The Vision for the 2018-19 PSFA College Council
The PSFA College Council is the governing body for all students with majors and minors within the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts. Its purpose is to promote the interests of the College throughout the university, promote student and faculty cooperation by solving problems related to PSFA, provide assistance and support for activities and programs of student organizations and academic departments within PSFA, and to allocate funds provided to PSFA by Associated Students. This year’s College Council President Matt Tornero, a fourth-year theater student, has been involved in College Council since his freshman year and has some big goals for the Council.
“I started as a representative for my student organization, Skull and Dagger Dramatic Society,” said Tornero. “I was a rep my freshman and sophomore year, but I wanted to get more involved. So, last year, I served as the Vice President of Finance, which was an amazing experience. Toward the end of last semester, former president Samantha Ledesma encouraged me to run for President. Her words made me realize how much I believe in everything we stand for, how much I love the people, and love the process. So I ran for the position, and here we are today.”
As a freshman, Tornero never thought he would be serving as College Council President. But it was his experiences in College Council, as well as the encouragement of Ledesma and Randi McKenzie, the former PSFA assistant dean for Student Affairs, that propelled him into the position.
This year, Tornero has three main goals he hopes to see College Council accomplish. The first relates to access to, and awareness of, professional development resources on campus, an area he noticed as lacking.
“It puzzled me because half of our major within PSFA are, in a large sense, pre-professional degrees,” said Tornero. “To not have that access to professional resources, especially at the College Council level, I think is really hurting us.”
Yet, even in just the past few months as president, Tornero has already seen this goal come to fruition.
“We’ve already reached out to Career Services to form a formal partnership,” said Tornero. “They will be coming in this month to present during one of our meetings. We’ll also be working on having one of their reps come to meetings, as if they were another student organization, to give regular updates on relevant events and workshops. I think giving our students access to these resources early-on will really help them so by the time they’re ready to look for a job, they’ll know exactly where to go.”
The second goal Tornero hopes to accomplish is increasing and improving outreach to freshman, transfer, and international students. The road to accomplishing this began last year, with bi-annual PSFA informational pop-up events.
“We had academic advisors from every school, student organizations, and a College Council table where people could get information,” said Tornero. “With the help of our advisor, Lanie Lockwood, we were able to take that event university-wide the first week of this semester. On Campanile Walkway, every College held the same type of informational and support center for students. We had almost 40 people sign up for more information about our College Council, a lot of whom were freshman and international students.”
Lastly, Tornero hopes this year will include a main focus on students’ self-care and mental wellness.
“Mental health is something a lot of students, myself included, don’t take enough time to think about,” said Tornero. “I want to make sure self-care is seen as a priority, as opposed to an option. What I’d love to start doing is during Council meetings, after all presentations are done and announcements are made, everyone takes a 25-minute power nap. Nobody gets any sleep anymore and if we’re asking our members to be there anyway, why not promote this idea of self-care right in the meetings?”
For anyone wanting to be involved in student organizations or student government, Tornero hopes they know that any anxiety is completely normal.
“If you feel terrified of going up to a booth on your first week, it’s perfectly normal,” said Tornero. “And because it’s normal, it’s also conquerable. I think you will be surprised at how receptive the upperclassmen will be. They want you to get involved and they want you to be curious and ask questions. Remind yourself that, and just go for what you want.”
If you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns about College Council, members want to hear from you. Their office hours are held in PSFA 200 on Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. - noon and Wednesdays from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
“We’re here for you,” said Tornero. “We’re here to support the students of PSFA.”
The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.
