UPUA Platform

Mitchell/Khayat Platform Both Anthony Mitchell and Zico Khayat have done work for the betterment of student life outside of the student government, but want to work on the real issues that students across the university are facing. We have compiled a thorough and comprehensive platform that we feel covers a wide range of concerns here at Penn State. Many of the items below have previously been worked on by the UPUA and executives before us, but we believe our unique experiences will help to bring about the completion of many of these stagnant initiatives. We would be incredibly excited to take up the mantle on many of these issues that students are facing here at Univeristy (if elected). However, we are incredibly interested in soliciting student feedback and ideas in all facets of the student government process, and will use our existing relationships both inside and outside of the UPUA to improve the lives of students..

- ACADEMIC AFFAIRSMental Health & Sexual Assault Resources Placed on Syllabi Mental health and sexual assault have proved time and time again to be prominent, real issues on this campus and campuses across the scope of our Big Ten peers. Therefore, we will promote the availability of mental health care and sexual assault resource information, the academic rights of students.

Revamped Syllabi System We plan to utilize our working partnership with the University Faculty Senate to redefine the experience that students have with their syllabi. If elected, we plan to advocate for a database of syllabi for students to survey a course before ever taking the class. Resources for reporting bias and discrimination/intolerance will also be made aware to students through their syllabi.

Textbook Rental Renewal If elected, we will work with our friends over in the University Libraries to work on a way for students to renew library textbook rentals online. We believe the current way students renew a library textbook rental every two hours in person is unnecessary and limiting to the student. By implementing this, we will see more fluidity in the rental system and its accessibility to students.

Anonymous Reporting of Faculty-Senate Violations Students have expressed concerns about being able to report their academic violations by professors but have also mentioned the conflict that this reporting may cause if that professor

knows who they are. We propose an online system that will allow students to express their potential academic violations of University Policy to the Faculty Senate, and this will be available on their syllabi as well.

- DIVERSITY & INCLUSIONInclusion of Latino and Asian Students’ History in “ BlackHistory.psu.edu� Format There were initial discussions about making this happen in the 10th Assembly, but we want to work with organizations pertaining and associates to these two communities of color on campus to share the history and successes of minoritized student groups and individuals at Penn State.

BlackHistoy.psu.edu will be the model that will be used for Latino and Asian student history sites adopted by the university.

University Park Transition If elected, we will ensure the continuity of the program and work toward making the transition as smooth as we possibly can for Penn State students from our 19 commonwealth campuses or from other countries. Some aspects of transition are covered in tours, campus visits, New Student Orientation, and even college specific orientations. These are great resources, but we will do more to ensure inclusivity of new members to the Penn State community through implementation of compiled resources to be published in the S-book.

Review of Health Insurance System Students of the university, especially international students that are required by the University to have health insurance. This proves to be concerning for members of our international community because there is not much flexibility in what they are able to choose and how they can address their health needs at University ark. We plan to reexamine the system and its accessibility for international and nation students to have the care they need here at Penn State.

International Student Housing for Breaks Fellow students from our international community have vocalized their frustrations many times in regards to housing and the lack of accessibility. Break access housing has proven time and time again to be challenging for international students, especially during the holiday season. We are going to continue working with the office of Global Programing to help aid international students in getting break access housing before they even arrive at Penn State.

Introducing Diverse Students Perspectives to the University Faculty Senate

This past February, the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs and Student Life committee featured a panel of students talking about their perspective on the the level of inclusivity Penn State has as well as the cultural climate of the University Park campus. We seek to build upon this success and continue to foster areas and spaces for students of differing backgrounds in order for them to share their ideas, frustrations, comment, and concerns to University’s highest levels of leadership.

Further Advocacy Diversity Report Recommendations Through much hard work, late nights, and many revisions, the Diversity Report was a robust report detailing the current state of PSU when it come to the cultural climate and . During the 11th Assembly, we seek to ensure that the recommendations that were developed by the report are actually carried out by the administrators that signed off on the report. Those recommendations proved to be promising for bettering Penn State for marginalized communities. .

- FACILITIES Blue & White Brigade Expansion This initiative have been a fantastic progression from only sending students to away football games (for free) in the 8th Assembly to a full partnership with Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) and marquee sports like Hockey, Volleyball, and Basketball for free or significantly reduced cost. If elected in the 11th Assembly, we will definitely continue this proven partnership and foster a sustainable model for the program.

Pace Tracker Coming into the UPUA office can be difficult for some students, so we will make the initiatives that we are working on public through the UPUA website. There, we can show the students that we represent what we have worked on, are currently working on, and will work on. This will also allow students to be fully engaged and updated on what their representatives are accomplishing and allow the UPUA to be fully transparent with its peers.

Professional Attire Rental The Student Life committee, in the 9th Assembly, began work on creating a Career Services Rental Program. Since then, this program has been piloted and has had a successful launch. The students have appreciated the program, we will continue to use our resources, partnerships, and relationships to better the professional attire rental program.

Airport Shuttle

Having a shuttle to the State College Airport in the days leading up to school breaks would help a number students with travel arrangements in a timely manner. Students may find themselves stuck trying to find a means of transportation to the airport if they need to fly out of the State College Airport for a break, many of which can be expensive. The 10th Assembly has brought back the initiative at the end of its term because students should not have to incur an additional cost to travel home if there are resources available to them. We will look into continuing this program and eventually having the University take up this initiative.

Creamery Ice Cream Truck Of course, we want to continue the milestones up unto its completion and manifestation for the Creamery Ice Cream. We will ensure that the plan for the Creamery Ice Cream Truck stays its course until the day it is able to roll around campus, available during football game days, and other special events.

