Joshua Ritchey
Reporting by Sheren Khalel
Q: What do you view your role as a senator to be?
A: “The Graduate senator promotes graduate involvement. In 2010, there was about 15,000 graduate students at Webster and only 5,000 undergraduates. So there’s a large proportion if you look at the ratio of who’s actually being represented at the university. It a majority of undergraduates in Student Government. So, the reason they set those aside is to encourage graduate participation.”
Q: What goal have you set if you win?
A: “One of the things I’d like to do is try and promote graduate student engagement with the school as a whole. I’d also like to try and form advocacy groups, specifically financial goals in mind for graduate students. There’s not a lot of aid out there or even recourses for graduate students. I know the majority are either having it paid for or paid by work, but they need the help just as much as undergrads do.”
“One of the things that I think I partially bring to my specific position is that I was actually an undergraduate here. I just graduated in May and I’m also a staff member as a graduate assistant. As all of those along with my status as a graduate student kind of help fill out the picture, as it were, so I can get a better vantage point with what the big picture looks like.”
“I think one of things that would be really beneficial specifically considering my masters degree which would be in management is looking at financial dueling out to clubs and things like that. That’s one of the comities I’d probably try to work on as much as possible to make sure it far across the board.”
Q: What are some strengths and weaknesses of the SGA in the past, and how would you help?
A: “One of the weaknesses is that as students, specifically as undergrads, you don’t always consider the large picture. Specifically on this campus we always talk about it being a world wide university. But, specifically with the mount Webster does finically with all of its campuses it’s kind of extraordinary. I mean just here in St. Louis we have 3 other campuses aside from our campus that serves undergraduates as well as graduates. I think a lot of times that gets kind of forgotten and I think that’s something that I would be able to keep in mind a little bit. I’ve been a transfer student as an undergrad and so kind of having knowledge of those types of things is something that really helps me.”
Q: Why should students vote for you?
A: “Students should vote for me because I’ve been there. I am a student, I hold their interests in the highest capacity. They’re the stakeholders at Webster university, Webster is a business, just like any other school and their voices need to be heard, they need to get the things that they need. And, as part of SGA that’s what I plan on helping them accomplish.
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