Kennedy Salamat

Student Council

Kennedy was elected to the Engineering Student Council as the Student Body President for 2021-2022. Previously, she was elected as the Class of 2023 Vice President for 2020-2021 and a Class of 2023 Representative for 2019-2020. She also has served as an active member of Policy and Student Life Committees.

As President, completed projects/duties include:

- Secured Fall 2021 P/D/F option for SEAS undergraduate students - Wrote and presented the proposal on continuing the P/D/F option to the SEAS Committee of Instruction, resulting in the ability to P/D/F and uncover one non-technical, CORE, or major course.

- Established new Explore NYC Initiative -- Came up with the idea and created Explore NYC events schedule to allow students to attend events throughout the city for free. Explore NYC events included Broadway shows, Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty, Empire State, and One World Observatory.

- Worked on creation of new Linguistics minor – Met with administrators to move forward with creation of new minor.

- Drafted and Proposed Creation of new ESC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee - Wrote and presented constitutional amendment to create a 5th ESC committee to promote work in this area.

- Discussed concerns related to dining – Relayed concerns regarding traffic at dining halls, bringing food out of JJs Place, and making Halal options more visible in dining halls. Advocated for Faculty House to remain in place long-term.

- Helped decide F@CU allocations to the six governing boards -- ABC, SGB, IGC, CSGB, CI, GBB for 2021-2022

- Attended Bi-Weekly Meetings with Dean Morrison

- Kept the student body up-to-date – Wrote and sent ESC newsletters, highlighting upcoming ESC and community events.

- Advocated for recording classes - Met with administrators, resulting in communications to be sent to Professors encouraging course recordings to help students who were unable to attend class due to COVID.

- Attended Policy and Student Life Committee meetings – Worked with the policy committee to identify new initiatives and write proposals. Worked to plan events calendar with student life, and helped staff various events throughout the semester.

- Met with representatives from the Food Pantry @ Columbia - to open lines of communication. Included up-to-date information in the weekly newsletters so SEAS students would know how to access the Food Pantry’s resources and had Food Pantry members come to speak at ESC general body meeting.

- Advocated for SEAS undergraduates during expansion meetings – Pinpointed what resources are currently strained in SEAS and what areas of improvement are needed moving forward to enhance the undergraduate experience.

- Attended meetings with Vice President of Facilities, Housing and Dining, Scott Wright

- Attended meting with the Center for Career Education

- Attended meeting with Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Shavonna Hinton to discuss initiatives to increase equity and inclusion in SEAS

- Attended meetings with Dean Brovman, Dean Chang, and Dean Mak