UWSA – University of Windsor Students' Alliance

Candidate: Michael Rossi

Position: Vice President Advocacy

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1. Outline your relevant experience for this position

In 2018. I was one of three Canadians selected to attend the Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington, DC and New York City Al this conference. I was actively engaged in discussions around possible solutions for the United Nations to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals. I was paired with a female from Vietnam to develop a potential solution to Sustainable Development Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy within my specific group. We had to collaborate with many others from other parts of the world in our group. The active discussion was critical in Successfully implementing a solution passed by the United Nations in our simulation. Everyone at this conference was seen as equals, and we al had every right to contribute to the discussion of participate in any other way we could in addition to this. I was a mentor for the Mentorship and Learning course offered at the University Last semester I facilitated discussions within my mentee group regarding the topics discussed within the POLS-1000 course Next year, I will be a Senior Mentor for this course, meaning that I will mentor the next set of mentors In essence, I will be a leader who can dramatically improve my capabilities to advocate for the University of Windsor community. These experiences have given me the confidence and ability to support the student population

2. What specific initiatives and projects would you undertake related to this role?

I would undertake an initiative to launch an American Sign Language course or courses offered to students. Currently, the availability of services for the deaf is relatively limited and non existent. Suppose we were to develop ether one or multiple courses to learn ASL at the University of Windsor, then students would be enticed to explore this course or courses and get a potential minor at the end of it. On top of this, we were to have great accessibility to interpreters, then if a hard of hearing or deal student needs an interpreter, we would now have these options available to them. I am unsure how many students are deaf or need interpreters, however, we were to implement ASL courses. I believe many people would be interested in learning this skill and language I would also plan to bring about more cultural awareness initiatives to bridge the gap within the afferent cultural communities within the University of Windsor campus. By offering as many opportunities as possible to educate students on various cultural afferences, I believe that the student body would benefit significantly from these educational talks and events in today’s age, being an advocate means more than listening. It also means educating yourself on the issues so that those I would advocate for know that I validate the feelings and what they may be experiencing or have experienced within their lives.

3. How do you plan on facilitating positive work relationships within the UWSA Board, members at large and UWindsor administration?

I have been involved within many team settings for as long as I can remember. Working with others is a Me skill I believe to be of the utmost importance. One of the lessons my grandfather taught me at a young age was to treat everyone with respect, no matter what they may have done to me, everyone deserves respect I carry this message with me in everything I do. Within the UWSA Board members at large and Windsor administration, I would bring this respect principle within meetings and talk with these people. Open dialogue and communication are crucial for maintaining a positive working relationship with everyone in the UWSA Board and members. Although there may be disagreements within these relationships, maintaining a positive work environment is manageable by being respect and taking with one another. Also, by realizing that we are all on the same team working toward a shared goal I believe these positive work environments will be easily maintained Communication is key. This is a cliché, but it is essential to keeping a positive work environment I disagreed with one of the other UWSA board members. I would approach them and talk to them face to face or in another manner that would be direct to that person I would not go behind this person’s back and talk bad about them. That is how adverse work environments start and spiral out of control. By maintaining this open dialogue and communicating with others, we can successfully have a positive and inclusive working environment

4. Describe the importance of the UWSA in your own words

With the UWSA being the voice of the students, I believe that the UWSA is the most critical entity on campus that can help students create change within the university community. University is a significant and scary step, especially for first-year students. The UWSA is the entity that can help make this transition much more seamless. I know I was unsure whom I could turn to and get some knowledge on how to enact change within the community Once I reached out to the UWSA and some prior board members. I felt much more connected to the University of Windsor than I had before. By being the student alliance, the UWA provides essential services to the student body, such as informative events, making different connections, and a positive way to leave a mark on the University of Windsor through enacting change The UWSA is an easy way to establish relationships within the University of Windsor community and the Windsor region. These connections can be lifelong in most cases which can be used for references of potential job opportunities. The UWSA enables these connections because they bring in guest speakers from divisive backgrounds to speak on informative topics