The Student Senators Council (SSC) is the overarching student governance structure at New York University, and each school or college that is part of NYU has at least one senator that represents the entire student population of that school, sometimes two if the school also has a graduate student population. Though the Shanghai position was only created a year ago, the NYU Shanghai Senator position is key to the school’s development this year, as for the first time the Senator is present in New York, where the majority of the SSC is based. On Century Avenue had an opportunity to catch up with Alexander (Alex) Mayes, serving the position of NYU Shanghai senator for the Fall semester of 2015-2016, about what the position entails and what progress he has made for NYU Shanghai since taking office. OCA: What does the role of NYU Shanghai Senator in the Student Senators Council (SSC) entail?Mayes: Thank you so much for having me, OCA! It’s a pleasure to speak with you. As each school in the university has at least one senator in the SSC, the role is to represent your constituency on key issues regarding university life, academics, and a lot of the pressing issues that students are passionate about bringing to the university. So I think in one capacity you represent, and then you also serve as the liaison between the student population and the administration.OCA: How is this position different from that of the NYU Shanghai Site Ambassador to New York, as both are based in New York?Mayes: The two positions are very different. The Site ambassador is a point of contact between the students and Global Programs, so they are a fantastic source of information about New York as a study away site. On the other hand, the position of senator involves being in the student government structure in the SSC and voting on key issues in the University Senate. OCA: Thus far, how has your experience serving the position been? Has it met your expectations?Mayes: It has been beyond my expectations. Personally, it has been a great role because it has allowed me to meet people from all around the university. Usually through clubs and organizations you meet like-minded people with whom you share a common interest. At the SSC, our common interest is to support the university and represent our constituencies, so together we are a diverse group of students from different backgrounds and schools. It has been a really great opportunity to learn more about the university and meet people from different schools – Medicine, Law, Public Health, etc – and fields. In terms of the senator role, I feel like it has been an opportunity to support NYU Shanghai in a way we never have before. We are on the ground here in New York and to have a representative here, pushing for Shanghai, is a great way to make sure that we are making our voices heard and to really make our campus a more integrated part of NYU. This position has also allowed me to realize how much support we have for NYU Shanghai, as everyone in the SSC is so interested in our campus and they are happy we are a part of the SSC. They are more than willing to welcome us and make us a part of the NYU family.OCA: Do you believe NYU Shanghai and its Student Government (SG) prepared you well enough for the position before coming to New York?Mayes: One of the difficulties with the role is that you convene so often in person that if you’re taking the role as someone that’s abroad, it’s very difficult to have a presence as you can’t attend scheduled or impromptu meetings. This is especially difficult if you’re half way across the world, in a different time zone. Last year’s NYU Shanghai senator, Li Siyao, stepped into that position and really made it an important role. I think what I have done now is given more of a face to the NYU Shanghai student body. However, there are conflicts between the SSC’s bylaws and the SG’s constitution, which did not come to light before. For example, the SSC bylaws state that all senators can run for the position and serve the position no matter where in the Global Network they are, whereas the SG’s constitution says that you must be in New York to act as the NYU Shanghai Senator. As many see these two rules conflicting, we are now working on how to combine them, whether it is by changing our rules in Shanghai or is it best if the Shanghai senator is in New York?OCA: How many hours a week do you believe this position requires?Mayes: It’s an enormous commitment. The SSC itself meets only about four or five times a semester, but other than that all senators are also in the University Committee on Student Life (UCSL), which other than the senators also includes the Student Body Presidents of every school. With both these committees, senators end up having a meeting every week that lasts about three hours. Other than these committees, all senators also have to be a part of at least one committee, which meet usually once a week for an hour or sometimes once every two weeks depending on how much work the committee does. This semester I’m part of the committee on Global Policy, and I am also the Chair of the committee on Alumni Relations. Some committees are more work than others, for example I now attend all the Alumni Relations meetings at NYU including the Alumni Relations Board Meetings, which is another couple of hours a week. In total, I spend about 15 hours a week on this position. On the flipside, despite the busy schedule, the SSC is a very social group that often goes out and attends events together.OCA: Being away from Shanghai, how do you gauge the campuses’ opinions, needs, and requirements? How do you communicate with Shanghai, its administration, and its Student Government to understand their needs and wants?Mayes: “How do I communicate with Shanghai?” was actually one of my initial questions for the position, but rather than connecting with Shanghai, the real question is how to connect with the student body as most of the Class of 2017 is spread out all over the Global Network. We are currently discussing initiatives that would be a good way to keep NYU Shanghai updated on what we are doing and how to get student perspectives on key issues.For example, one initiative the SSC is going to be voting on in the future is called “Abolish The Box”, that involves getting rid of the check box on the Common Application that asks if you have been incarcerated for a crime in the past. This is a hot topic right now because advocates of the movement don’t want to disadvantage people that may have been involved in petty crime so their hopes of getting an education or a higher social status are diminished. At the same time, the opponents of the movement argue that, if admissions ‘abolishes the box,’ NYU could admit someone that has a history of violent crime (and potentially is a danger to our campus). This initiative is an example of an issue that goes beyond my personal view; it is critical for me to gauge the opinions of other students before voting. We are still looking for more means to get feedback from NYU Shanghai students. If you have any thoughts on this issue or another issue, please shoot me an email!OCA: Do you engage with the NYU Shanghai Student Government?Mayes: I speak regularly to my counterparts in Shanghai, though