The New Face of the Kean University’s Student Government Association

continued from cover for many years, and have held the title of class president dating back to my sophomore year of high school,” Kuntz said. “The welcoming and positive energy I sensed from the members of Student Government Association at my first Kean Day influenced my decision to continue being involved in college.”

As SGA executive board president, Kuntz’s goal is to increase the school spirit while also taking care of student concerns, as well as working with different departments within the university so students can have a better experience. Ultimately increasing school spirit at Kean and within the student body and their involvement on campus, while also addressing student concerns.

“I hope to strengthen our relationships with the many departments and student groups on campus, as well as reaching out to neighboring SGAs from other colleges or universities in our area,” Kuntz said.

Kuntz mentioned that some of her responsibilities as president included working closely with the Vice President of Student Affairs Matthew Caruso, as well as organizing and leading bi-weekly SGA executive board and senate meetings. She will also be consulting with her fellow executive board members and ensuring that they are successful in their various position and roles.

“Ultimately serving as a liaison between the students and the university administration,” Kuntz said.

Sandra Bandeira, a junior majoring in Communication was elected SGA director of public relations. Bandeira served as a SGA S for the junior class for the 2022-2023 academic year and has built close relationships with people within SGA and wanted to continue to grow in student government.

“I’m very passionate about advocating for student needs and interacting with the student body in a way that I can connect with students that I may have never had the opportunity to connect with prior to being a part of SGA,” Bandeira said. “Majoring in Communication has allowed me to learn the in’s and out’s of public relations.”

Being the director of public relations comes with responsibilities from informing the campus about SGA events, decisions and policies to handling their social media accounts.

“Recruiting new members, increasing student involvement within SGA and participating in more campus events,” Bandeira said.

As director of public relations Bandeira’s goal is to continue to expand on SGA’s student engagement by making SGA’S social media pages a more interactive resource.

The newly elected members of SGA look to improve student involvement when it comes to the university and improve any issues that students may express. n

Grant Money to go to Child Care for Students

continued from page 4 students are raising children while attending school, with 53% raising a child under age 6, according to a 2021 Institute of Women's Policy Research.

Not only is the number of student-parent attendees undisclosed as a major issue among college graduation rates, but according to the Institutes for Women’s Policy Research, there are high dropout rates for student parents.

About 52% of student parents leave school within six years without obtaining a degree. Child care access, financial insecurity and time constraints also serve as barriers to college completion for parents, experts say.

Kean University Child Care & Developmental Center and the U.S. The Department of Education has made sure that student parents are receiving as much help necessary as they can to support their child while fulfilling their academic endeavors.

Dave Achin, an associate and staff member at Kean University’s Child Care and Developmental Center said, “we are quite unique to many of our students. We are known for word of mouth from other parents, so our

Students And Staff frustrated with Okta

continued from page 5 easier and faster for the faculty and students. reputation has preceded us many times. Individuals are then interested in having their children placed at the

Ayomide Adeniji, a senior majoring in psychology, also understands the need for security but she expressed frustration with the length of the process.

“It’s good in preventing scams and spams and all which I guess they’re trying to prevent,” Adeniji said.

Adeniji said the Gmail app is great but if the tab closes, or resets, or you have to sign in from another device that belongs to you, then you have to use the MFA.

“It's really inconvenient to go to the verification app for the code, especially because there’s like three and you need to try all to get the right one,” Adeniji said. n student parent needs while they attend school.

Lashae Jones, a junior and transfer student at Kean majoring in Elementary Education with a concentration in Earth Science said, “having the ability to have one less child at home just so I can focus more on my studies as opposed to having to worry about two kids at home and then juggling school as well I think is really helpful for a lot of parents trying to get into the spirit of attending school.” child care center.”

Most student parents are mothers,70 % and 43 % of all student parents are single mothers. A majority of student parents are students of color (53%), with Black and Indigenous women in college being particularly likely to be parenting compared with other women and men in college according to Institute for Women’s Policy Research and Ascend at the Aspen Institute.

The Child Care & Developmental Center Has done an extraordinary job in emphasizing the importance of

“Knowing that I can attend school while having that taken care of and then one of my kids can also go to school and get taken care of as well, that's less stress I have to worry about as far as child care goes for one of my children,”Jones said. n