by Alicia Nelson | Minnesota State University Moorhead
My first experience with Students United was at the Advocacy Conference in the spring of 2020. I was immediately struck by the feeling of community at the conference and how passionate each student was about advocacy, higher education, and their respective student bodies. Since then, I’ve become more involved with Students United by participating in the Campus Engagement Ad Hoc Committee, attending the 2021 Advocacy Conference, and participating in Advocacy Week, during which I was able to share some of my experiences as a student with Senator Kent Eken and Representative Heather Keeler. These experiences have given me a strong concept of Students United’s committees and events which would serve me as Vice Chair.
I have also been increasingly involved in the Student Senate at Minnesota State University Moorhead, serving as the Academic Affairs Chair during the 2019-2020 academic year and as Vice President during the 2020-2021 academic year. Acting as the Vice President and chairing MSU Moorhead’s student government during the COVID-19 pandemic has required me to grow in my adaptability and resilience, and I believe these traits will be beneficial to Students United as we begin to navigate a post-COVID world and Students United’s presence on member campuses. My experience as the Vice President of MSU Moorhead’s Student Senate will also allow me to better act as a resource for the State Chair and the Board of Directors if elected Vice Chair.
I would have two primary goals as Vice Chair of Students United. The first goal would be to increase the diversity of student representatives involved in Students United committees and other agencies that require student input such as the Office of Higher Education and Board of Trustees. Specifically, I would like to see students who are not otherwise involved in student government get involved in these opportunities. I believe the best way to do this is by leveraging existing relationships, such as those with student organizations and student service offices that focus on student populations such as international students, LGBTQ+ students, and BIPOC students. Finding a way to incentivize participation on committees, boards, and other agencies so that students are not concerned about the tradeoff between these opportunities and other allocations of their time, such as part time jobs, could also make this engagement possible for students from low-income backgrounds.
My second goal as Vice Chair would be to ensure that students are receiving opportunities to actively participate in system, state, and federal political processes that impact students. This would include receiving consultation on student fees, federal packages such as the recently passed American Rescue Plan and advocating to the Minnesota State legislature. I believe one piece of this goal will be continuing to advocate at the system level to the Chancellor and Board of Trustees for student governments – and students in general – to continue to have a voice and to ensure that their voices have an impact on system and university processes and priorities. Another piece in achieving this goal will be to ensure that the members of Students United’s Board of Directors have the resources they need and are empowered to engage with the leadership at their universities, at the system level, and in the legislature. This would include ensuring that the Presidents of each Student Government Association are able to rely on Students United for support.