Spring 2023 Platforms – Carleton Student Association

Positions are listed in alphabetical order. Candidates are also listed in alphabetical order.

AFAC Liaison
Mileana Borowski ’25
Juan Garcia Reyes ’26

Chaplain’s Office Liaison (uncontested)
Isabel Intrater ’26

ECC Liaison
Allison Penn ’25
Gabe Seidman ’26

OHP Liaison (uncontested)
Emma Kutcher ’26

Inter-Campus Liaison (uncontested)
Jocelyn Ferguson ’25

ISL Liaison (uncontested)
Narjis Nusaibah ’26

ResLife Liaison (uncontested)
Gabe Kaplan ’25

Sustainability Working Group (uncontested)
Eli Watt ’24

Treasurer (uncontested)
Hannah Klein ’25

TRIO/SSS Liaison (uncontested)
Graci Huff ’25

Platforms

AFAC Liaison

Mileana Borowski ’25

Drawing from my experience as a Carletonian section editor, member of the Distinguished Women Visitors Committee, and writer for the Carleton News site, I have gained valuable communication and leadership skills that make me an ideal fit for the AFAC Liaison position.

As a section editor for the Carletonian, I honed my interpersonal skills by collaborating with sources and members of the newsroom while managing strict deadlines. I adeptly communicate with sources to gather information for articles, ensuring that their quotes and perspectives are accurately represented. This requires active listening skills and the ability to ask thoughtful and relevant questions. Moreover, I work collaboratively with other section editors to coordinate content and guarantee that the publication is cohesive and well-rounded.

Being a member of the DWV committee, I work closely with faculty and staff to review applications and formulate our response in a manner that best reflects our values of elevating women’s voices. This work is conducted asynchronously and in-person, which has advanced my ability to communicate over multiple platforms, including email and face-to-face discussions.

My role as a student writer for Carleton’s Communications Department has been the most impactful, as I have engaged with all facets of the community here at Carleton, interviewing faculty, staff, and students to craft well-rounded articles. This experience has given me the ability to communicate with various individuals and groups effectively, providing updates, gathering information, and building relationships, making me an ideal candidate for the AFAC Liaison position. Additionally, my writing skills have been sharpened, which would be useful in drafting emails, memos, or other documents that require clarity and concision.

Overall, my experience has equipped me with transferable skills, including effective communication, collaboration, and strong writing skills, that would undoubtedly make me a valuable asset to the AFAC Liaison position.

As an individual interested in policy-making and committed to making a positive impact on the Carleton community, I am eager to serve as the AFAC Liaison. I am particularly drawn to this role because it presents the opportunity to contribute to important decisions related to admissions and financial aid while building stronger connections with the Carleton community. I believe that serving as the AFAC Liaison would allow me to contribute to the betterment of the Carleton community, provide me with a valuable opportunity to grow as a leader and be extremely rewarding. I am excited about the opportunity to serve in this position and look forward to the possibility of making a difference in the lives of Carleton students.

Juan Garcia Reyes ’26

I am in the advantaged position of having filled a student-at-large role within AFAC this year. Adding to this, I also have a healthy rapport with two of the AFAC faculty members given that I have taken classes with them. Although I discontinued the habit late into fall term, I have attended a handful of CSA meetings, so I am familiar with their structure. Put simply, I am well acquainted with the expectations of being a student in AFAC and with some of the duties of a liaison. Skill-wise, I am quite apt at summarizing meetings and presenting findings/recommendations. I attribute these to my GWSS writing rich course and my current work-study that sees me conducting data analysis for the local school district’s ADSIS program. On the latter point, the multiple meetings with NPS liaisons and weekly check-ups with the QRC director have allowed me to grow comfortable asserting my perspective on sensitive issues, in this case educational equity. If things pan out in my favor, I will also be taking IDSC 203: Talking about diversity during fall term. Considering the current concerns over the annulation of Affirmative Action, I am certain that experience will give me a better chance to contribute to the navigation of maintaining fairness in admissions post-Affirmative Action.

