Dear Wellesley,
My name is Bellen Wong (‘24, she/her), and I’m running for the position of College Government Vice President (CGVP)!
The Vice President chairs the Appointed Representatives Committee (ARC), which handles the appointment of student representatives to administrative and academic committees, including Academic Council Committees, Board of Trustees Committees, and Task Force Committees. These students are appointed to represent the entire Wellesley College student body which makes ARC a really important tool to ensure that students’ voices are heard.
I have had the privilege of serving on ARC for the past two years, as a Senator and Executive Senator for Severance, where I have gained valuable insight into how important it is to utilize these positions and establish a line of communication between students and faculty/administration. I am also a student representative, myself, serving on the Academic Review Board, where I have had the opportunity to listen to both students’ academic concerns and faculty perspectives to promote equity and fairness that benefits each individual student. These experiences have allowed me to gain a good understanding of this role, and if elected, my main three goals would be to:
1. Shift the application timeline to the spring semester
Appointed students serve throughout the academic school year, and all committee appointments have been
happening in the fall, which means ARC has had to rush through applications in order to appoint students
to committees as close to the beginning of the semester as possible. Shifting the application timeline to the
spring would allow ARC to spend more time vetting applicants, and new appointees would be ready to
serve in their position the following academic year. Instead, the fall would be dedicated to appointing
first-years to committees that require them and appointing students to committees that still have open spots.
2. Expand the role of student representatives and promote community within
Currently, student representatives don’t undergo any training. If students were appointed in the spring
before serving, this would give enough time for current representatives to “train” them and help them
prepare for the responsibility of the role. In addition to training, I would also like to promote community
between all student representatives by having them meet and discuss any and all opinions, concerns, and
ways that they would like to better be supported. I would also like to give them the opportunity to
communicate to the whole student body about important updates happening on their committee. Once
again, these students represent the entire student body, and I want them to get feedback and understand
different perspectives that they can bring back to their committee.
3. Continue to ensure student voting power on Academic Council
When an Academic Council committee brings a proposal to a vote in Academic Council, the students
serving on that committee have the right to vote. The past CGVP was in the process of enacting this voting
right, and I hope to continue to ensure that students keep this right. Student voices are especially important
in Academic Council Committees, and we should be taking full advantage of this right.
If elected, I will be committed to continuing the work of the past CGVPs to continually improve this role on campus and ensure that your voices are heard. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. Thank you for your consideration!
Voting will take place via WEngage on September 19th. For more information, check out https://tinyurl.com/wcgelections or email any questions to [email protected].
