Name: Pranoti Pradhan

Year: Junior

Major: Biochemistry

Running for: VP of Academic Affairs

What are your plans for the position?
I have several plans for the positions. Regarding the inner works of USG, I hope to increase transparency with USG and the student body. I believe that the student body is not usually well aware about the issues facing USG nor how they are tackled. Several of these are issues pertain directly to the students since they are academically oriented concerns and with the help of student input, could be drastically improved. Therefore, I would like to increase the input and participation from the student body.

What projects are you hoping to pursue should you get the position that would directly affect the student body in the next year?
Regarding Academic Affairs, I hope to continue my initiative of developing and implementing a new freshman mentorship program, increasing the retention rate of the university, and spreading awareness about the Need Aware and Need Based concerns to help the student body have a well informed opinion on the topic.

SAGES is often a topic of debate among the student body, and is currently under review by a committee led by the provost. What, if anything, would you like to see happen with the program?
I would like to see an increase in the level of satisfaction between the students and their SAGES courses. To do so, I hope to see more involvement and passion from the faculty in their specific SAGES course. Also, I hope to see that students are able to take the SAGES course that they desire instead of one that they may be forced to due to scheduling conflicts, something which greatly impacts how one feels about their course.

Do you think that CWRU should switch to need-aware admissions?
I believe that instead of taking a stance on whether or not it is better to switch to need aware or to remain need based is not as important as making sure our student body is well aware about the differences between the two. This will help the student body have a well developed perspective on the two, something which is more important that the actual switch currently. Additionally, this will help us all voice our respective opinions with strong factual supportive information.

With the VP of Academic Affairs sitting on the Faculty Senate, how do you plan on communicating student needs to faculty and administration? Do you think that student concerns are currently being heard by the Faculty Senate?
I plan on taking extra time to make sure the student body’s concerns are well heard by the Faculty Senate by making sure I know the members of the Senate on an individual level. By knowing the faculty members better, I will be able to voice the concerns of the student body in a more efficient manner. I will also take time to make sure that I am well aware of these concerns from the student body. Additionally, I do believe, that especially this year, the concerns were well heard by the Faculty Senate especially from the Academic Affairs Committee – something I hope to continue doing.