As a QuestBridge student, I feel a deep obligation to ensure that low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented communities have some representation in the committee that is most salient to them. While I eschew claims of being able to represent everyone – my positionality makes this an impossible task – I remain steadfast in trying to give a voice to the groups I do share connections with. My placement in TRIO, FOCUS, and QuestBridge cast a wide net in that regard. Aside from serving as a much-needed representative, I also enjoy partaking in the discussions and in being privy to statistics that put into scale the demographics and disparities of Carleton. The oft-neglected statistician in me becomes gleeful with any new data even if I don’t get to play around with it (because sometimes it’s confidential). In more serious matters, there are a number of initiatives and proposals that I find necessitate a thorough evaluation from a socially-cognizant student. That is not to say I am best suited for the role simply because of my standpoint, but the argument of epistemological privilege is well merited. One program in particular holds a great deal of importance to me. That being the Schuler initiative as it is explicitly for the uplifting of pell-eligible students (who will be 19% of the incoming class!). It also has the effect of increasing QuestBridge admissions, which is a major plus. Other than that, the most recent meeting put on the table discussions for abandoning Carleton’s fixed wages and opting for a sliding scale to better reflect differences in work conditions. It should be apparent that such a change would impact students differently based on their financial situations. While we are a completely advisory committee, our votes and conversations, and by extension my voice, are not negligible in the shaping of policies especially since there is a sizable overlap in AFAC and the admissions and financial aid working group.

Chaplain’s Office Liaison (uncontested)

Isabel Intrater ’26

I am currently serving as a Chaplain’s Associate (CA), and will be continuing that next year, and thus have a close relationship with the Chapel’s Office, and various religious groups on campus. I meet with the Chaplain, and other CAs every week to discuss and plan events, and thus will be able to communicate needs and concerns of the Chapel and religious life on campus to CSA and keep the Chapel’s office informed of pertinent discussions and decisions of the CSA. I have also served as the Secretary of the Jewish Students of Carleton (JSC), where my primary role was making sure that the JSC and the Chapel were kept informed of important information, as they are often working in tandem, which brings valuable experience for a Liaison role. I am organized and attentive, and will be ready to serve as a line of communication between the Chapel and CSA, and ensure that the appropriate needs and concerns are being addressed.

I’ve really enjoyed working in the Chapel, and being a part of putting on so many events for the Carleton community. I’m eager for the opportunity to partake in a similar pursuit of supporting Carleton students, in a new way. I think being a part of CSA is a really exciting way to expand my involvement in the Chapel, and the greater Carleton community. CSA is able to have a large impact on campus events and student life, and that is something that I really want to be a part of. I’m really excited to bring together the work I’ve been doing at the Chapel with getting involved with CSA. The warmth I’ve felt in being part of the Chapel’s office has been a really important part of my Carleton experience, and is indicative of the Chaplain’s Office and Associates ability to create really open and inviting spaces. I’m excited to bring the work of the Chapel to CSA, and advocate on behalf of Carleton students.

ECC Liaison

Allison Penn ’25

By combining my passion for the educational/ curriculum of Carleton with my organizational and interpersonal skills I am confident that I will make a good ECC liaison. Since arriving on campus my first year and choosing an A&I in the Education department, I have actively engaged my curiosity for the education and curriculum at Carleton. Being on the Academic Standing Committee for the past year has allowed me to gain a unique perspective on Carleton’s curriculum and an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of parts of the curriculum such as graduation requirements. I am excited to engage in current issues regarding graduation requirements and potential additional liberal arts requirements, such as an Africana or race studies requirement. I have strong interpersonal skills and I really enjoy getting to know people while finding ways to work together to accomplish mutual goals. I’ve honed these interpersonal skills by working in both the Admissions office and Alumni Relations Office during my first two years. These roles have allowed me to learn how to effectively communicate with a range of people across age groups and with a multitude of backgrounds. I’m looking forward to applying these skills to the ECC liaison role.