international communication is definitely one of the most difficult aspects of my role. Lately I have been speaking with Shanghai student government members to discuss the role of the senator. We want to avoid thinking that the NYU Shanghai Senator is a part of the “New York government;” rather, if this is one university, one NYU, and we are all violets, then the SSC is not just New York’s student government but the university student governance structure, serving all students.OCA: What projects or initiatives have you been working on this past semester, and what has been their result?Mayes: One of the big initiatives that I’m bringing to the Senate, which we have now really made some progress towards, is the issue of affordability. There are a lot of sub-categories under affordability as it is a broad topic, but one focus is on the wage gap between Shanghai and New York on-campus jobs. The tuition in New York and Shanghai are the same. Yet, student workers in Shanghai get paid about 18 kuai an hour, while the average pay for an on-campus job in New York is $10, about 64 kuai. We recognize that the cost of living in Shanghai is a lot less, but many students are taking on-campus positions to help contribute to their tuition bills. So we are now looking at how we can raise student wages in Shanghai.The second way we are grappling with affordability is that Shanghai students want to study abroad in New York, and some have to for major requirements, but they want to live off campus. How can we allow this to happen? Maybe we can reach an agreement that students who are here for two semesters can live on campus for one semester and off campus for the second. Other than housing, we are also looking at textbook prices, among other issues under affordability. Because of all these issues I’ve brought to the SSC, I’m very proud to say that they have now created an Affordability Task Force that is looking at issues in all of NYU’s schools.OCA: What is on your agenda for the remainder of the semester and next semester? Mayes: It is difficult to talk about what new initiatives will be started in the remainder of the semester because the SSC has very strict rules that senators must serve the position for a year, while in Shanghai we have a restriction that this is a semester-based position. I ran for senator for a semester, so I will not serve next semester without being re-elected, but we are currently re-evaluating the process of how this is going to work. One possibility is to elect a new senator for next semester, but for future years, change this position to a year-long commitment as it is very difficult to transfer duties mid-year without losing the momentum of progress. But we must also consider the fact that it is difficult to serve this position from abroad and it is also advantageous to let as many people experience the senator’s role as possible.OCA: Why are there so many flaws in linearity between the SSC’s bylaws and NYU Shanghai Student Government’s constitution?Mayes: When I first realized the conflicting rules, I questioned why the Shanghai Student Government did not know about the SSC requiring a Senator’s role to be a year-long commitment. The reason for this was that the SSC’s bylaws have been kept private, which led to the one of the initiatives we are currently working on called Project 49 –for the 49,274 students at NYU, we are trying to increase transparency and understanding of what the SSC is doing. The first task of this project was to open up the bylaws, which have now been made public on the SSC’s website. Hopefully this will lead to fewer conflicts between the rules of NYU’s different campuses. The SSC is now also going through all of NYU’s portal campuses to align rules and restrictions.OCA: Can you elaborate more on the committees that serve the SSC?Mayes: So the SSC has its main body of senators, but most of the work is done by the sub-committees. All senators must be in at least one sub-committee, but there are no restrictions on the maximum number you can be on. This year I am on the Global Policies committee and I am also chairing the committee on Alumni Relations. I chose the committee of Alumni Relations because historically is it a committee that has done very little, so I really wanted to take that opportunity and help it achieve a lot. Our objective is to increase alumni presence on campus and see what students want from NYU alumni. One event I want to bring to Shanghai is NYU’s Alumni Day, where students can interact with the wide alumni community we have in Shanghai. We now have a representative of the Alumni Relations committee in Shanghai, Nell Lang!Another committee I’d like more NYU Shanghai students to utilize is the committee on Conference Funding. If a student is interested in going to a conference, no matter where the location or event, they can apply to this committee to request travel funding or other expenses before the conference. There are certain restrictions especially while travelling internationally, but this is definitely a great resource for NYU Shanghai students to utilize.OCA: What is the job of the Alternate Senator, and how closely have you and this semester’s Alternate Senator, Jarred Kubas, worked together this semester?Mayes: Jarred has done so much for student government this year. I actually don’t like the term “Alternate Senator” because Jarred is very much the “Co-Senator” or “Vice” Senator. We work hand in hand in everything and often times he steps into meetings when I have conflicts. The SSC hosts a retreat at the beginning of every year. This year, Jarred was the only Alternate Senator allowed to attend the retreat, as I spoke to the Chair of the SSC about how the NYU Shanghai Senator role is going to split between Jarred and myself – to create a stronger presence for Shanghai, we want two leaders. Jarred is very proactive about voicing his concern at meetings and is a model for all future Alternate or Vice Senators.OCA: What qualities do you believe are necessary to successfully serve as an NYU Shanghai senator? Do you have any recommendations or advice for future NYU Shanghai senators?Mayes: First and foremost, you need to have the time that this position requires. I would recommend setting this up as an extra class as it is a huge commitment, so realize that before getting involved. Secondly, I think you have to really want to represent your student body, regardless of whether it conflicts with your own views. When there is an initiative, realize that you are voting on behalf of the constituency you represent. Important qualities to be successful in this position include an eagerness to get involved, openness to speak out, and an energetic spirit – everyone in the SSC is very passionate about getting things done and making NYU just that marginally better than it was the day before, and that is the best attitude one can have. Additionally, if possible, try to get in touch with a many people from the SSC as possible to really learn about the position and the committees before getting involved. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, but do as much as you can for the university and your college.

This article was written by Lathika Mouli. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: NYU