SGA Executive Cabinet expanding

Do you know what the UCF Student Government Association does and can do for you?

A few of the recently appointed executive cabinet members of the current administration doesn't think the student population knows, but they would like to change that.

"I really hope to be able to increase the number of people knowing about student government and what we do," said Michelle Venezia, who was confirmed as the external marketing coordinator at the June 30 senate meeting. "That's definitely going to be my main goal for the year."

Public Relations Coordinator Ashley Tinstman, who was confirmed at the June 16 senate meeting, shared similar thoughts.

"A lot of students don't know what SGA does and what we can do for them," Tinstman said. "I really hope we're able to communicate that better, and hopefully I can be an integral part of that."

As members of the executive branch's Division of Communications, both Venezia and Tinstman have ideas on how to improve communication between SGA and the student body.

Venezia hopes to take the informative event SGA Days, a program developed by the previous administration's director of communications, Kristin Harris, to the next level.

SGA Days inform students about what SGA does and the different ways students can get involved, such as SGA Street Team, which Venezia and Tinstman have both served on.

"I thought that was a really great program last year that really helped students realize the different programs that student government offers and the things that we actually do with the budget that we have," Venezia said.

Another way for students, particularly freshmen, to learn more about SGA and involvement is the Student Body President's Advisory Council (SBPAC).

Students who become a part of SBPAC have the responsibility of offering their unique perspectives to the student body president when it comes to decision making. Each SBPAC member is paired up with an executive branch cabinet member as a mentor and also attends weekly meetings and workshops to learn about the inner workings of SGA.

Araima Caballero-Contini, who was confirmed as the deputy chief of staff on June 16, and Trevor Persaud, who was confirmed as the diversity initiatives coordinator on June 30, both served on SBPAC during their freshman year.

Caballero-Contini, whose main responsibility will be advising SBPAC, is looking forward to working with the future SBPAC members.

"I think that you can really do so much with a group of freshman students because they're all so eager and willing to get involved," Caballero-Contini said.

Persaud was inspired to apply for the diversity initiatives coordinator position because his SBPAC mentor held that position.

"I'm hoping to work with all the different offices, such as the Office of Diversity Initiatives, the Multi Cultural Student Center and the Multicultural Academic Support Services (MASS), as well as the diversified Greek council," Persaud said.

Persaud said he also hopes to host Diversiknight, an event similar to Late Knights, which will "show the cultural competency that UCF really has."

Former senator Arielle Bardzell, who was confirmed as the athletics and training coordinator on June 16, is planning an event to show how much school spirt UCF has.

"We're really excited about Friday Night Lights," Bardzell said. "It's going to be the biggest pep rally of the year."