Rees Draminski

What relevant experience would you bring to the position you are seeking?

As a current Junior (3rd year), I have been involved with the Senate and SGA for basically my entire time at UMBC. My freshman year, I was a First Year Ambassador assigned to Senate and Executive Council, and I was elected a Senator my Sophomore year. I chose not to re-run because I was adjusting to the online learning environment during COVID-19, but I severely missed my time in Senate, so I applied to a Senate vacancy this year and was recently confirmed, thus bringing my time in Senate up to three semesters. I was also the Vice President of hackUMBC, so I am bringing with me a multi-faceted knowledge of leadership and how UMBC operates. I have spoken with many UMBC faculty members about various topics and initiatives, so I am also bringing in these connections and relationships I have fostered over the years.

How do you intend on fulfilling your role while working alongside other members of SGA? What strategies do you use to address conflict?

This semester coming into Senate halfway through the year, I wanted to focus a lot more on collaborating with other Senators, rather than trying to start from scratch. In this way I am learning a lot of best practices on how to work on complex, time-sensitive initiatives with multiple stakeholders and collaborators. Additionally, I previously trained as a dialogue facilitator and am very comfortable working collaboratively and making compromises among differing opinions. I believe that the best leaders are the ones that can push forward the group no matter what they hold in themselves for the betterment of the whole. I will use dialogue facilitation, as well as active listening and one-on-one meetings to foster relations with other Senators and make sure that all our work gets done in a timely and amicable manner.

What is your vision for UMBC and the UMBC student body?

I envision a student body that is empowered with tools, data, and opportunities that they are able to leverage in order to make the most of their UMBC experience. Regardless if Fall 2021 will be in person or not, I think that the COVID-19 pandemic has really shown many of us how much of the college experience we have taken for granted. I have created a number of electronic tools for students such as the Transit Activity Guides which showcase activities you can do at places near UMBC Transit Stops. I foresee a UMBC student body which utilizes all of the many resources available to us intelligently and effectively so that they can have fun and create meaningful connections with the institution and other students.

How do you plan to facilitate communications with your constituents?

The UMBC SGA website has a Google Form that allows students to put any questions, comments, or concerns they may have, but as of right now it asks for a name. Of course there’s nothing stopping someone from putting a fake name, but I think that just removing the name field or making it optional, thus making the form anonymous, would ensure that more students feel comfortable speaking their mind. Additionally, I think creating a strong connection with Senate and the Communications Department within SGA would be very beneficial in order to get the word out about initiative updates, as well as institutional changes.