Elect Academic Opportunity
Course Evaluations
At the end of every semester, students are required to fill out course evaluations; students should have access to these evaluations in order to make fully informed decisions about their course-loads. In addition, students who withdraw from or drop courses should be able to fill out course evaluations so that they can note the reason they dropped a class anonymously and provide departments with more comprehensive course evaluations.​
Cultural Competency Training for Professors
It is vital that the professors teaching at Tufts possess the proper toolkit to teach students of all identities. I will work with the undergraduate deans to implement a mandatory cultural competency training that addresses implicit biases and misgendering for all Tufts faculty and staff.
Residency Requirement
Tufts has an 8-semester residency requirement, which the administration is not transparent about. I will work with Tufts Admissions to ensure that this information is shared during all Admissions information sessions so that current students can plan accordingly and prospective students can make informed decisions about their higher education.
Exam Policy
Currently, Tufts does not have a policy for rescheduling exams, and students who are faced with 3 or more exams in a 24 hour period during final exams are not positioned well for success. Tufts should implement a policy mandating professors to work with students who encounter this issue to reschedule at least one of the exams involved.
Expanding Language Offerings
Tufts has an intensive language requirement, and thus should offer languages students have expressed strong interest in learning, such as Korean. I will work with the ExCollege to implement pilot courses in Korean for Fall of 2020, and subsequently seek a commitment from the university to teach Korean language classes at Tufts.
IB Credits
This year, TCU Senate’s Education Committee began the process of evaluating student feedback on IB courses they would like to receive credit from. I will work with the student-faculty committee on education to create a less arbitrary process for accepting IB credits.
Collaborative Work Spaces
There are not enough collaborative work spaces on campus, as Tisch on Sundays is always overcrowded, as is the Campus Center during Monday and Wednesday open blocks. I will advocate for the creation of more work spaces on campus to help alleviate the overflow of students in existing study spaces.
Faculty of Color
At the end of this school year, Tufts will be losing 12 faculty of Color, an issue indicative of Tufts’ unsupportive work environment for scholars of Color. As TCU President, I will push for hiring faculty from backgrounds typically underrepresented in higher education.
Syllabi
Last year, TCU Senate’s Education Committee worked with departments to publicize syllabi for classes. I will build on this work to ensure that students have access to current syllabi from professors in order to make informed decisions about their course selection.
TCU Senate Textbook Exchange
The TCU Senate Textbook Exchange, spearheaded by Phil Miller, has saved students $77,000 this year. As President, I will continue to support this important service for students.
Elect Community
Off-Campus Housing Support
I will work with the Office of Residential Life & Learning to increase support for sophomores beginning the search for off-campus housing, including informational seminars on responsible lease signing and a directory of typically student-rented off-campus housing.
Expanding Themed Housing
TCU Senate undertook a comprehensive initiative to assess student feedback on campus social spaces, and I will work with the Office of Residential Life & Learning to ensure that this student feedback results in tangible programming in new on-campus living spaces.
Room Reservations
The EMS reservation system has an interface that is very difficult to use. I will work with the Office for Campus Life to revamp the room reservation system to make room booking more accessible to students.
Brown & Blueprint
TCU Senate’s Administration & Policy undertook a huge effort to gather student feedback on spaces around campus through the Brown & Blueprint initiative. As President, I will work to implement suggestions from students concerning spaces around campus to facilitate better environments for social life and academics.
Elect Sustainability
Commons Marketplace
An immense amount of plastic waste comes out of Commons Marketplace. I will work with Tufts Dining to create and implement a plan to make Commons Marketplace more sustainable with reusable containers and utensils, and create incentives for customers to bring their own containers and utensils.
Food Insecurity
I will work with the EASE committee to review the needs of food insecure Tufts undergraduates and assist in developing a strategy to effectively distribute food to students who need it.
Swipe It Forward
The Swipe it Forward meal bank has run successfully for four semesters now, and should be institutionalized through creating a system where students on unlimited meal plans can automatically donate each semester, and opt out when they do not want to.
Food Pantry
Swipe it Forward serves as an excellent resource for on-campus students, but off-campus students need access to nutritious and balanced meals as well. I will work to create a food pantry at Tufts for students living off-campus who need it.
Elect Change
Alumni Relations
Many alumni have expressed that they feel disconnected from campus life and thus do not feel compelled to give to Tufts. I will work with Tufts Alumni Relations to strengthen relationships with alumni to help benefit current Tufts students through networking opportunities and mentorship.
Group of Six
The Group of Six Centers have been perpetually underfunded and understaffed. Recent structural improvements have been made to community spaces for marginalized students on campus such as the opening of the Asian American Center, renovation of the Women’s Center, and structural safety improvements to the Latinx + LGBTQ+ Center. However, there is still more work to be done. I will advocate for the creation and publication of a timeline for structural improvements and allocation of funding to the Group of Six Centers
Support for Workers
All Tufts workers should be paid livable wages and work in environments free from discrimination and fear. I stand in solidarity with Tufts Dining workers and support their movement to unionize.
Affordability Metric
I will expand on Trustee Representative Nathan Foster’s advocacy for the Board of Trustees to add an affordability metric to the Board of Trustees’ evaluations of Tufts in order to ensure that Tufts continues to work towards financial accessibility for all students.
Economic Diversity
The Board of Trustees recently released data displaying Tufts’ abysmal lack of economic diversity. For the Class of 2021, 75% of students come from the top 20%, 18% of students from the bottom 60%, and 3.8% of students from the bottom 20% of income-earning families. Economic diversity should be a priority in formulating the makeup of class years, and as TCU President I will advocate for expanded admissions outreach to low-income communities.
Tuition
Deans Glaser and Qu recently announced a tuition hike of 3.76%, bringing tuition and fees to $70,941. This trend in unaffordability is not sustainable, and as TCU President I will demand transparency around university resource allocation and support student demand to halt tuition hikes.
Alumni Networking
Tufts Alumni Relations should provide more support in creating, building up, and maintaining alumni networks for alumni of Color. This includes spearheading fundraising efforts for the Group of Six Centers so the burden does not fall on Center directors and staff.
Elect Engagement
Student Leadership Stipends
With the creation of a fund for student leadership stipends, I will formulate and execute a plan for the disbursement of these funds, prioritizing low-income students who wish to serve in leadership roles on campus.
Club Sports
This year, TCU Senate’s Executive Board worked with Club Sports to create a more holistic budget for Club Sports Teams. Currently, many teams fundraise and pay for equipment and travel out of pocket. As President, I will work with the Director of Club Sports to minimize the burden of these costs on students while keeping in mind fiscal responsibility.
Transparency
Having served as TCU Senate’s Chair of Student Outreach, I understand the challenges of engaging with the student body and how there’s always room for improvement. As TCU President, I will ensure that agendas are posted before every meeting, and recaps posted afterwards so the student body can always stay informed.
Partnerships
I will encourage partnerships between Senate and student groups to help push their agendas forward. There are so many student groups on campus outside of Senate who are working to improve our campus, whether it be about worker's rights, sexual assault prevention, or mental health, and as TCU President I will work to lift these voices up.
Student Feedback
As TCU President, I will implement end-of-semester surveys that allow students to give feedback on ongoing Senate projects and priorities.
Town Halls
This year’s town halls were a good start, so as TCU President I will ensure that these continue in order to continue to facilitate information sharing between administrators and students on topics such as budget transparency and Tufts’ affordability.