s elections team to simplify and remake election regulations and the handbook that describes them.

• Currently, USG’s winter elections cycle runs into Thanksgiving Break, making it harder for candidates to campaign and depressing turnout among students. As President, I would work to move USG elections earlier so candidates are able to campaign at a time when campus is more active and increase student turnout.