Spring elections for the Undergraduate Student Union are coming up this Friday, marking the first regular Union elections since a constitutional amendment revamped the Allocations Board and added new members while extending terms. Other positions up for grabs include several senate seats and assistant treasury roles. According to an email sent to the Justice by Student Union Secretary Shuying Liu ’16, 15 candidates are in the running for the 15 available positions.

Senate Seats

Matthew Kowalyk ’18 and Cacildia Cain ’18 are each vying for the Class of 2018 Senator seats. The seats became available after Skye Golann ’18 left the University and Paul Sindberg ’18 was elected by the rest of the Senate on Sunday night to become the new Executive Senator, who represents the Senate on the Union Executive Board.

In separate emails to the Justice, Cain and Kowalyk described their intentions and reasons for running. Cain, an environmental studies major, wrote that she feels “environmental issues are overlooked at Brandeis and we as a campus and student body need to improve with sustainability.” She added that “I believe every student can name something they think should be improved at Brandeis but lacks adequate recognition by the administration, ranging from the dining options and meal plans, to how the administration handles sexual assault or reacts to student activism.” To address these issues, she hopes to increase transparency between the Brandeis administration, Board of Trustees and the student body.

Kowalyk, a video journalist for the Brandeis Hoot, wrote that he plans on using his videography skills to increase student awareness of Union activities and “to show people the value of working with the Student Union, and how Union decisions affect campus activities.”

Mitch Mankin ’16, the candidate for Off Campus Senator after Sam Krystal ’17 chose to take a leave of absence for the semester, wrote in an email to the Justice that he hopes to spend his last semester at Brandeis advocating for new requirements on the administration “to make real attempts to implement the policies in student referendums that pass with >50% of the vote, or at the very least to respond formally and publicly to them.” Specifically, Mankin cited fossil fuel divestment and the Just Employment policy, both of which saw wide student support in online polls and referendums, as issues which the administration has not responded to substantively.

Stephanie Reifenberg ’16 is currently a member of the Senate sustainability committee and hopes to improve campus environmental issues while also “ensuring that it is the best semester possible for graduating Seniors” if she is elected Class of 2016 Senator. “The Brandeis Community is looking for leaders who are willing to put forth their all to make campus a safe and welcoming space for everyone, something that I believe the Student Union is currently doing that I hope to be a part of as a Senator,” Reifenberg wrote.

Morris Nadjar ’19, running for Massell Quad Senator, wrote to the Justice that while his platform is not yet set in stone, he is concerned about quad-specific issue. “We did not see any changes last semester in Massell Quad as we would have liked to see,” Nadjar wrote. “Therefore, under my term I wish to renew the life at Massell Quad.” He plans on calling attention to issues with the Massell bathrooms and meeting with fellow residents to better understand their concerns. Other Senate races include Ryan Tracy’s ’17 bid for Class of 2017 Senator, Claudia Roldan’s ’18 bid for Rosenthal Quad Senator and Gwenyth Fraser’s ’17 bid for Ziv Quad Senator, though none of the three candidates could be reached by press time.

A-Board positions

More positions are available on the A-Board, which reviews funding requests by clubs and allocates funds, than ever before after a constitutional amendment increased the board’s size from seven to 11 members on Nov. 7, according to a Nov. 10 Justice article. The amendment came as a result of increased scrutiny of A-Board’s decision-making process after reduced rollover funds led to wide budget cuts for clubs last semester. It also added different term limits for several positions on A-Board to ensure that there is an experienced member on the board at all times.

Xinyi Xu ’19 and XiaoRan Wang ’18 are each running for two semesters-long appointments. Xu wrote in an email to the Justice that she has experience from being on an A-board-like position in high school as well as from being an Economics major. Wang wrote in an email to the Justice that she ran for A-Board because “as an international student, I want to understand more about clubs and how financial system works in college.” Jiabei Wang ’18 and Emma Russell ’19 are running for Racial Minority member and a three-semester appointment respectively. Neither responded to a request for comment by press time.

Assistant Treasurers

Wenli Bao ’17 and Qifu Yin ’18 are each vying for appointment as Assistant Treasurers; rather than being voted in by the student body, qualified candidates are appointed to these positions by Treasurer Nicole Lenchner ’16. Five total assistant treasurers can be selected.

Bao wrote to the Justice that she applied for an assistant treasurer position to get more involved with the campus community and is familiar with club financing through her work as treasurer of the Ballroom Dance club. “I think we need a Union that is more efficient and maximally uses its resources to meet student body’s needs,” Bao wrote. Yin could not be reached by press time.

Other appointed positions include Chief of Staff to the President and Union, Media Manager and Historian of the Union, and several committee positions.

Candidates for these positions were not disclosed to the Justice.