As I mentioned before, I have spent two terms on the Academic standing committee. This position has allowed me to become incredibly familiar with the Carleton curriculum, which has given me the chance to already start thinking about what changes can /should be made to the curriculum. Also, working as a tour guide in the Admissions office has shown me what a large factor Carleton’s curriculum is in terms of drawing prospective students to the school. Carleton’s curriculum is something that made me choose Carleton and I would really appreciate the opportunity to be involved in such an integral part of Carleton. Beyond the standard curriculum, I am incredibly engaged in education outside of the classroom. One of my accomplishments of my sophomore year was that I attended every convocation of Fall and Winter term! As the ECC liaison, I hope to be involved in educational processes outside of the classroom as well, as that is truly something that makes Carleton the highly curious environment that it is. Note: I will be abroad fall term.

Gabe Seidman ’26

I know everyone is busy and stressed so I will keep this to the point–well three of them 🙂

Listen:
The largest portion of a liaison’s job is to absorb information. I fully recognize that many of my experiences as a student differ from yours and the rest of the Carleton community. So, I commit here to hearing out any concern or experience you feel needs to be addressed–within my role’s purview. I plan to gather feedback in three distinct ways.

Surveys: Whenever there is a large issue/policy that is being proposed I will send out a short questionnaire for you to provide input.

Talking Hours: Multiple times throughout the term I will host what are commonly referred to as office hours but what I will call talking hours because I don’t have an office. The medium will foster more nuanced conversations and provide me with an opportunity to give you free food!

You choose: As long as it does not involve saying hello to a parrot–I am fine with any other animal–I will listen through any of your preferred methods, because I am here for you!
Outside of the student body writ large, I plan to cultivate friendly relationships with members on the Education Curriculum Committee as well as people on CSA to hear their concerns and synthesize them with the student body.

Advocate:
Listening is inconsequential unless I actually act on the information. From past experiences of captaining a debate and lacrosse team I have learned the importance of consistently voicing concerns with attached solutions. In high school, I increased access to funding and opportunities for organizations receiving limited attention from the school board–namely competitive academic activities.

If elected, there are two ideas I plan to advocate for on day one.

Review of Liberal Arts Requirements: Carleton College is a liberal arts institution and it should stay that way. By taking a more interdisciplinary approach to requirements and moving towards flexible requirements–especially for STEM majors–we can foster exploration and further the value of a well rounded education.
Increase minors: Carleton’s “comps” requirement creates a high barrier to entry for concentrating on a secondary passion field. Adding more minors will give students flexibility to study abroad and take classes they never would be able to with a double major course load.

Inform:
With Carleton’s academic rigor you do not have time to follow every happening of an educational committee. If you did, the CSA wouldn’t exist. So, multiple times a term I will summarize the issues I am working on in nice skimmable bullet points.

Tl;dr: I will listen to your concerns and act on them.

Over the past year, curriculum development has become a passion of mine. For work, I tutor middle schoolers and develop teaching materials so I have fully realized the outsized impact of even small pedagogical changes. Taking on this role would allow me to be a part of that same process for my own academic community, and that’s something I can’t pass up.

OHP Liaison (uncontested)

Emma Kutcher ’26

Organization and human connection are two things that keep me sane. I’m the kind of person that lives by their Google Calendar, loves volunteering to answer icebreakers first, but also loves listening and initiating conversations. I’m obsessed (…in a healthy way) with mental well-being, meditate daily, and have engaged with OHP and its programs. I believe I would do OHP and CSA great justice as OHP Liaison.

In terms of experience, I have held several leadership positions and cultivated management and communication skills. At Carleton specifically, my job as lead blog editor for the admissions page has allowed me to become comfortable with hosting meetings, setting objectives, and reaching out to other students to check their progress toward our goals.

Mental well-being is at the core of all successful academic performance, positive social connections, and cultivating a promising future. I believe that OHP has a crucial role on campus to help promote student well-being, and with my drive to help others foster good habits, I would do the job as OHP Liaison efficiently and eagerly.

