The Director Interviews: Communications and Advocacy
April 17th, 2024 | Delfina Solorio, Editor In-Chief and Isaac Burge, Editor.
Directors are specialized positions on the executive board of ASUCM that generally hold a narrower range of responsibilities. In this article, our Editor In-Chief Delfina interviews a candidate for the Director of Communications, whose job typically entails the maintenance of ASUCM’s social media and putting up a positive social face for the organization. Isaac, an editor, interviews Yasmin Teran-Salazar, a current-serving senator of ASUCM aiming for the position of Director of Student Advocacy, who leads the ASUCM committee of the same name and places special emphasis on representing underserved demographics at UC Merced.
Andrew Reed is a third year Computer Science & Engineering major running for Director of Communications. In his freshman year, he joined the Campus Activities Board, and in the past year has developed and runs the Campus Activity Board's website. He’s the Vice President of External Affairs for Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, and acts as a liaison between the university and other chapters of the fraternity across the country. He also works at the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) and oversees the 200+ registered clubs and organizations on campus. His work at OSI often overlaps with the duties of ASUCM, which means he’s familiar with some of the responsibilities expected of him should he be elected as Director of Communications.
Q: What do you hope to achieve during your time in office?
A: As Director of Communications, Andrew hopes to improve ASUCM’s marketing by implementing videography to increase visibility. Inspired by the Associated Student governments of other universities, he wants to send ASUCM senators out into the community to highlight Merced and make the role of an ASUCM senator one that’s more active and visible. “They really inspired me that we could do more,” he says.
Q: What is your current perception of UC Merced’s campus and ASUCM?
A: "That's definitely one of my goals, if I were Director of Communications… to increase that brand presence campus-wide," he says. “There’s a problem with people not knowing what ASUCM is and what they do.” By improving the branding and image of ASUCM, he hopes to also improve UC Merced’s visibility and image. "I want people to look at this school and be like, 'Wow… that is a cool school.’”
Q: Can you outline specific goals or projects you hope to implement?
A: When asked about his specific goals to implement as ASUCM’s Director of Communication, Andrew said that he hopes to increase the visibility of ASUCM in the student body by way of social media and, using that recognition, highlight and promote cultural holidays; cultural events; and cultural clubs. When asked how he’d do so, he responded: “People like to see people.” Posts with actual people in them get more engagement, he says, and so he wants to highlight the senators to draw attention to student government and the people involved in it.
Q: How do you approach making difficult decisions, especially when faced with conflicting interests?
A: Andrew wants to be an open line of communication and put himself out there "to seem approachable and dependable". “One thing that I like to believe in,” he says, “or that I try to preach, is that I don't want people to be alone… you're never alone."
Yasmin Teran-Salazar is a current Junior studying Political Science. She is a first-generation student from SoCal and has plans to become an immigration lawyer. She is running to become Director of Student Advocacy, and already serves as a Senator-At-Large, showcasing her established experience and drive.
We began by asking her for her experienced opinion, asking, “Why should students engage with ASUCM? Like attend meetings, going to events; why should they care?”
A: “Well the biggest one is that there are a lot of resources we have that get overlooked, especially like the scantrons, the prep books, there’s a lot of resources like printing that ASUCM has that I think that you don’t really know unless you are familiar with ASUCM. Even me, before I got elected, I never stepped foot in the ASUCM office except once to drop a ballot off. See, that’s another resource that we have. I just think it’s important for students to know the resources and the opportunities there.” She also added onto that, saying that there are a lot of opportunities within the External Office or that are involved with ASUCM such as Lobbying Conferences or any of the other Conferences that a lot of students might not know about, and that at certain Senate meetings there might be important guests, such as Deans or people from Admin, that come and that it’s important for students to be there so they are better informed.
Q: How do you plan to promote engagement on campus?
