for once, I call for advice
I want to help A&M. I love being an Aggie, but I have become jaded and disillusioned with its administration (let alone the too-frequent apathy of its students).
Below is my pseudo-mission statement. How the hell am I ever going to do it?
texas A&M has two entirely unique factors
1) a military school inside a civilian school
2) a tight bond of university and student activities
There are many other factors, that if combined, are unique at A&M, such as its large size in both area and student population, A&M heritage, and long-standing traditions. Each in isolation, though, does not constitute a completely distinguishing characteristic.
The corps is in a tenuous state, and in many ways is barely a military school (it has students without an officer's commission/contract). It is also largely outside of my experience, and thus its precise problems and possible remedying solutions are beyond my ken. Also, as the corps comprise less than 5% of the school's population, the active student population is quite significantly larger (and even envelops the corps in one way or another).
Thus, we are left with its student life as the primary distinguishing characteristic, making it of prime importance that we recognize and remedy problems in this area.
And I do know about student activities.
qualifications:
Conversations [was in MSC SPO. participant one semester, then committee member. 3 years total]
student senate [engineering caucus. 1.5 years total]
hall council [floor representative, vice president, president. 4 years total, 2 years in leadership positions]
residence hall association [only by virtue of the above. this organization is useless in its current form]
peer advisor [1.5 years. fairly useless program run out of the honors office]
academic [various; performed research under honors program and engineering school. participated (and was quite thoroughly ignored) on curriculum revision committe in CS department]
So I've been around. SGA, MSC, dorms (thereby ResLife, RHA), academics. I served under both student service and academic affairs committees while in senate. I buddied up with tenured professors, senate speakers and student body president hopefuls, and the Crocker hall council president. I found common ground with all of them.
Final qualification: I no longer go to A&M. I have no vested interest in it being any certain way. I celebrate the changes that the university is forging through. I do not envy the higher-ups and the decisions they are forced to make. The caveat is that I often find the decisions ill-informed of the history, current nature, and possible futures of A&M. Sometimes they even seem to be positively deceived. It is in this capacity that I hope to remedy the situation.
I want the students and administration to understand how they got where they are, what the facts are now, and what their options are. Otherwise, they are flying blind, and the plane they guide molds the future of nearly 50,000 students, day in and day out.
Below is my pseudo-mission statement. How the hell am I ever going to do it?
texas A&M has two entirely unique factors
1) a military school inside a civilian school
2) a tight bond of university and student activities
There are many other factors, that if combined, are unique at A&M, such as its large size in both area and student population, A&M heritage, and long-standing traditions. Each in isolation, though, does not constitute a completely distinguishing characteristic.
The corps is in a tenuous state, and in many ways is barely a military school (it has students without an officer's commission/contract). It is also largely outside of my experience, and thus its precise problems and possible remedying solutions are beyond my ken. Also, as the corps comprise less than 5% of the school's population, the active student population is quite significantly larger (and even envelops the corps in one way or another).
Thus, we are left with its student life as the primary distinguishing characteristic, making it of prime importance that we recognize and remedy problems in this area.
And I do know about student activities.
qualifications:
Conversations [was in MSC SPO. participant one semester, then committee member. 3 years total]
student senate [engineering caucus. 1.5 years total]
hall council [floor representative, vice president, president. 4 years total, 2 years in leadership positions]
residence hall association [only by virtue of the above. this organization is useless in its current form]
peer advisor [1.5 years. fairly useless program run out of the honors office]
academic [various; performed research under honors program and engineering school. participated (and was quite thoroughly ignored) on curriculum revision committe in CS department]
So I've been around. SGA, MSC, dorms (thereby ResLife, RHA), academics. I served under both student service and academic affairs committees while in senate. I buddied up with tenured professors, senate speakers and student body president hopefuls, and the Crocker hall council president. I found common ground with all of them.
Final qualification: I no longer go to A&M. I have no vested interest in it being any certain way. I celebrate the changes that the university is forging through. I do not envy the higher-ups and the decisions they are forced to make. The caveat is that I often find the decisions ill-informed of the history, current nature, and possible futures of A&M. Sometimes they even seem to be positively deceived. It is in this capacity that I hope to remedy the situation.
I want the students and administration to understand how they got where they are, what the facts are now, and what their options are. Otherwise, they are flying blind, and the plane they guide molds the future of nearly 50,000 students, day in and day out.