FINANCIAL VICE PRESIDENT:
Kendra Hamilton
Year: Senior
Major: Economics, International Business
Minors: Leadership Studies
Who are you?I'm a 21-year-old eldest child of three from Broomfield (near Boulder), Colo. I have a passion for travel, leadership and learning (yes, I LOVE school), and I am enjoying living off campus with my three best friends and my guinea pig, Avery. I involve myself as much as possible in student life, having been a member of ASWU for three years and participating in school plays, the Women's Choir, the Business Students' Organization, Habitat for Humanity and BSU, and working for the Bookstore and Admissions to keep myself busy.
What do you do and why is it important?I manage all ASWU's finances, which is around $370,000, including budgeting in the spring, processing all funds that go through the HUB Info Desk, and any and all sales on and off campus having to do with Whitworth's student activities. I am the chair of the Club Council, which means I monitor all club activity on campus and assist students in forming clubs of their own. I also chair the Finance Committee and Budget Committee, which determines where our money goes and for what purposes. It's important because...someone's gotta manage all that money!
What main issues or ideas do you hope to focus on while you serve on ASWU?It's been my goal since starting this job in February to re-vamp this position. This is a great job, that is fulfilling and interesting in its own right. People should want this job just as much as they want the president's or EVP's positions. My focus is on clarity, training and technologically getting up to speed with everyone else. I want to make club formation easy, make our accounting practices well-known, and clarify for students the purpose of ASWU.
What is at least one common misconception about your work or ASWU?As the financial VICE president, people think there's someone above me as the financial president. All of the executive positions are equal, they just specialize in different groups of people. People also think you have to be an accounting major to do this job. That's not true. Anyone with basic financial knowledge (and at least one accounting class) and organizational skills can do this job. Many people think my job is only about money, and most don't know that I manage all the clubs on campus, new work positions and even refrigerator rentals!
What is important for students to know about your work?I love this job...really! I think ASWU is an important organization, because we maintain communication across the board to connect students, faculty and staff to keep Whitworth running smoothly. Everyone in student government genuinely cares for the well being of the students on this campus. We want to make life here pleasant and exciting, and we want to keep everyone informed, since we're the one's essentially "running" this university...Whitworth's faculty and staff LISTEN to us, and they want to make positive changes with student desires in mind. My job is just one aspect of how we attempt to do that, and I think that overall, we're successful.
>>Back to "Get to know ASWU"
2008 Woodie Awards
