Students seeking to unite organizations in their colleges have created councils for the Walter Cronkite School and College of Public Programs.
The councils, which mimic similar organizations on the Tempe campus, serve as the intermediary between student government and student organizations. Their functions include providing funds and logistical help for events and matching students to organizations that fit their interests.
Both councils have worked closely together during their formative stages and plan to continue to strengthen their bonds in an effort to bring the Downtown Phoenix campus closer together.
“It’s something that’s been pushed upon quite heavily in the Downtown campus, just so we can bring unification with the student organizations,” said Cronkite School Sen. Alexis Kramer, the president of the Walter Cronkite College Council.
Kramer, who is also running for president of the Undergraduate Student Government Downtown, worked closely with former Cronkite School Sen. Erika Tuerr, who is vice president of WCCC, to create the council earlier this year.
“Basically to us, it means unifying organizations across the Walter Cronkite College, getting students really involved in the nitty-gritty-type things,” said Tuerr, who is still involved in the Budget Allocation Committee for USGD. “The things they don’t really think about.”
Kramer and Tuerr said WCCC has already made an impact. One example is the Cronkite Coffee House event hosted by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in February. The council helped sponsor the event and secure funding from USGD, said senior Robert Soares, who is the president of NLGJA and director of public relations for WCCC.
“They really were kind of like the support system,” said Soares, who is also the director of outreach for the Kramer campaign. “NLGJA got to have the fun part of planning everything, pulling it all together and they really did the work of getting us the money, of taking care of all of that, making sure that if we needed anything, that they could help us.”
The council will also be participating in Saturday’s Devils in Disguise service event and is planning to host an end-of-the-year event, Tuerr said.
Soares said WCCC is currently formulating a plan for the future and will be able to more fully support organizations in the fall. Right now, the focus is on recruitment and securing funds.
Sophomore Ryan Boyd, Kramer’s running mate, is the chair of the College of Public Programs Council. He said his council attempted to address the “cycle of death” that many student organizations experienced.
“Fact is, student organizations and the College of Public Programs had things where their leadership was really good, but they would all be upperclassmen and they would all leave at the same time,” said Boyd, who is also on the Budget Allocation Committee for USGD. “And when the newer generation came in, they would have no clue how to get funding, how to get a room and student organizations would just drop off the map.”
Staff adviser Amanda Bowling said COPPC has been around since the fall of 2012 but only became an official student organization in December.
“Downtown, only having been around for seven years, our colleges didn’t really have a voice before, especially Public Programs,” said Bowling, a coordinator senior with Student Success Initiatives in COPP.
COPPC sponsored the creation of a Before I Die wall that will be displayed on the Downtown Phoenix campus in the near future and is sponsoring the Cinderella Affair dress drive this semester, Boyd said.
Both councils help student organizations apply for funding from USGD although they hope to have individual funding bases in the near future. The funds will come from both USGD and their respective colleges.
“By allocating money directly to (the college councils), they can decide where it can be implemented and how they can use it exclusively within the college,” Kramer said when describing the relationship between USGD and WCCC. “As it should be because it’s students’ money, it’s students’ fees, so that should be given back to the college.”
Boyd said his council’s funding base would go toward helping organizations that need money for events faster than USGD can provide them and with advancing projects of the council.
“If you have something that needs to be done, you can actually work with the College of Public Programs and we can get you the funding in a lot faster time,” Boyd said.
With Kramer as president and Soares as director of public relations, WCCC has strong ties to the Kramer campaign. Marcus Dudas is also part of the Kramer campaign and on the executive board for WCCC. The council recently voted to formally endorse Kramer, Soares said.
“We all voted on (the endorsement) in our meeting and decided that she would be the best candidate to really represent what we want as students, what we need … and the college council is all about that,” Soares said. “It’s all about giving voice to the students so it’s just a natural step for her to run.”
Unlike WCCC, COPPC has remained officially neutral in this year’s USGD elections.
Editor’s Note: Downtown Devil Education Editor Danika Worthington attended the first WCCC meeting but has not been an active member of the council. She did not contribute to the reporting or writing of this story.
Contact the reporter at agnel.philip@asu.edu
