Last Sunday, the polls closed for the Spring Term CSA Liaison Election. This election determined the Committee and Office Liaisons that will serve beginning in the Spring Term next year, and with 22 candidates campaigning for 18 positions amidst a turbulent federal administration, it was certainly a competitive race.
CSA Liaisons act as a go-between among their particular committee and CSA as a whole. Kaya Shin-Sherman ’28, who won their bid for the Education and Curriculum Committee (ECC) liaison position, explained that for their role, they “will be on the [ECC] and go to those meetings every week as well as on CSA, going to CSA meetings every week.” Shin-Sherman added that their “main responsibility is to communicate between the committees when there are things that are relevant, but I’ll also have input on both.”
Admissions and Financial Aid Committee candidate Juan Garcia Reyes ’26, who won his election, added that liaison roles aren’t merely a link between a faculty-run committee and a student-run committee, but also “involves me asking the questions that seem pertinent on both the student’s end during those meetings.”
Knowing how to be impactful as a liaison comes with a great deal of experience, both from previous roles within CSA or from prior leadership positions. Reyes, who won his third term as a AFEC Liaison, said that having familiarity with the way the committees are run and being connected to the individuals with whom you will work is key to being an effective liaison. Specific to AFEC, he said that over the past two years he’s learned “the general processes that go into the admissions and financial aid cycles, what the priorities are, and how things are structured.”
Reyes explained that learning this much about admissions requires a close connection with the office. “ I have personal and professional relationships with the financial aid and admissions offices, said Reyes. “I have some of their phone numbers so there’s like a good rapport there that helps a lot when asking some of the less comfortable questions about what the college is doing and why it’s doing things.”
While only a first-time candidate, Shin-Sherman remarked that they spoke to current CSA Liaisons and committee chairs to become more familiar with how CSA functioned and the responsibilities of the ECC Liaison. From these conversations, they came to the conclusion that “it seems like you can make it what you want to be.” Shin-Sherman said they hope to combine these words of wisdom with their previous high school experience to “bring the same proactive mindset.”
In terms of goals for next year, Reyes expressed uncertainty due to the major changes being made by the federal government and the myriad ways in which Carleton as an institution could respond. “This year has been mostly trying to advocate for support for food insecure students, especially over the summer housing break,” said Reyes.” We have made some progress, some concessions that the administration has made on the logistical end of things.” He said that he didn’t know whether this momentum would carry over to next year, adding that “it depends a lot on what stance the college takes, how aggressive the federal government is in persecuting immigrants.”
Reyes added that the role of AFEC Liaison, and many other liaisons, rests on being reactive to these changes. “The focus has changed year by year as the topics of conversation change. There’s the repealing of affirmative action and what that means. Changes to the financial aid landscape that made it harder to get low-income students and what that means for the college going forward.” He said his primary goal is “staying in the loop and throwing out everything I hear so that the students are aware.”
Due to all these changes, some candidates for positions pledged to incorporate student input into their decisions. Reyes suggested that a great way to get your voice heard is to contact members of CSA, whether that through connecting with executives or attending class representative office hours. However, he said that “the easiest and most straightforward way is just to show up in the meetings because people are allowed to talk from the public.” Reyes said that CSA has senate meetings every Monday in the Weitz at 7pm, “but no one ever shows up.”
Shin-Sherman said they shared concerns of incorporating students. They noted that they were planning to send out student surveys via campus announcements or posters to incorporate students’ opinions. They added that it’s important “to keep the student body informed about what we’re talking about on the ECC because it’s super relevant stuff and it sounds like they need more student input. I want to help them get that so they can make good decisions that work for everyone.”