New Student Senate President ready to lead Crafton into the future
Publish Date: July 14, 2020
Jake Fuller knows he is going to be busy as Crafton Hills College’s new Student Senate President. Elected to the position at the close of the Spring 2020 semester, the 20-year-old Redlander is ready to lead the college’s student body through a global pandemic and way into the future.
One way the third-year Roadrunner plans to do that is through communication. Prior to joining the Student Senate last year, Fuller said he was unaware a group like it existed on campus, and he’s looking to change that. “If students don’t know we exist, they’re not going to come to us for help,” he explained. “The goal is to serve the students as best we can, and we can’t do that if they don’t know about us.”
The Student Senate is the governing board of the entire Crafton student body. Its mission is to “serve current and future students by establishing a foundation that fosters involvement, awareness and unity.”
The group typically meets on campus at noon every Friday, but since the Coronavirus pandemic has pushed student learning and campus involvement online, Fuller and the Student Senate are looking for new ways to get the word out. This includes creating a new Student Senate publication, crafting a more user-friendly college website with help from CHC officials, and activating a new communication hub with other on-campus clubs. “I want to create a place where our clubs and Senate can have more dialogue because one of the biggest things we do is support our student clubs,” Fuller said.
Another of his goals is helping students navigate a new leaning model. Prior to the end of the Spring semester, Fuller worked with the Student Senate to create a new grading policy – The Safety Net Proposal – that would support students struggling with online learning. The policy was not adopted, but Fuller said there’s more to be done as online learning is not for everyone.
He can relate. “Some students are really concerned about the online format,” Fuller continued. “I, myself, had struggled with online classes before. It’s not the same as sitting in the classroom and it is not for everybody. But we want to see what we can do to make things easier for those students.”
The end of the Spring 2021 semester will be Fuller’s last as a student. But his ties to Crafton will not stop there. The computer science major plans on transferring to Cal State San Bernardino next fall and later enroll in Georgia Tech’s online master’s program to continue his studies in the field. He then plans on coming back to CHC to teach. “I really, really love Crafton,” he said. “It’s my favorite place in general. It’s like a family. And I like to be part of a community.”
To learn more about Student Senate and how to get involved, go to the Student Senate Webpage.
