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 intend to work with student organizations, local press, unions, university administrative offices, and alumni groups to publicize the activities of the UMD Senate and express my opinion of those activities. I also intend to designate regular office hours and attend graduate student events. Much of the influence of the Senate lies in its role as a two-directional line of communication between the highest levels of the University administration and individual colleges and departments. This relationship should be made stronger.

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, and I have.

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 am a first-year graduate student and have not served in student government at UMD. I am active at the department and college levels and previously served in student government during undergrad.

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

Were I elected I would wish to join the Academic Procedures Committee. Which classes are offered, how classes are taught, and how students are admitted are questions at the core of a university's operations. For the same reason I'd like to join the Programs, Curricula, and Courses Committee. I'd also like to join the Campus Affairs Committee because they build relationships in the surrounding community, which I feel is vital to the mission of a public university.

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

The University has long required admissions applicants to answer criminal history questions. Despite efforts by the state legislature to change this, a loophole in Maryland law allows them to continue to ask these questions of prospective graduate students. The policy does a lot more harm than good. Here's a letter I wrote about the issue to the editor of the Washington Post several months ago. Corollary to the admissions policy is a plan to make permanent the practice of conducting background checks on all new hires. Both policies are bad ideas without basis in evidence.

Going a little further, the University of Maryland has the best ranked criminology department in the country, yet University leadership didn't ask them about the justifications for or potential outcomes of either policy. This shows a lack of utilization of the resources of the university, which suggests opportunities for improvement in communication, particularly between departments and the administration.

I’m running for University Senate for three reasons. First, I believe that several specific University policies are misdirected and unjust. For example, as a criminal justice researcher, I find policies that require graduate students and new employees to provide sensitive information about trouble they faced long ago to be potentially devastating to people who hope to join the Maryland community, without any evidence that such policies promote public safety. Second, I have over six years of professional experience as a policy analyst. I have worked for policymakers at all levels of government to make their agencies more effective and equitable. I would apply the skills I developed in this profession to advise University leadership on the costs and benefits of their proposed policies. Third, I am a non-traditional student who worked for several years between undergraduate and graduate programs. Non-traditional students make up an increasing share of the campus community, but many University offices and services are not set up to accommodate their needs. Non-traditional students contribute to the diversity of thought and experience on campus, and I hope to improve their circumstances. In sum, I would apply evidence and a critical eye to University policies that might create harm.