Sarah Storelli is the ASI president. Sarah, along with Kostas McDade and Nick Dindio, write the State of the Students column.
Dear students,
It has truly been a pleasure serving as your Associate Students Inc. (ASI) president this year and representing you at the campus, community and statewide level. Together, we accomplished many things, and due to the hard work and dedication of all of student government, we raised the bar in all areas of our focus this year: advocacy, outreach and accountability. It cannot go unrecognized that the Board of Directors and University Union Advisory Board have had many significant accomplishments this year; however, for this article, I am focusing on my goals as ASI president, which Executive Cabinet achieved this year under the guidance of my chief of staff, Tiffany Fowler.
As ASI President, I chaired the Student Community Liaison Committee (SCLC) comprised of 17 voting members such as the police chief, the mayor, the ASI Secretary of Community Relations (Genoa Aleman) and other representatives from Cal Poly, Cuesta and the county.
In the fall, SCLC had “SLO Night with Your Neighbors,” which encouraged permanent residents and students to have positive interactions with one another through multiple neighborhood gatherings. Aleman also headed an initiative to revamp the SCLC website to let people know what SCLC is and what it does. ASI concluded the year with a Community Game Day, which provided a time, space and activities for students and non-students to interact with one another to foster more positive relationships between Cal Poly and the community.
In conjunction with community relations, Jace Knight, secretary of greek affairs, was a key liaison between ASI and greek life. From serving as the Inter Fraternity Council vice president, we were aware of issues facing the greek system and how we could be of assistance.
As for legislative affairs, Cal Poly had the largest voter registration drive in ASI history and ranked number one in the state by registering 14.2 percent of the student body.
Soon after, Katie Morrow and Aaron Borgeson, secretaries of legislative affairs, implemented a full-functioning Lobby Corps, which had participation from non-student government and student government members alike. Through comprehensive research, they compiled a document about the impact of state budget cuts to Cal Poly students and sent it to Governor Brown, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and all members of the State Senate and State Assembly.
Additionally, student government members attended the California Higher Education Student Summit (CHESS) in Sacramento in April and lobbied at the Capitol. ASI also attended the California State Student Association monthly meetings at various California State University (CSU) campuses across the state to represent your voice among the other 22 campuses and acted as a united voice with the CSU system.
Besides attending CHESS and CSSA, I travelled to Sacramento twice with President Armstrong to lobby on behalf of higher education and the impact budget cuts will have on Cal Poly. Lastly, Lobby Corps brought Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian to campus, as well as Mayor Jan Marx, to build relationships, answer questions and offer input to the complex situations facing our state and community.
In regards to sustainability, Executive Cabinet Secretary Cale Reid, received a $1,000 grant from CSSA to support ASI’s sustainability initiatives. Cale used the funds to host an Earth Week event called “Talk Trash.” The event allowed students to learn what campus-sold items are and are not recyclable, compostable and disposable. Additionally, sustainable groups such as Cal Poly Organic Farm and Fair Trade Club were a part of our Health and Wellness fair, which promoted healthy lifestyles.
As for diversity, Secretary David Rodriguez attended various cultural club meetings bi-weekly throughout the year, sat on the Diversity Learning Objectives Committee and served on the Inclusive Excellence Council (IEC). He addressed minority retention rates, planned a diversity discussion panel with IEC and attended various cultural events throughout the year on behalf of ASI.
Secretary of health and wellness, Bobby Landon, planned and organized the Active Living Fair, comprised of more than 20 on and off campus entities. We had representatives from Health and Counseling Services, Ombuds, PULSE and the University Police to name a few. Additionally, Landon conducted quarterly “safety walks” and submitted a proposal to the Campus Safety and Risk Management Committee and Facility Services. They have addressed many of his recommendations regarding lighting issues and general safety issues and recently hosted a safety walk specifically for the purpose of addressing his recommendations.
This allowed him to survey the campus with Facility Services and Campus Safety and Risk Management and point out what issues need to be addressed.
Secretary of Executive Staff Alicia Carney was in charge of managing all ASI interest inquiries that came in throughout the year.
Secretary of Publicity and Outreach Nick Dindio was charged with addressing the transparency of ASI and found many venues: advertising for events in El Corral’s window display, creating Facebook events, compiling and sending out a quarterly newsletter regarding updates from each branch and helping with the monthly Mustang Daily column, “State of the Students.”
Lastly, the GO GREEN Spirit Committee was established and is going strong. As ASI president, I chaired this, and since its launch, every Thursday has been devoted to wearing green on campus, allowing students to receive discounts at various campus venues. Additionally, the student athletes have become immersed in the spirit rallies before their big games, heightening the level of school spirit.
We could not have achieved our successes without your constant support and encouragement. Personally, I cannot thank those enough who have constantly supported me, challenged me, respected me and believed in me. Thank you for your passion in wanting to make Cal Poly better than it is, and I wish you the utmost success in everything you do.
GO MUSTANGS!