Student Government Association Presidential candidate Macomb junior Justin Gawronski and Vice presidential candidate Alma junior Anna Dvorak talked with Staff Reporter Octavia Carson about their campaign. CM Life will do question and answers with all SGA presidential candidates. The general elections will be held from March 12-16; students can vote online.

Octavia Carson: What do you want to accomplish?

Justin Gawronski: I think in general Anna and I really want to do a really solid job representing the students on campus more so than anything else. We have our own campaign initiatives that we think will better campus life for people, but if there is something that the students specifically want us to work on that is what we are going to put our focus on.

As far as our specific campaign initiatives, they involve the better use of technology by students and faculty. They are mandating Blackboard parameters so students can always access their grades through Blackboard, because I know that doesn’t happen very often.

We want to work with the Academic Senate and the provost to increase different types of learning and teaching on campus. Personally, I have been doing that with the Teaching and Learning Collective. We just had a conference and the provost made a commitment to that conference, so I know he is very open to these new innovative forms of teaching.

Anna Dvorak: I would like to see gender-neutral housing expand to more than just a case-by-case basis.

JG: Definitely expound upon current SGA projects that they are working on. I know academic affairs is working on getting online auditing, online major and minor signing.

We would really like to not let that fall by the wayside because we know that during these transitions there are projects that may get left behind and that’s just the nature of transitions. We specifically want to make sure those are followed through even if the same people are not working on it as this year.

OC: How would you handle a situation such as the Faculty Association crisis?

JG: I think it was handled incredibly well. I know Vince (Cavataio, current SGA President) took a lot of flak for everything, but I really do think that the “students for students” campaign was the best route. As a representation of the student body, which Anna and I would be, I don’t think it's right to take the side of the FA or for the administration. We just really need to facilitate the dissemination of information so that students can be as informed as possible, which we really try to do.

AD: The infighting between the administration and the faculty has nothing to do with students. That was not our place; it was not fair for the FA to even expect us to be pulled into (it).

While we'd support each side receiving what they're bargaining for, it's not fair to drag students into the debate. We support the fantastic faculty that has contributed so heavily to our quality educations, but this isn't about the students. SGA's "students for students" initiative was the best way to handle the situation. Until a group of students comes to us asking for our help, it's not our place to ultimate action.

JG: Regardless of anything it was the students that were hurt by this and we just wanted to compromise as soon as possible so that we could all move on.

OC: Since the unicameral proposal will not be on the ballot, how would you like the bicameral system to look next year?

JG: I don’t think unicameral discussions are going to end. The current proposal is definitely postponed. I think having that discussion is important to figure out how to make SGA as effective as possible, not saying that we were planning on implementing this or anything like that, but having that discussion I think is important.

As far as bicameral is concerned, we really need to work to have the senate rules enforced more so people know what to expect, because there have been issues with that in the past where some people really step up to the plate but others don’t know what is expected of them so they don’t really know what to do or where to start.

AD: What happens now is that we have open seats that we spend two and sometimes four meetings electing senators to fill those seats. What I think needs to happen is, if there are open seats in elections at the beginning of each semester, what use to happen is you would submit an application through the elections committee and then they would decided from there who was placed into the senate. I think that is far more efficient than what is happening right now and we would like to kind of restructure the e-council as well.

JG: It is a lot about publicizing the senate too. A lot of people don’t really know what the senate does or who they represent. So it’s about making those standards a lot more concrete so people know what they are suppose to be doing.

I think some solid ideas to do that is to hold open forums with the different colleges with the deans present so that people can actually meet their representatives in the senate so they can start working on projects that fulfill that voice.

AD: There are going to be new rules that are going to be established in the house coming up in the next meeting I think it’s important that we continue those as well.

JG: Just making the house more professional and more effective. This is an e-board position they are representing a large number of students, it should be treated a bit more professionally than it is now and a lot of that is working with committees to inspire people to work harder be more effective.

OC: Anna, how do your current and past roles in SGA help you (as a candidate and potential vice president)?

AD: I currently serve as the Parliamentarian and am charged with making sure that meetings run in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order. As the Vice President, it is my job to oversee the internal workings of SGA.

The duties of the Vice President demand incredible attention to organization and details. It is imperative that the Vice President is punctual in meeting with Committee Chairs and members of e-council. I see my experience with Parliamentary Procedure as an excellent primer to the job. I also serve as the Senate Pro Tempore. In the absence of the Senate Leader, I would run Senate meetings. It requires that I am flexible and ready to lead when necessary.

Outside of SGA, I've worked in quite a few professional offices on campus. This experience has taught me the intimate internal workings of an office environment and precisely what it takes to satisfy customers. It taught me a significant amount about the internal workings of other offices on campus as well.

OC: Justin, how does your current and past roles in SGA help you (as a candidate and potential president)?

JG: My role as president is a little bit different than Anna’s where I am more of the external face of SGA. So I feel like a lot of my external involvements besides SGA really help shaped me to be the best President for the elections.

Specifically within SGA I am familiar with how everything works, I know what roles are for who and how the committees, senate and house are suppose to work. Which are just three very integral parts of SGA and I have been a member of e-council since last may. So Anna and I are very familiar with how to run e-council meetings effectively and efficiently. We also see were cuts may need to be made to make it run more effectively

Outside of SGA as president of Spectrum, panelist for Speak Up Speak Out, panelist for the Teaching and Learning Collective, working with a group of individuals for the anti-discrimination ordinances I have experiences not only in SGA but on campus through other involvements whether it be faculty based or student based like RSOs, and I also have involvements within Mount Pleasant so I think that really shapes me to be the best presidential candidate just because of all of my external experiences.