Alina Ying
Alina Ying SEAS '21 is from San Jose, California and is a Computer Science major. She is currently a TA for Paul Blaer and Research Assistant for Professor Julia Hirschberg and Professor Matei Ciocarlie. She declined the invitation to lead the Senior Fund.
Student Council
Alina was elected to the Engineering Student Council as the Student Body President for 2019-2020 in her junior year, along with her Executive Board party SEAS the Change Δ. She has also held the positions of Sophomore Class President and First-Year Vice President. Throughout her years on council, she has consistently chosen to be on Policy Committee.
During Alina's term, she increased undergraduate involvement in recognizing Indigenous People's Day, the University's Second Sustainability Plan, expanding access for the Mudd engineering building, shifting the Makerspace to a bigger space, and important COVID-19 measures. Her term was extended to Fall 2020 after CEC chose to delay elections, resulting in deciding F@CU allocations twice.
She mainly pursued and took part in the following:
Completed Projects/Duties Summer 2019 and 2020
- Decided F@CU allocations to the six governing boards: ABC, SGB, IGC, CSGB, CI, GBB for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021
- Decided Bacchanal Funding for 2019-2020
- For ESC's institutional memory: Completely redesigned and backed-up the internal organization of the ESC Drive
Completed Projects/Duties Fall Semester
- Advocated undergraduate SEAS academic concerns in the biweekly Engineering Committee on Instruction
- Held Biweekly meetings with VP Scott Wright; invited him to ESC general body
- Held Biweekly meetings with Vice Deans Soulaymane Kachani and/or Barclay Morrison
- Attended Monthly meetings on the Housing Advisory Board (HAB)
- Established pipeline between ESC and Undergraduate Student Life with Dean Cristen Kromm
- Established pipeline between ESC and Center for Career Education with Dean Kavita Sharma
- Sent biweekly newsletters to the engineering mailing list (undergrad SEAS students, Dean's Office) on related engineering opportunities, events, and resources
- Judged for Basketball Mania
- Allocated funding for the Student Life Committee, the Finance Committee, the Metrocard Program, the Mentorship Program, and the siSTEMic initiatives
- Passed ESC's Indigenous Peoples' Day Statement [1] [2]
- Obtained expanded access for Mudd for all engineering undergrad and graduate students, as a joint effort with EGSC [3]
- Advocated for and communicated academic / mental health accommodations to undergrad students in light of Tessa Major's death during Reading Week
Completed Projects/Duties Spring Semester
- Introduced the new Makerspace Grand Opening to all engineering students
- Worked with ESC to create and establish a widely-successful first SEAS Gala on Valentine's Day as a tradition, to be continued for the following years. Dean Mary Boyce gave a speech.
- Decided awards for the Leadership and Excellence Awards committee with administration
- Passed ESC's Statement Against Hate on Campus in response to incidents of sinophobia and antisemitism in Butler, Barnard, and EC [4]
- Signed onto the Restorative Justice report
- Created the ESC Taskforce on COVID-19 to collect concerns over multiple surveys (Relocations, P/F, Housing / Dining, Refunds), build and maintain a Mutual Aid Columbia-Barnard Sheet, and work with administration during the COVID-19 pandemic
- During the pandemic, also called Dean Barclay Morrison, Dean Leora Brovman, Dean Cristen Kromm, VP Scott Wright, and Executive Director Josh Lucas to convey all concerns and offer plausible solutions. Pushed for not forcing low-income or international students to leave campus when they did not have the means, the P/F option, a shift to a virtual campus in light of the Europe travel ban, and student life fee / housing refunds, all of which were implemented. [5]
- Worked with CEC to push elections in order to uphold fair opportunity for all candidates and constituents [6]
- Signed onto the National Student Government Letters: "An Open Letter to Admissions, Postgraduate Opportunities in response to COVID-19" and "An Open Letter to Expand Telehealth Support Access Across State Lines" together with the CCSC, GSSC, and SGA presidents. The letters, which were signed by 150+ student governments and represent over 2,000,000 undergraduates, were sent to large academic associations, future opportunities, and state medical boards in late April. [7] [8] [9]
| Preceded by Ria Garg |
ESC Student Body President 2019-20 |
Succeeded by Estevan Mesa |
References
- ↑ NAC gathers statements from ESC and CCSC, Columbia Spectator, 15 October 2019.
- ↑ ESC votes on IPD statement, Columbia Bwog, 8 October 2019.
- ↑ ESC expands Mudd access for engineering undergrads
- ↑ ESC votes on coronavirus statement, Columbia Bwog, 11 February 2020.
- ↑ ESC argues for refunds, Columbia Bwog, 7 April 2020.
- ↑ ESC delays elections to Fall 2020, Columbia Bwog, 31 March 2020.
- ↑ ESC signs onto National Letters,
- ↑ ESC part of student council coalition to sign on, Forbes, 15 April 2020.
- ↑ ESC part of student council coalition for grad school concerns, Washington Post, 17 April 2020.
