Incoming ASUW President Brian Schueler and Vice President Emily Kath are working to implement their ideas for the upcoming school year, despite limited summer responsibilities.
“It’s too quiet in here,” Kath said as she walked through the nearly empty ASUW office in the basement of the Union.
As part of their training for their new positions within ASUW, Schueler and Kath are taking part in the ASUW student internship.
The internship is the only official responsibility ASUW administrations take on during the summer, Kath said.
“The internship’s original intention was for the student government leaders to understand the inner workings of the university,” Kath said. “It’s interesting the more Brian and I have met with certain people, the more we realize how many moving parts there are to make this institution work the way that it does.”
However, Schueler and Kath have been doing more than just research over the course of the summer.
“Brian and I have honestly just been spending this summer laying the foundation for hopefully, what’s to come in the year,” Kath said.
The new administration is changing things up this summer, Schueler said.
“We’re taking the summer a little bit differently from past administrations,” Schueler said. “We’re one of the first groups that’s not only learning about the structure of the university, but also actively advancing our plans throughout the summer.”
Many of those plans were outlined over the course of the election last spring. Representation for freshmen and international students, amnesty for perpetrators of underage drinking that are looking for medical attention and the undoing of the plus-minus grading system are all objectives of the Schueler and Kath administration.
“A lot of those plans require input and affect a lot of people across the university,” Schueler said. “I’ve seen a lot of initiatives that have lots of promise and lots of drive from ASUW fail, not because they weren’t good ideas but simply because if you don’t include some of those high administrators and at least let them know what’s going on–when suddenly the student body is saying ‘we need to act on this right now’ they’re more likely to say ‘no.’ So a lot of it is telling administrators about our plans, asking for their feedback and advice.”
Thanks to the time they have over the course of the summer, Schueler has been able to hold over 50 different meetings with administrators, faculty and other groups so far, he said.
