Wilson Tong and Zac Byer | Looking ahead, a new UA

This year, the Undergraduate Assembly (UA), Penn's University-wide, elected branch of student government, will be more present on campus than ever before.

If you don't know what the UA is, we will strive to change that - and not for ourselves, but for you.

We'll start with fundamentally increasing the UA's relevance to students - addressing the issues about which students care the most.

Sound simple? You would think so, but the UA has struggled for years to bridge the disconnect between what the UA thinks is important and what students think is important. We've made good progress, such as last year's implementation of an "Open Forum," which allows anyone to speak during our meetings. Yet, we know there is much work ahead.

Later this month, the UA will be releasing an unprecedented survey. We may out-survey you, but this is one that you won't want to miss.

The UA will be sending out an undergraduate survey of priorities, which will provide you the direct opportunity to influence the UA's agenda for this year and beyond. We want to know what is on the top and bottom of your list of concerns, and we will prioritize our work accordingly.

Since our return to campus, the UA has already begun to perform a record outreach campaign. Our members have been going door-to-door to the 2,389 freshman in their College Houses, greeting students, distributing Freshman FAQ pamphlets and listening to concerns. We hope to continue this unprecedented campaign that will allow us to knock on every door in every College House before the end of the school year.

There should be no doubt that we constantly strive to ensure a better quality of student life. For example, the UA Readership Program, which brings over 650 free copies of The New York Times to campus daily, began on the first day of classes with newsstands located across campus. We also tackle an array of University-wide issues, including campus safety, dining, environmental sustainability and the new course search/scheduling tool. We are excited that this year the UA will have five committees: Academic Affairs; Civic and Community Engagement; Sustainability, Safety and Facilities; Housing and Dining; and Student Life.

By expanding our committee structure, the UA can tackle a more diverse set of projects that are relevant and important to students.

The major issues that you should expect the UA to address just in the next month or two include move-out procedures and the pass-fail deadline. We are also actively working with Penn Leads the Vote and other student groups to make a difference in the upcoming Presidential election through voter registration and GOTV efforts. We encourage anyone eligible to vote, especially in Pennsylvania. We should let the nation know that the college-aged vote can be taken as seriously as any other.

We also plan to make our annual budget allocations of $1.72 million of your tuition dollars more transparent. UA members will be better educated about the budgets of the other branches of student government who receive funding and use their budgets to better student life - whether it be through SAC-funded student group events, Spring Fling or Hey Day.

Here are the other 22 current members of the UA who you should always feel free to contact and hold accountable as elected representatives of our student body: Matt Amalfitano (College); Adam Bloch (College); Bing Chen (College); Claire Choi (College); Ben Coulter (Wharton); Grant Dubler (College); Sam Edelson (Wharton); Matthew Feczko (Engineering); Ryan Houston (Wharton); Benny Laitman (College); Liz Lee (Wharton); Lucia Liu (College); Joseph R. Luchtan (Engineering); Jordan Mendel (Engineering); Albert Pak (College); Mark Peter Pan (College); Jay Patel (College); Joshua Roberts (College); Jay Rodrigues (College); Yana Sigal (Nursing); Alec Webley (College); and Sakina Zaidi (College).

Now that we have set forth our main goals for the year, we hope you will hold us to our word.

You can find us every Sunday night at 9 p.m. in the Ben Franklin Room or online at www.dolphin.upenn.edu/ua.

Wilson Tong is a Wharton and College senior and Chair of the Undergraduate Assembly. Zac Byer is a College junior and Vice Chair of External Affairs of the Undergraduate Assembly.

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