Update: since this article was published, candidates Rebecca Ho and Bella Rubinton have dropped out of the race. Jonathan Evan Tobin was also approved as a candidate for the ballot.
Student Association (SA) vice president for academic affairs (VPAA) elections will be held on Monday. Read up on each candidate’s platform before casting a vote.
— Raul Cepin, a senior majoring in Latin American and Caribbean Area studies.
Cepin is vice president of the Juvenile Urban Multicultural Program (JUMP Nation), and said he is devoted to ensuring that all students have access to quality education. A McNair Scholar and self-proclaimed debate geek, Cepin said he is active on campus and involved in research.
Cepin’s platform included many projects and advocacy proposals, including a commitment to expanding research opportunities, improving academic advising and University Counseling Center resources and expanding the Student Advocates Program. Cepin also said he would like to encourage SA-chartered organizations to prioritize co-curricular planning, and also increase the number of internship, TA, independent study and health and wellness credits that students can put toward their Harpur degree requirements. Cepin said that if elected, he would work as an advocate for the student body.
— Hunter Feasel, a junior majoring in biology.
Feasel is currently president of Seneca Hall in College-in-the-Woods and has experience in hall government. He is a transfer student from Tompkins Cortland Community College, which he said gives him a unique perspective on the position of VPAA.
Feasel said his goal for the VPAA office is to create a safe environment and allow every student to feel as if they are supported in the Binghamton University community. He said that he wants to speak to a variety of students to better gauge what is important to them.
Additionally, Feasel said that the students facing Code of Student Conduct violations should have adequate representation and be supported through the process. Although he does not plan to push legislation all the time, he added that he will facilitate communication among students.
— Rebecca Ho, a junior majoring in business administration.
Ho has worked as a SA Financial Council representative and a Road Map intern. She works in the VPAA office and has been working on the SA mentorship program.
Ho said the main component of her platform is to further expand the SA mentorship program. According to her, the program is prioritizing three major groups — freshman students who had difficult first years, transfer students and international students — to see which would benefit the most from mentorship opportunities.
If elected, she also said she would focus on transparency in University policy, and make sure that students were aware of rules on campus. According to her, many students think policies exist that in fact do not, such as an assumption that if a professor is more than 15 minutes late, class is dismissed.
Ho added that it is a turning point in SA history, and that the e-board must further its efforts to represent students of color on campus. She said the SA office must be more accepting, and that she would work to find common ground among students at BU.
— Bella Rubinton, a junior double-majoring in Judaic studies and music.
Rubinton is the SA representative for Hinman College. She is also a member of various clubs on campus, including being the director of iNext, and worked on Conrad Taylor’s campaign for city council.
If elected, Rubinton said she plans to reform the advising system in Harpur College. According to her, the current adviser to student ratio is 800-to-1. To supplement this, she said she wants to create a program where each adviser trains student advisers who can help with mentorship. According to her, this will allow students to stick to one adviser instead of having to jump around. When the adviser is not available, a student can meet with one of the adviser’s student mentors.
In addition, Rubinton said she will consult with students from other BU schools to better represent students outside of Harpur College and continue working on a course replacement initiative that will allow students to retake classes in which they have received below a C grade.
— Levon Volpe, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience.
Volpe said if elected, he hopes to be able to bridge gaps in the campus community. According to him, communication must increase between all student groups and organizations on campus. Volpe also said he wants to integrate various academic departments so that they can collaborate, and also increase course offerings in entrepreneurship for Harpur College students.
Volpe also said he wants to extend the add-drop deadline in the semester, and give students more time to decide whether they want to stay registered for a course. Additionally, he said that there need to be more advising resources available on campus, and that there must be increased transparency between the SA and the student body.
— Michael Wuest, a sophomore double-majoring in history and philosophy, politics and law.
Wuest is a member of SA Congress and a member of the Student Life and Academics committee, which works closely with the VPAA office. Wuest said that since he was a spring admitted student, he understands the difficulty of transferring to a new place in the middle of the year.
If elected, Wuest said he would work to expand the SA mentors program and SA advocates program. Additionally, he said he wants to expand the amount of computer science courses available to Harpur College students, and bridge the gap between academic departments to simplify the double-major and dual-degree process for students.
— Write-in candidate: Jonathan Tobin, a senior double-majoring in history and philosophy, politics and law.
Due to a miscommunication with his initial ballot approval, Tobin is not on the official ballot for VPAA. He is pending approval by the SA Judicial Board to be added to the ballot formally before the election on Monday, but currently stands as a write-in candidate for the position.
Tobin said that because of the ambiguity with his candidacy, he has not yet mapped out a platform. According to him, the VPAA mainly plays a role as a diplomat in the relationship between the student body and the administration. He said he is qualified for the position based on his experience as social vice president of O’Connor Hall of Dickinson Community, a member of Student Congress and a member off Off Campus College Council (OC3).