How do you plan to keep your constituents (UMD graduate students) informed about the activities of the UMD Senate? How do you plan to learn their opinions on policies on which you will have to vote?

I plan on keeping my constituents informed by attending organizational meetings such as Grad Student Associations and reporting on what is being discussed and proposed in the Senate. I will also utilize list serves (which I can access for my department) and collaborate with other graduate senators to disperse information. This will also allow for discussion on important policy and get their stance so I know how I should vote and advocate for legislation. As a senator at my previous institution, I made my email and contact information readily available and hosted office hours so that I could also be as transparent as possible with constituents if they would like to meet and discuss an issue.

Do you support collective bargaining rights for graduate assistants? If so, have you signed the Fearless Student Employees statement of support? If not, why not?

I do support collective bargaining rights since I feel as graduate assistants we are underappreciated in the time and effort we put into our work and how we represent the university. I have signed the FSE statement of support and have been advocating for others to support collective bargaining rights.

Have you previously been involved in any form of governance at UMD, whether through committees of the UMD Senate, on the Graduate Student Government, or otherwise? If not, have you been involved in other student groups at UMD, or in student government prior to your time at UMD?

I have not been involved in governance at UMD but was heavily involved in the university senate at my previous institution of New Mexico State University. As a two term senator for the College of Agriculture, I served on various committees such as Finance (approving appropriations for student organizations and amending the distribution of student fees), Community Affairs and special committees such as forming the Appropriations Board to develop a better process for student organizations to be reimbursed. I authored legislation that appropriated over $50,000 to student organizations for promoting cultural events that lacked funding from their departments and colleges. I helped Graduate Senators advocate for better treatment of graduate students and employees and helped pass a resolution calling on the negligence of the university administration and their treatment of graduate employees. The last piece of legislation I authored in joint with the Environmental Science Student Organization before graduating was a resolution for increased sustainability efforts on the campus and for the establishment of a composter outside the student union to help cut food waste. My priority was to improve the lives of college students and turn their grievances into solutions that will help their success at NMSU and I plan to do the same at UMD.

If elected, which UMD Senate Committees would you want to join, and why?

If elected, I would like to join the Special Committee on University Finance (SCUF) if it is extended beyond May 2022. Given my extensive background in finances with legislation and working on budgeting and distribution of student fees I feel this committee would be a good fit. I am also passionate about advocating for an efficient use of the university budget and allocating funds to departments and groups that may lack important funding. I am also interested in the Student Affairs committee as this is where new policies are proposed to advance student needs and address their concerns. I would like to join this committee and be able to start proposing and advocating for policy to improve the life of graduate students on this campus.

If you could make one specific policy change during your tenure on the UMD Senate, what would it be?

If there was one specific policy change I could make, it would be improving funding for graduate assistants to receive equitable pay and to implement affordable graduate student housing. Cost of living compared to the wage of graduate assistants is a big issue on this campus and it needs to be resolved since this a contributing factor to quality of living for many graduate students. I would also like to promote policy that recognizes the biases of the graduate school administration (Dean Fetter et al.) and their lack of collaboration and being an adversary with the issues graduate students are bringing forward. We need to implement more internal pressure on this and by doing it as a collaborative effort on the University Senate can help as I just saw the success of this at New Mexico State.

My name is Adam Hopper and I am a first year PhD student in Plant Sciences. I am a Chicano student originally from Colorado and did my undergraduate work at New Mexico State University where my passion for advocacy, STEM, and promoting diversity grew. I served two terms on the Student Senate at NMSU where I appropriated over $50,000 in student fees to diversity programs, helped pass legislation establishing an Africana Studies Program, and co-authored a resolution to increase sustainability efforts on campus. I worked with Graduate Senators to pass legislation calling on the University for better treatment of Graduate Researchers and helped garner student support for Graduate worker rights. Currently, I have been elected to the GAAC where we advocate for Graduate worker rights to the higher administration. I am running for the University Senate because I want to continue using my passion for advocacy and outreach to promote graduate student voices to the higher administration and put them into action . As an elected Senator, I would ensure graduate student needs are my top priority and will work collaboratively to resolve critical issues graduate students face as well as help develop more opportunities to aid student success.