WHO IS THE RUCSGA?
Written October 13th, 2007

The Rutgers Student Governing Association is a body of 18 elected members.  The RUCSGA is a fairly new body in that it has been recently restructured and is in its third year of existence in this capacity.  The major difference from then and now is the RUCSGA represents all members of the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business.  In the past it did not represent graduate, professional schools or the School of Business.  This was done before my time.  My understanding is this was done mainly to concentrate moneys to one specific governing body so that all students regardless of their school membership have access to a larger “pot of funds”.

The RUCSGA consists of three parts, who work together and separately depending upon the task at hand. While no part is more important than the other; we are dependent on the overall cooperation and intercommunication to advocate effectively for the students we represent (that is you by the way); we each have specific areas of function and are overseen by our executive committee.  The executive committee  consists of the President; John Moldovan, Vice President; Darby Dent, Secretary; Danielle Reiss, Treasurer; Duval Lowe and GAO chair; Kimberly Mauroff.  Each of these positions is fairly clear in their title.  For the sake of not boring you to death with lots of interpretive meaning and definition I will forego an expansive interpretation of duties and provide you with the abbreviated version.

President, John Moldovan oversees all activities of the RUCSGA.  John is a School of Business Student graduating in the spring of 2008.  John is the official representative of the RUCSGA.   It is his job to ensure the RUCSGA body is moving forward in both a positive and appropriate manner.  With his charismatic energy and open minded spirit, John keep things progressing as he embraces the responsibilities his position creates. 

Vice-President, Darby Dent is the official chair of all RUCSGA committees.  Darby a student of the college of Arts and Sciences is graduating in the spring of 2008.  Darby’s main focus is to keep all committees on track and focused on their tasks at hand.  He must also keep abreast of all RUCSGA business as he is second in command in the event John is unavailable for any particular situation.  Darby’s great listening skills and pensive personality aid him in his constitutional duties.

Secretary Danielle Reiss has the difficult job of keeping all internal and external communication moving to the proper channels, recording all official meeting minutes and making all reservation and requests on behalf of the SGA to the appropriate party.  Danielle is also the guardian of the constitution and as such must be on constant watch to ensure the RUCSGA and its members are functioning within their constitutional duty.  The position of the secretary is one of the most demanding and provides the least amount of recognition and reward.  Danielle, if you even have time to read this article let this serve as a big THANK YOU for all the work you do on behalf of the RUCSGA and the student body at large!

Treasurer Duval Lowe is the man who handles the money (got your attention yet?), and yes, he is a School of Business student graduating this fall 2007.  Duval is responsible for maintaining all RUCSGA budgets.  This includes not only the SGA overall budget but reviewing and approving (along side of his committee) all student group budgets we receive.  So for those who want to know how do I get my hands on this money please visit the RUCSGA website at rucsga@camden.rutgers.edu or email sgafunds@camden.rutgers.edu.  Duval has brought to the SGA his refined business skills, professional prowess and positive outlook which has made the challenges of receiving funding much less complicated.  Duval must prepare and submit a report of all RUCSGA’s fiscal accounts to both the executive committee and the general body at every meeting. 

GAO (general assembly of organizations) Chair Kim Mauroff is responsible for communication and support to all Rutgers Camden student groups.  In other words, if student groups need to communicate something to the SGA it is brought to Kim and she in turn relays the message.  If the SGA has information for one, a few or all student groups she relays it to them.  If there is a concern the student groups need addressed the GAO chair is responsible for advocating on behalf of the student groups. The GAO chair is also responsible to submit reports to both the executive committee and the general body at every meeting.

The general body is defined as all official members of the RUCSGA.  Each school has its own representative(s) and one senator (I will get to that in a minute).  Representatives are responsible for identifying the needs of their particular constituents on the local level and to serve on at least one RUCSGA official committee.  The schools represented in the RUCSGA are; University College; Moe Copeland, Graduate school; Crystal Bourne, College of Arts and Sciences; Tyler Collison, Nicole Lister and Justin Torres, the School of Business representatives are Rodney Guishard and Heather Youknevich.  There is one open position for School of Business representative (anyone getting the urge?).

Senators are also members of the general body, however their constitutional duty sends them to University Senate once a month to advocate for their constituents.  Like the Representatives, they are assigned by school.  University College senator Kim Barrett, Graduate School Senator Maxim Kind, College of Arts and Sciences Senators; John Madison and Alesha McCall, the School of Business Senate seat remains open (are you seeing a pattern here?); all of who travel North to represent RUC students.  Senators are also required to sit on University senate committees, which meet once monthly.  One of our senators, Max Kind serves as chair for the Student Affairs Committee; Alesha McCall is the elected Camden student representative to the University Senate executive committee.  This year is the first year ever the University Senate is chaired by a Rutgers Camden member.  Your very own School Of business, Sam Rabinowitz chairs the University Senate.   For more information on the activities of University Senate please visit their website: http://senate.rutgers.edu/.    

In closing this fairly long description of who is the RUCSGA, the most important thing we want you to know is that our constitutional responsibilities lead us to do one thing:  advocate for the student; you and our campus; Camden.  We can only do our jobs well if you communicate your needs to us.  The RUCSGA general body meets every two weeks on Friday at 12:30 in the campus center.  There is a meeting schedule for this Friday.  Our office is on the second floor next to Health Services.  Though the space is under construction please do not hesitate to drop by or leave a note in the RUCSGA mail box, or you can always email us at rucsga@camden.rutgers.edu.  We wish you the best academic year ever and look forward to serving you!