The Real Deal Party’s platform will address five issues: financial policy, student service, academic issues, community engagement and market UTM’s success.
Real Deal’s financial plan is to “continue to safeguard against unnecessary fees by working closely with the Board of Trustees to prevent unnecessary fee increases; work to assure the next General Assembly stays under budget as years past; seek out any unnecessary fees that students are still being charged and either get rid of them or better allocate them to help the students.”
The party also plans to fight for additional student services including free prints or lowered printing costs and improvements of campus buildings and grounds through renovations and restoration efforts.
The party says they will fight for free prints, but “at the very least lower the cost of student printing through a package based system that is modeled after the University of Memphis.”
The party seeks to address academic issues by “removing the S’s on midterm grades in order to better help students judge their performance in their classes.” They also hope to improve academic advising by coordinating with the Faculty Senate and continuing pursuing ways to protect students’ academic rights.
Real Deal seeks to increase community engagement by supporting “tailgating at UTM sporting events”, increasing “attendance and Skyhawk pride at athletic events by incorporating the organizations on our campus,” continuing “to maintain open communication with satellite campuses” and pursuing “recruitment for open SGA positions throughout the entire student body.”
The final issue The Real Deal Party hopes to address is the marketing of UTM’s success. The party plans to do this through supporting “campus conservation programs and support policies that improve efficiency and ultimately save University resources.” The also plan to “lobby support from the Legislature for Higher Education” through “connections in the Tennessee State Legislature in order to promote and protect higher education at UTM” and by showcasing “undergraduate research through public medians in West Tennessee.”
The Real Deal executive council candidates are John Domanski for president, Elizabeth Sanders for vice president and Christy Chicas for secretary general.