WhatToFix (WTF) Program ReLaunch After a successful relaunch, we cannot allow the site and service to return to being dormant, so we must continue to engage students with what they want to see fixed on campus. The What To Fix (WTF) initiative was created exclusively for students to share what they believe needs fixed on campus. Therefore, we will utilize the online forum of submitting responses and will also continue the momentum we have amassed by actually working on the initiatives written on the relaunch board.

- GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS Downtown/Alleyway Lighting UPUA previously went on tours of downtown State College with the prominent student organizations on campus with the purpose of finding out exactly what areas were of concern for residents and students that live in the Borough. Since then, we have had many conversation with the Borough about what can be done to better the downtown lighting. We want to continue that working relationship to see this initiative through its completion.

Continued Legislative Advocating for Appropriations

A lot of what students have to pay for Penn State’s tuition and fees are determined by the amount of appropriations received from the state. Students are always talking about the increasing cost of tuition and fees, but that is dependant upon so many factors. Our ticket seeks to advocated for increased appropriations to Penn State from our friends in Harrisburg and governor, Tom Wolf, thus making this a way to keep tuition costs down and make Penn State more affordable.

Revision of Nuisance Property Ordinance If elected to the 11th Assembly, we will use the working relationships and partnerships between the UPUA and the State College Borough Council members to allow community members that are Penn State students to use community service as a means to work off Borough points.

Currently. “Family and Fraternity houses” are given the opportunity to participate in community service to have two Borough points removed within a small window. We want to build upon this to make the process easier for members of the Penn STate family that live in the Borough. .

Pennsylvania Association of State Schools We believe that together (with our peers across the commonwealth of PA), our lobbying efforts on behalf of Penn State students will have a greater rate of success because we have a unique opportunity of collaboration across colleges and universities. We will continue the efforts of the recently re-established efforts of the Pennsylvania Association of State Schools (PASS) and work closely with them to deliver a unified message to our elected officials in Harrisburg regarding state funding of higher education.

- STUDENT LIFE Safety App Recommendation In order to make University Park the safest that it can be, we will work with the University administration, University Police, and our partners to promote the general welfare of students through a mobile safety app (connected to local resources) specifically for safety and emergencies. Work has already been started in the 10th Assembly, and we want to see this initiative through to its fruition.

Purchasing Guest Football Tickets Students have expressed time and time again their frustration with having to physically go to the Bryce Jordan Center to buy football tickets for their guests. We will work with the ticketing office to develop a better, easier system that is more convenient for students outside of waiting in line for hours.

Implementation of Executive Office Hours Problems in the 11th Assembly election cycle has caused a sense of distrust and division amongst the students and their student government. We believe that by implementing office hours, we can have more of an impact on the students and truly engage with them on a regular basis.

Additionally, this will promote transparency amongst the student body by allowing students to regularly visit the office and see what is being worked on by the UPUA. Filling in the Gaps Across Campus Penn State has over 900 clubs and organizations across the campus. Amidst all these clubs and governing bodies such as the student governments and councils of University for consistent messaging and clear lines of communication between the seemingly separate entities. Once established, we plan to promote longevity and constant dialogue about the future of Penn State and how we can work together to fix it.

Mental Health & Wellness Allocation The Student Fee Board gives students the opportunity to promote the causes we care most about.

One of those causes is mental health and wellness. We will utilize the Student Fee Board and promote the usage of student fee dollars to support mental health care resources. It is estimated that 1 in 4 students will identify with some sort of mental illness throughout their time in college, so we must do all that we can to make sure student know their resources and are taking advantage of them.

Removing Rental Fee for Space in the HUB Some students have expressed their concerns about not wanting to pay the new fee that reservations in some places in the HUB require payment for usage. Many of which feel as though it is a retaliation of the university to target marginalized groups that may not have the funds to purchase as much money to spend as larger, more prominent organizations. We plan to address this by working with our friends at the HUB to remove this fee for more accessibility to students that seek to use these spaces.

Implementation of LGBTQIA Report Recommendations Because of the hard work of members of the 10th Assembly, a robust report of the state of the LGBTQIA Community at Penn State and where we can make improvements in funding, space allocation, and much more. We plan to build off the outcry for better conditions by students of the LGBTQIA Community as well as the 10th Assembly by ensuring that the administration and appropriate entities are doing their part to bring the recommendations to fruition.

Sexual Violence Awareness & Prevention It's On Us to stop sexual violence. Penn State has been a leader in the fight against sexual assault and harassment on campus. We plan to engage the campus community and the current view of sexual assault through use of the resources available to us to prevent more sexual assaults, promote bystander intervention, educate our peers, and make Penn State safer for more of its students.

He For She Campaign Expansion We believe that “He For She� is a great gender equality movement that will create more educational opportunities and awareness of gender issues that are prominent on campus and throughout the world for a more inclusive Penn State. Gender equality is still a large problem throughout the United States and the world, and it will continue to be a problem for many female Penn State students and graduates if we do not do something about it. We seek to build off the success of this year to make the He For She Campaign more at the forefront.

Regular Open Forums It is apparent to us that there will need be an increased need for connectivity to the student body, if elected into office. There have been issues concerning the trust of the students and the UPUA. We will encourage students not to lose faith in the organization as it is their student government.

Along with the chance for students to communicate their hesitations with the student government, they can vocalize their concerns/issues about other aspects of the university.

Combatting Student Hunger Penn State is a family, and we answer the call when another Penn Stater is in need of assistance.

Many times students run out of meal points just weeks before the semester’s end. If elected, we will continue to explore ways for students with an abundance of leftover meal points to donate them to a fund that can be used to benefit another student that is in need. Research for this initiative was done in the 10th Assembly, and we will continue to work on finding a solution to this issue