USG looks to improve academic advising, make tuition allocation more transparent
Abby Grossman (right) and Abby Waidelich were elected USG president and vice president on March 12. Credit: Courtesy of Abby Grossman & Abby Waidelich
As last semester came to an end, so did the first full semester for Abby Grossman and Abby Waidelich as president and vice president of Undergraduate Student Government.
Throughout Fall Semester, the two women, along with USG as a whole, worked on a variety of issues ranging from educating students on sexual violence on and around campus to working to improve mental health for students and safety both on and off campus.
“We’ve been focusing on issues that have been bringing us into this semester and we will be bringing on and rolling out some really exciting things this upcoming semester to really help increase the students’ safety on and off campus,” said Grossman, a fourth-year in math education.
Waidelich, a fourth-year in biological engineering, said one of their biggest accomplishments was their event with Vice President Joe Biden for the It’s On Us campaign.
“It was nationally recognized and it still is nationally recognized for a successful event and really sparked a lot of our sexual violence resources to be put on that high level,” Waidelich said.
A new initiative the pair said they plan to work on this semester is to ensure a positive academic advising experience for all students.
“We really want to make sure that every single student has the best advising experience here at Ohio State because it is unacceptable that some of our students have amazing experiences with advising and know exactly what to do at exactly what time, while other students struggle to even get an advising appointment,” Grossman said.
USG plans to partner with the Office of Undergraduate Education to work with the academic advising offices of each college at OSU.
The partnership will create “an academic advising summit in which advisors, students and administrators from all across the university come together to talk about the issues at hand and how we can help create a better advising experience for all students here at Ohio State,” Grossman said.
In addition to this initiative, USG also plans to improve tuition allocation transparency.
Waidelich said USG hopes to maximize what students are paying for and to better explain to students where their money is going.
Grossman and Waidelich will be passing down their roles of president and vice president of USG this semester to two new leaders, which they describe as bittersweet.
“It’s coming close to an end and it’s kind of sad, especially being a second semester senior, but this experience is something that I will never get to relive,” Waidelich said. “From the friends that I’ve made and the awesome connection and networking events that I have been able to attend to really making an impact on Ohio State. It’s just been an incredible learning opportunity.”
Grossman also said the past semester was a valuable experience.
“Being USG President is something that, I don’t know if rewinding two to three years I’d ever thought I’d be in, but it has been a remarkable experience,” Grossman said. “I can say that my biggest learning experience has been being engaged with this student population here at Ohio State, being engaged with the amazing faculty and administrators that we have here at Ohio State, and learning from every step that I’ve taken as USG president.”
Gerard Basalla, the deputy of staff of USG and a third-year in political science, said working with Grossman and Waidelich has been a positive experience.
“Their passion for Ohio State students is unmatched and under their leadership they have empowered our organization to work tirelessly to ensure Ohio State students are being best represented every day,” said Basalla, a third-year in political science and strategic communication.
Basalla said that working with the pair was an “absolute thrill.”
Grossman said she felt her work with USG has been “tremendous and has been a step forward.”
“I think that’s the goal that every administration with USG should have to leave the organization and this place just a little bit better than it was when you got here,” she said.
