The Student Association, UWM’s student government, hopes to make several big changes in the coming year, including a better understanding of how they advocate for students and introducing new services and events to improve campus life.
President Roman Fritz hopes to make the association more well-known around campus and more transparent about what they do. According to their website, they “represent the student body of UWM, to UWM Faculty, Staff and Administration.” They also help advocate for student concerns to campus leaders.
“We need to be more public and forward-facing,” said Fritz when asked about his plans to increase transparency.
The Student Association (SA) has created and funded multiple on-campus organizations, like the Food Center and Pantry, which provides food and household items to students, and the UWM Green Fund, which sponsors sustainability projects on campus. Fritz also hopes to create a clothing library on campus for students and a culture day with different vendors and performers representing nations from around the world.
SA has 15 committees, each specializing in different areas of student life. Some include the Equitable Accessibility Advocacy Committee, the Students of Color Advocacy Committee and the Student Voting Rights Committee.
The Association also oversees the spending of student’s segregated fees through the Senate Finance Committee. The fees are roughly $700 of student tuition that goes towards improving student life.
Engagement with the Student Association
Fritz hopes to make it easier for students to get involved, by creating more referendums for students to directly vote on issues affecting them.
Committees provide the most direct way for students to get involved with issues they are passionate about on campus, and most students are eligible to sit on a committee. The application for the committees can be found here.
Interested students can also get involved with the Student Association by becoming a Senator. Senators can propose and vote on legislation that can advocate for UWM students and create projects to help improve student life.
Elections for First-Year and Transfers Senators are coming up; nominations are open from Oct. 7-14, campaigning takes place from Oct. 20-27, and the election is Oct. 29 with results being announced the day after. The application for vacant senate positions can be found here or by reaching out to the SA president at fritzr@uwm.edu.
Students wishing to voice their opinions without getting directly involved can attend the public senate and executive meetings. SA meetings happen on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. in the Union Fireside lounge beginning Oct. 3. Students can attend in person and virtually. The link to public notices and summaries from meetings can be found here.
Great article and in depth coverage on the student association. This will help heighten awareness and get more people involved