A: “I think it will definitely be a shift. The way I would promote my engagement would be more on an overall level, like I would always promote my office hours and any events. But I think if I was to get elected Director of Student Advocacy, there would be more joining into the clubs and meetings and letting them know what I can do for them instead of them coming to me, as it usually is when you are a Senator, usually clubs are coming to you with bills for funding. I think there will definitely be a shift for that. I think I’ll try to be more available, ensuring that students know they can come to me if they have concerns or if they need support, support from ASUCM in general, or if they have an issue reaching the admin. I can be that middle ground with them”
Q: How do you plan to gather feedback from students? Do you have an anonymous feedback form or anything like that?
A: “I currently don’t, but I think that’s like a great idea, I haven't really thought about that. I know Josue, the current Director of Student Advocacy, has been working on a feedback form for the Dining Services if I’m correct. I think maybe creating forms in different aspects, like feedback on not just on how I’m doing, but also how they think the dining services or housing services are doing, just to ensure that we know what is going on. I haven’t thought about that but I think those feedback forms, especially keeping them anonymous, might be a good idea”
Q: What strategies do you have for fostering inclusivity and diversity on campus?
A: “Currently I don’t have any strategies. I plan on reaching out to organizations and hearing what they need. I was in a few meetings with BSC and I got to learn a little bit about their point of view and got to understand things from their perspective and so I plan on doing that with other clubs because I do think it’s important and I do know that for ASUCM we are working towards getting a more diverse group of people elected and I hope that’s the case for the next term and if not we will figure out some strategies”
Q: Give an example of a time when you had to work with someone who disagreed with your perspective and how you resolved that situation?
A: “I think one of the clearest moments was when we were writing the resolution for the conflict in Palestine and Israel. That was a few weeks of us kind of back and forth but I think one of the ways we really showed that we cared about the students and we are going to get this done was when we stayed at that meeting. We left the Conference center and went to the ASUCM office and we worked collectively as all senators even though some of us had a different point of view, a different perspective, we came together and we wrote everything and we fixed everything and we came to a unanimous agreement on what we wrote and we were able to pass a resolution that many many students really wanted to get passed. So that was a really hard moment because for me it was hard seeing students being so passionate about something and not having other senators agreeing and it was hard hearing the stories and wanting to just pass the resolution but at the end of the day it’s a team effort. When you work at ASUCM you reflect the opinion of everyone not just yourself and that’s something that’s a bit difficult but ultimately, we worked together as a group and we were able to pass the Resolution and make our student body happy”
We then asked her how she planned to balance her responsibilities as a student with her duties at ASUCM, to which she discussed that she set her school schedule on certain days and then ASUCM and work hours on the other days. On top of her current ASUCM position and school, Yasmin also works as a Social Media Content Creator for the Media Cats Team, under the Office of Admission. She elaborated on her viewpoint, explaining that she views ASUCM as a job and treats it as a job, such as wanting to be responsible and manage tasks efficiently. She discussed prioritizations and the fact she prioritized everything so she wouldn’t fall behind on something.
Q: How do you approach making difficult decisions, especially when faced with conflicting interests?
A: “A lot of it will reflect back on what I’m hearing from the student body because when it comes to how you vote on a bill or anything like that it kind of is based on what the student body is telling me and what they are representing rather than what I feel. I feel like a lot of times what I do with ASUCM, it obviously reflects my personal values, but at the end of the day what always comes first is what the students need and what the students want and that is what I focus on.”
Q: What was the biggest lesson you learned while at your previous role at ASUCM?
A: “I’ve learned a lot of what it’s like to work in a team. What’s it like to form an opinion that represents a whole school, and how difficult that is, because, again, even though there’s a lot of us in ASUCM, we all collectively have to put up the same opinion”
Q: What qualities and experiences do you have that make you suited for the position you are seeking?
A: “With being a Senator-At-Large, I learned a lot overall, just the basics of what ASUCM is like, and I think the extra push that motivated me to run for the Director of Student Advocacy was working hand-in-hand with the current Director of Student Advocacy” She further discusses that she went to events from different committees, and that working closely with the Director expanded her passion for student advocacy. Being able to attend the Lobbying days or conferences where she was surrounded by students like her opened her eyes to what was happening to issues happening off campus and on other campuses and all throughout the UC’s. It made her more passionate towards organizing and helping students on campus come together and go against certain things that happen. She also discussed that she thinks she’s very open minded, and always tries to hear out all the perspectives but ultimately makes the decision based on what the students are asking for. But she always listens to peers and other Senators and what they are expressing.