I participated in OHP’s Koru program in winter term. From that experience, I found new friends and fostered a new perspective of meditation and mindfulness. Offering services such as Koru and educational initiatives for students is an excellent way to promote good mental health. I would be honored to help in making that happen and bridging the gap between CSA and OHP to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Inter-Campus Liaison (uncontested)

Jocelyn Ferguson ’25

I plan to have communication with the Inter-Campus Liaison of St.Olaf and talk about what Carleton and St.Olaf want to work on with being the two colleges in a college town. The form of communication I will choose depends on what the St.Olaf Liaison prefers. The skills I bring to the table is the ability to communicate with others. Another skill I have is flexibility which will allow communication between the Olaf Liaison to be smoother because I am okay meeting and communicating through whichever platform is easiest for them.

I want to serve in this particular office because I wish that St.Olaf and Carleton were more connected or at least I was more connected with what is going on at St.Olaf. Carleton and St.Olaf are two semi-similar colleges in a college town and I do not feel as though we are as connected as we could be. I want to work on this.

ISL Liaison (uncontested)

Narjis Nusaibah ’26

ResLife Liaison (uncontested)

Gabe Kaplan ’25

I RAed for First Goodhue in the fall and will return to the same floor next year. I also currently serve on the Budget and Governance committees along with Out After Carleton and the Sustainability Working Group giving me insight on the workings of CSA and broader campus community. As Residential Life Liaison, I would work to increase collaboration between RAs, the office of Res Life, and the student Senate. Many of CSA’s priorities can best be executed through the dorms—they are where students spend most of their time—and RAs can play an essential role in these efforts. I would focus specifically on the freshmen experience because the quality of the dorms and their community matters most to these students.

I lived on 3rd Myers my freshmen year and enjoyed the experience and all-freshmen community greatly. Last fall, I requested to RA for the other freshmen floor on campus, First Goodhue, and I enjoyed that a lot as well before going abroad this winter. Next fall, I’ll be going back to First Goodhue to RA for freshmen again. I decided to run for this position to continue to work on the freshmen dorm experience in a role in which I might have an impact on more floors. One of my priorities as liaison would be to push for the creation of more freshmen-only floors than the current 2.

Sustainability Working Group (uncontested)

Eli Watt ’24

I’ve been a part of Carleton’s Sustainability Working Group since it was founded this winter. As Sustainability Office student worker, I’ve spent the last two years leading focus groups and helping students, faculty, and staff connect with each other in order to collaborate and bring new sustainaiblity initiatives to campus. As a part of the Sustinaiblity Office’s food team, I spent last year as a conduit between BonAppetit and the Herbivorous Butcher, a plant-based food company in the twin cities. After 6 months of emailing and organizing meetings between Bonapp and the Herbivorous Butcher (HB), I was able to set up a supply line between Carleton and HB, and HB products are now available in Carleton dining halls twice a week. My past work connecting Carleton students with staff and outside providers with Bonapp has provided me with a lot of experience mediating and communicating between groups while making sure that both sides’ needs and expectations are being accounted for. Considering that CSA represents the student body and the Sustainability Working Group is aimed at reflecting student values in their new proposal, I think my work as the SWG Liaison would ensure that student values are not dismissed in favor of administrative agendas as the new Climate Action Plan is drafted and reviewed.

The Sustainability Working Group is perhaps the campus organization with the most influence over the future of Carleton’s sustainability measures. As I watched the movement to divest Carleton, it amazed me how much pressure and mobilization was required before Carleton agreed to reflect student values in administrative actions. Given that the SWG is the last chance for students to influence Carleton’s Climate Action Plan, which will set the school’s sustainability goals for the next several decades, I think it’s essential that someone with experience in communication and passion for sustainability connect the student body with the Climate Action Plan’s executives. I want to serve in this office because my work as an environmental studies major, sustainability office assistant, and former environmental nonprofit worker make me an experienced environmental advocate, while my work connecting campus members with outside organizations and one another makes me experienced at mediating conversation and navigating bureaucracy.

