This week’s Campus Celebrity is Elena Albanese, our SGA Secretary and Co-Chair of the Appointing Board for SGA Committees. Elena has been involved with Mount Holyoke’s Student Government Association since her sophomore year. She is a senior Psychology major also pursuing a Five College Certificate in Cognitive Neuroscience. Beside being involved in SGA, Elena is a member of the Mount Holyoke Chorale and the Secretary for the Newman Catholic Student Association Board.
What’s your favorite spot on campus?
There are many places that I enjoy [on] campus, but I think that my favorite spot is the Williston Library Atrium. Whether I am the only person there on a quiet morning or surrounded by the conversations of other students as they enter and exit the library, the atrium is somewhere that I love to go. I am someone who generally enjoys studying around other people, and so I like having the background chatter and seeing people come and go.
As part of the SGA, how do you try to fulfill the three main goals of the SGA?
As part of the SGA, I try to provide a productive tool for students to govern their non-academic and academic interests by helping support the Chair of Senate in her preparations for weekly Senate meetings. I also attend these Senate meetings which are forums where students can voice concerns and advertise upcoming events for their respective student organizations and dorms.
I articulate and represent matters pertinent to students and other constituencies of the college by taking minutes for the Senate meetings. I attend each meeting and take down all of the student announcements and concerns, keeping a detailed record of the topics discussed.
Lastly, in my role, I establish and maintain communication channels between students, faculty, administrators, and trustees by taking part in the Appointing Board, the board that is responsible for selecting students to serve as members of different committees. The committees are essentially focus groups that work with particular departments or parts of the administration to address pertinent campus issues.
What led you to run for student government and specifically for SGA Secretary?
I initially became part of Student Government on a whim. I have been a part of the Chorale since the beginning of my first-year, and at the start of the fall semester my sophomore year, I spontaneously volunteered to act as Chorale representative in Senate. Once I became Senator, I realized that I really liked being informed about the goings-on of the campus, and enjoyed feeling that I was actively contributing to student life on campus. I decided to become involved at a higher level by running for the Chair of Organizations my junior year, and now, in my senior year, I am occupying the position of Secretary. I wanted to finish my four years at Mount Holyoke by continuing to be on the board and contributing to the Student Government Association to the same capacity that I had last year as Chair of Orgs. This is what inspired me to run for Secretary.
How do you navigate the relationship between SGA Board and other SGA committees?
I navigate the relationship between SGA Board and SGA committees by being involved in the Appointing Board. As Co-Chair, I help recruit students to sign up for committee interviews, conduct interviews, and then help to facilitate the selections of students to the committees. As part of the Appointing Board, I also assist the Chair of Committees with email correspondence between committees, helping to check in with the progress and current initiatives within each committee.
What’s the greatest challenge of being SGA Secretary?
I would say that the greatest challenge of being SGA Secretary is making sure that the information that I record during Senate meetings is dispersed in a timely manner, and that it is accessible and available to students. As a board, we are working on being transparent with the community as well as increasing our visibility, and we are always looking for ways to present the information in a way that students can easily access it.
How do you best like to reach out to the students on campus?
I best like to reach out to students on campus through emails. Even though students receive a lot of emails on a regular basis, I trust that through email, they have access [to] any information that I am distributing. Since a lot of correspondence is done through email, I also feel that it is an effective way to reach out, as students are likely to check email messages.
What’s your favorite part of being on SGA?
My favorite part of being on SGA is interacting with different students throughout the campus. I like meeting new people and becoming knowledgeable about student concerns, interests, ideas, etc.
What SGA tool (senate, board meetings, etc.) do you find most effective in fulfilling your goals for your position?
I think that the SGA Senate meetings this year have been an effective component of my experience as Secretary. The Senate meetings are where I myself receive the most up-to-date information about student experiences on campus, and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to learn and discuss student concerns.
Any final words?
I feel that I have greatly benefited from being a part of the SGA at Mount Holyoke College. I would love to see more students attend the weekly Senate meetings as they are a wonderful way to stay informed and be involved in the campus community.