She also mentioned that she has seen more students be more outspoken the last semester due to Palestine and other boycotting efforts and that she wanted to continue seeing students express their opinions. She stresses that it’s very important to let students have the platform to express their opinions. “I think that students should just continue to open up their minds and speak up for themselves because at the end of the day we have a voice for a reason”
When faced with the question, “How do you plan to foster transparency and accountability in your role,” she responded that on top of following ASUCM bylaws and being accessible and on record, she adds the importance of the website being up to date and easily accessible since that is where the voice recordings of the meetings are done and could be found at. For transparency, she also wants to promote Senate meetings in order to inform students that most of the meetings are public, and that the ASUCM office is an open space anyone is free to join and hang out at, and that you don’t have to be part of ASUCM to be there.
Q: What do you hope to acheive during your time in office?
A: “During my time in office I hope to strengthen the communication between our administration and our students, and ensure that our administration is reflecting on the needs of the students and what the students are voicing out that they want. And also, I really hope to be there for clubs, and instead of pushing clubs away from ASUCM I want to bring them back. I want clubs, club members and organizations, to feel welcome within ASUCM. I want to be an advocate for all of the students at UC Merced.” Her words also tie into her vision of what she wants to see at UC Merced, more advocacy and more students being outspoken.
Q: Can you outline specific goals and projects you hope to implement?
A: “So, I want more attendance at Lobbying days, so like Latin Lobbying day, Black Student Lobbying Day, Transfer Student Lobbying Day. Continuing the current Director’s vision so any of the housing projects that he had going on, any of the housing workshops, I want to continue to have those going on. I know there’s one coming up soon and I want to ensure that isn’t the last one. I know that dining is definitely a big issue with students still and so just ensuring that we are getting feedback and doing something about that and continuing to listen to student” She also mentions that she wants to bring advocacy to a new generation, and one of the goals she wanted to implement was creating more advocacy on campus. “One thing I’ve been focusing a lot more lately, especially with the Opportunity For All Movement, is just ensuring that as a campus we are listening to the voices of our undocumented students and ensuring that we are expanding the opportunities for undocumented students as there isn’t a lot right now”
Q: How do you envision your contributions making a lasting impact on UCM’s campus? What do you want your legacy to be essentially?
A: “I just hope to be seen as a leader who listened and a leader who put students first and put the student body first. I know we are viewed as politicians but I don’t want to be viewed as one, I want to be viewed as a student who spoke and advocated and worked for students.” Wants her contributions to continue on with the new students, just ensuring that the community stays the same, and brings up the fact it’s very important since UC Merced is bound to grow immensely in the next few years thanks to a new Medical School and new potential housing. There’s a lot of change is coming. Also brings up the fact that a lot of people think that students at UC Berkeley or other UC’s have power with their voices and she wants students at UC Merced to feel the same, that there is power behind their voices.
When asked about the proudest thing she had sone during her time as Senator she brought up passing the Palestine resolution, and how many clubs and events they were able to fund.
Q: What has been the biggest thing you’ve struggled with so far?
A: “It’s still, to this day, very hard to vote no to a bill when it comes to funding. It’s really hard as a student because I know as a student we have all these things we want to do and it’s really hard to say no and I still struggle to say no to club funding or just bills in general”
The last question we asked was simple: “Why should we vote for you?”
A: “I think I am very passionate about this position. I started working really closely with the current Director because I started seeing I would want to do this job, it seems like a really good way to give back to my community. I loved being a Senator, and honestly if I wasn’t running for Director of Student Advocacy I would run to be a Senator again, but I think that in order for me to move forward and do all the things I want to do and to create that environment I would be able to do that more efficiently as Director of Student Advocacy”