Treasurer (uncontested)

Hannah Klein ’25

Accurately depicting the CSA Financials to CSA Senate will be a very important part of being the treasurer, as will connecting to the broader student population. I would like to give clear, effective presentations to the Senate on the state of the budget and what type of work we are doing, especially as we continue to adjust to Workday. I would also like to provide more information, and regular information, to students and club treasurers about the budget.

Experience:
I have been serving on Senate as the temporary Class of 2025 Representative, and I’ve also been on Budget Committee this term. I have seen the budget operations and am familiar with the updated information on the money CSA has, and have been through Spring Allocations as a member of Budget Committee. I have the necessary background for jumping into running the Budget meetings as well as diving into Workday and being able to see what orgs are spending.

Additionally, I have spent the past year working in SAO (the student activities office) as one of the Special Events Programming Assistants. The events that I have planned, from Date Knight to laser tag to MOA trips, require a lot of pre-planning and overall organizational skills. They also require a LOT of emails – you’ve probably seen my name in Campus Announcements several times – and I know how to communicate effectively with people across campus both students and staff. I’ll be able to take these skills into my work as Treasurer both with the students and the system. It has also taught me about efficiency and I hope to be able to increase the efficiency of the Treasurer in day-to-day operations.

Before working with Budget Committee, I had not realized what an immense impact CSA has on the campus community. Without CSA money, most events, clubs, orgs, and thus much of student life would not be functional. This money comes from students and is for students, and is a really unique way for us to have control over our own college experience. The role of Treasurer is very important to all of these events running smoothly.

An effective CSA treasurer can help to alleviate some of the stresses that org treasurers have. I know that submitting reimbursements and special allocation requests can be hard especially on your first time, so I’d like to be able to see both sides of the process and do what I can to make it easier! When I first joined Budget Committee, the name sounded so formal and I was unsure what it would be like. I soon found out it’s a great group of people and it really should just be a welcoming place since we are all students! I hope to help make the weekly Budget Committee meetings as accessible and low stress as possible for the people coming in, while still being able to encourage adherence to our financial guidelines.

My goal is to increase accessibility and access to CSA Funds. For the two terms I would serve, I want the day-to-day operations as smooth and simple as possible, both for myself and for others. I want orgs to have all the resources they need and I will make myself available to receive feedback on how they feel Workday is going to see what I can do better throughout the year. I will be available for meetings with any org Treasurer who would like to talk about specific guidelines or requests.

Communication:
There are many aspects of our financial guidelines and funding that I would like to publicize more to students, as many students have awesome ideas that they are not sure if they can get funds for, or they go through a channel that is not appropriate. For example, working with organizations who are hosting events for Carleton Mutual Aid. There’s also something called the “Common Meal Fund” which allows non-cultural orgs to get a meal with alumni or community members. In addition, we have written in the guidelines that we should encourage environmentally friendly options, which we often tell to orgs, but I would like to make this a clear guideline and work with orgs who want to be more sustainable.

I hope to improve communication not only through emails, but also by working with SAO to update the Funding page on the CSA website. It still says to fill out a green form for reimbursement, which we’re not doing anymore since everything is on Workday!

There has been a lot of confusion about the status of the budget this term. Thanks to the work of former treasurer Bui and Quinn right now, we have begun to figure out exactly how much money we have for CSA to use and allocate. We have not had an accurate picture of this for many years, but I will work to communicate with the student body clearly about how CSA is allocating your funds and exactly how much money we have.

Thank you all for reading my platform!

TRIO/SSS Liaison (uncontested)

Graci Huff ’25

Next year will be my second year as a TRIO peer leader, so I have had and will have frequent and consistent contact with the TRIO office. I know the staff well, and I will work closely with them to understand what information should be opened up to the whole campus.

I feel at home in TRIO, and I have served this particular office for two years already: 1 year as the TRIO liaison and 1 year as a TRIO peer leader. In this role—in conjunction with my peer leader position, I hope to bring more attention to TRIO students and their speciality.