A new ASUO internship program will offer about 30 students each term the opportunity to participate in marketing, communications, social justice, sustainability or legislative lobbying teams.
The program, which will be offered as a 4-credit course through the College of Education, is the work of the ASUO executive and is replacing internships formerly run by an Oregon Student Association campus organizer.
A Graduate Teaching Fellow will organize the course with ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz, and the “credit-worthiness” of the program will be assessed by Holden Leadership Center Director John Duncan.
Duncan was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. But Vice President of Student Affairs Robin Holmes recently approved the partnership between the ASUO and the Holden Center.
Holmes said the program “seems to fit in with a model that we are trying to put forth for the campus.” Student learning will be centered around leadership, the curriculum will focus on learning outcomes and the program will be sustained over time, Holmes said.
Dotters-Katz’ decision earlier this month not to hire a new campus organizer left more than $33,000 available for the new program and other ventures to replace what the organizer traditionally did. The estimated cost of the program is currently $26,550, according to student government documents.
Interns will attend weekly classes on topics including state tuition and fees, and equity and diversity issues on campus, Dotters-Katz said.
There will also be a training program for executive staff members who will lead teams of interns to focus on a core project each term.
The marketing team, under director Jerrel Culaba, will help to organize the ASUO Street Faire and develop proposals for other ASUO fundraising events. Dotters-Katz said the proposals will be reviewed and could be implemented winter term.
A legislative team lead by Dotters-Katz and State Legislative Affairs Director Jose Bustillos will work to register 10,000 new voters by Oct. 14. Interns will then turn to voter education and encourage students to vote in state legislative races to maximize sway in upcoming legislative sessions, Dotters-Katz said.
Bustillos, who has credited his involvement in student government in large part to an OSA organizer, said he is excited about the potential of bringing 30 new students into student government each term.
“Some of these kids were leaders in their high schools, and they’re going to be leaders out here,” he said. “We’re going to get them all hyped up.”
Dotters-Katz estimated that 80 students had expressed interest in the program during the first two weeks of new student orientations. “We’re probably going to be turning kids away,” he said.
Students who are not accepted fall term will have a chance to apply in the winter when the focus of the teams will change slightly and may better match certain skill sets, he said.
Other teams in the fall include a sustainability team lead by Emmalynn Garrett, the ASUO environmental advocate, that will focus on a sustainability conference in the fall and a communications team lead by Communications Director Michael Calcagno that will work on a weekly ASUO radio show on campus radio station KWVA.
Dotters-Katz said that Calcagno is “working extensively to update the ASUO brand,” which will include a new logo.
In week eight of fall term, the communications team will host the one-hour show, including booking the guests and developing pre-recorded segments such as “The Cattermole Minute.” Drew Cattermole ran a not-so-serious campaign for ASUO president but endorsed Dotters-Katz in the first debate. He will speak about campus issues on the show.
Multicultural Advocate Kari Herinckx and Gender and Sexual Diversity Advocate Jory Card will lead a team focused on presenting the Weaving New Beginnings event and implementing ways for the ASUO to follow the University’s Diversity Plan.
Herinckx, who also ran for president, said she and Dotters-Katz have “hashed out” tensions from his decision to not hire a new OSA organizer, but she is still skeptical about the consequences that can come from the move.
“Good things are going to come out of it, but going into a legislative year I think we’re going to be stumbling through the learning curve” during time that could have been spent advancing student issues, she said.
Dotters-Katz plans to ask the ASUO Senate to allow two student stipends for the Oregon Students of Color Coalition and the Oregon Student Rights Alliance, two OSA-affiliated groups that he said will face challenges without an organizer.
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