Junior Christopher Dade, Associated Students of the University of Missouri president, sat in his tiny cubicle in the Center for Student Involvement on a quiet Tuesday morning. No one else had arrived yet, but Dade was there at 8 a.m. After a busy weekend attending the ASUM retreat that brings together members from all four UM System campuses, Dade sat down to share the need-to-know ASUM goals this year.
ASUM was created in 1975 to provide a student voice in state government. The group does everything from sending interns to Jefferson City to lobby on behalf of UM students to hosting educational events for students.
“The best way to get involved with ASUM is through our internship program,” Dade said. “Students can get school credit and be a registered lobbyist with ASUM. They can lobby to state legislators on behalf of UM System students. We have that application online.”
ASUM is looking for interns that represent the diversity on campus. Dade says they want to make sure that all students, graduate and undergraduate, are represented to lawmakers in Jefferson City. Interns also need to be willing to take on the time commitment, as interning requires students to be in Jefferson City at 8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the spring semester; students are also expected to be very educated on the platforms that ASUM is lobbying for, so interns often perform research on legislation and lawmakers.
“And of course, we are looking for people who are passionate about Mizzou, diversity and really seeking to make the university a better place than it was when they got here,” Dade said.
On the second day of this year’s ASUM retreat, Executive Director Steven Chaffin, along with Legislative Director Emily Ross and Assistant Legislative Director Jordan McFarland, informed members about possible platforms for ASUM. After hearing about each, members voted on what they wanted to accomplish in Jefferson City this year.
If chosen for the internship, students will be notified in early October and start the fall training program, for which students practice lobbying with each other and learn extensively about the four platforms.
“We want to get them comfortable enough with the issue so that when they go into an office, they’re not just reading a script,” Chaffin said. “We want them to have enough of a grasp on the issues that we lobby for to be able to talk to them [legislators] in a more organic, flexible way.”
####University Funding
ASUM interns will work alongside university lobbyists to advocate for an increase in funding for the UM System and for each campus. Dade feels it’s important to have a student presence in Jefferson City when the House and Senate decide how much to give the system.
“Missouri has never been great with higher education funding,” Dade said. “For the past several decades, we have hovered between number 42 or 44 of the 50 states when it comes to education funding. When you look at Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, basically every state that borders us, Missouri is way below what other states are spending on their students.”
But compared to public institutions of bordering states, UM System campus tuition is significantly lower. While bordering state schools have increased tuition greatly, Dade says the UM System has only increased tuition by 23% (2.3-4% annually) over the last decade. While the percentage the state funds MU has been stagnant over the past 10 years, MU enrollment has increased drastically since then.
“So basically, we have the same amount of money trying to educate and increase the quality of education for way more students,” Dade said.
####Mental health
For the first time, ASUM is reaching out to public universities outside the UM System to improve student counseling centers across the state. While Dade oversees the Mizzou branch of ASUM, Chaffin oversees and coordinates the efforts of all four UM campuses. Upon being elected, one of Chaffin’s first priorities was to make mental health an official platform for the year.
Over the summer, Chaffin contacted every four-year public institution in Missouri, compiling data and working to understand the needs of counseling centers across the state.
“This platform was spurred from my experience here at MU,” Chaffin said. “If you’re a student and decide to make an appointment with the Counseling Center today, you probably won’t get in until October.”
Chaffin explains that the Counseling Center isn’t doing anything wrong, they simply need more staff and resources. His experience inspired him to reach out to MU Counseling Director David Wallace and all the other UM System schools to ask what problems they are faced with.
“Largely, I was finding that though there were nuances between what each campus needed specifically, each counseling center does have needs,” Chaffin said. “They all report that the demand for counseling centers is on the rise, and they need more staff and better facilities in order to ensure that students can get in quickly.”
Some counseling programs have had to cut back their prevention and outreach programs, which Chaffin said is extremely damaging.
Thus, ASUM voted to make mental health funding an official platform, and interns will enter Jefferson City on a mission to ensure that each school in Missouri has sufficient funds to hire enough counselors to meet the recommended student to counselor ratios.
####STEM Initiative
“The STEM Initiative is designed to empower businesses to invest in their future workforce while providing opportunities to students currently seeking STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) degrees, or students who have recently received a STEM degree,” Chaffin said.
The proposed program would allow companies who hire Missouri STEM students or graduates, either for an internship or paid position, to apply to have up to $5,000 of their state tax liabilities allocated to the STEM fund.
“The STEM fund is a fund proposed and advocated for by ASUM, and that was passed into law in 2012,” Chaffin said.
Any funds placed into the STEM fund go toward scholarships for STEM students, youth experimental programs designed to expose students to STEM fields, career enhancement programs for teachers in STEM fields and endowed professorships in STEM fields.
“It’s a win-win for companies because it allows them to invest some of their taxes, which they would be paying anyway, towards something meaningful that directly impacts their future workforce,” Chaffin said. “And it’s a win for students because in order for companies to take advantage of it, it requires that they’re hiring students or graduates from Missouri’s universities.”
ASUM is devoted to “providing opportunities for STEM students and STEM graduates, while also ensuring that future students have quality teachers, professors and experiences.”
####Voting Student Curator
Currently, MU senior Patrick Graham is the student representative to the Board of Curators. In 1984, ASUM succeeded in adding a student position to the board, and in 1999, that student was granted access to every curator meeting. However, Graham cannot vote on decisions made by the board. In 2016, ASUM wants to change that.
“ASUM is advocating for a voting student curator on the board to really give weight to students’ opinions on how the system is run,” Dade said. “We want to have some influence over decisions that impact us and our campus.”
####Other Projects
Besides lobbying to state legislators in Jefferson City, ASUM works to increase student political interest and awareness through Tigers Advancing Political Participation. According to Dade, TAPP is a great way to “get involved and get your feet wet with little time commitment.”
This educational branch of ASUM runs several types of events, from Twitter town halls and expert panels to “Politics Is Brewing,” an event every Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. in Speakers Circle with coffee, donuts and voter registration.
Around 8:45 a.m., the Student Involvement Center final came alive. More students arrived, and one could hear the comforting buzz of chatter, phones and keyboards.
The way Christopher Dade talks so passionately about politics, people assume he’s a political science major.
“No,” he said, laughing, after being asked. “I’m actually chemistry. People always assume that, though.”
But that’s a common misconception about ASUM; not just political science majors or students with previous political experience are involved.
“They can be any majors on campus,” Dade said. “In fact, this year, we are really looking to get students who aren’t just political science or journalism majors. You don’t necessarily have to be those majors to be interested in lobbying and speaking on behalf of your fellow students. Everyone on campus has a story to share with lawmakers, and that’s really the most important part.”
_Edited by Emily Gallion | egallion@themaneater.com_
