The Executive Branch consists of the President, the Student Trustee, and their appointed Cabinet.
Every spring, students vote for the President and the Student Trustee. After elections, the President and Student Trustee must appoint undergraduate students to Cabinet positions. Both the President and Student Trustee meet weekly with Vice Chancellor Jean Kim. Both also provide direction to the Cabinet.
The President
The President is an undergraduate student who meets regularly with administrators and student groups to formulate and implement policy initiatives on campus.
Akshay Kapoor, the undergraduate Student Government President is a man of many trades. In addition to being Student Government President he is also Resident Assistant in Washington Tower in the Southwest area of campus. He is an active member of his Fraternity Theta Chi, and has helped various philanthropic organizations throughout his career at UMass. Akshay was the previous Secretary of Diversity for the Student Government Association and has been able to make positive change across campus.
The Student Trustee
Each UMass campus elects one Student Trustee to represent their campus to the rest of the UMass system. The Student Trustees and the Board of Trustees meet regularly to discuss changes that will impact students.
Tina Kennedy, the current Student Trustee, drives to Boston, Lowell, and Worcester to advocate for students. In all proposed campus changes, she works to see that student fees do not increase. She also works to bring more student jobs and scholarships to campus. Tina played a large role in helping to organize last year’s Lobby Day, which brought students to the State House in the hopes that state funding to higher education would not be cut. Tina has also been a major organizer for Metawampe Stompe Rail Jam in 2010 and 2011, an event that fundraises for breast cancer charity Ellen’s Heart and Soul.
The Cabinet
The Cabinet positions are created by the Senate, and they attend to specific aspects of the SGA and student life. Some of the positions have existed for a long time, such as the Secretary of Finance, Secretary of the Registry, and the Attorney General.
Other positions are relatively very new, such as the Secretary of Sustainability and Secretary of Web Management. The Secretary of Veteran Affairs is a completely brand new position.