[NABS-L] Participating in Student Government In College

[Cricket X. Bidleman]

Hi Vejas,

Thanks for reaching out to the list with your question--it's a good
one. Surprisingly, there are very few accessibility obstacles with
participating in dorm government, since it's mostly emailing and
talking to people. I was the secretary of my dorm government last
year, so I got to write lots and lots of emails and meeting minutes.
Dorm government in general is a pretty small time commitment, so you
should be good on that front, but remember that the rest of the dorm
government is there to help support you. If you're too busy to do
something well, ask someone else for help. And don't procrastinate on
stuff like that, because when you're planning events for lots of
people, procrastination is the worst!

I would say that one obstacle you might encounter is spreadsheets. As
you know, spreadsheets are used to collaborate on things like event
planning, and in today's university setting, most people like to use
Google sheets. It's temperamental at best, so I would definitely
suggest going and working with it some before doing any of the dorm
government stuff. Again since you're a team, don't be afraid to sit
down with the other people on the dorm government and talk about how
you're all going to handle things. Keep an open dialogue if you can.

I'd say the last important thing about being on a dorm government is
that you are there, in part, to help people with problems they might
have. Sometimes that involves taking on the role of a counselor or
mediating arguments, so make sure to be patient and professional for
that. I'm certified in student counseling, and one of the pieces of
advice they gave us is, in dealing with interpersonal conflicts, to
have the people involved speak about their experiences and in
particular, ask them questions that guide them toward identifying and
clarifying the specific feelings they have in relation to the
situation. Regardless of whether you're dealing with a problem
someone's talking to you about or an interpersonal conflict, it's
important to remember that you're hearing their side of a story, so
try not to get too emotionally invested if you can. It's really
difficult sometimes though. And of course, if a student comes up to
you and indicates that they're contemplating or seriously planning to
harm themselves or someone else in some way, you should absolutely, no
matter what happens, report this to the RA's in the dorm. I dealt with
a situation last year where someone asked me specifically to promise I
wouldn't say anything to anyone before telling me that they intended
to seriously harm themselves. Promises like that can end up putting
people in worse situations, so if that kind of situation arises, keep
in mind that you could be saving a life.

And that's about it, I think. Let me know if you have any
questions--you know how to get in touch.

Best,
Cricket X. Bidleman (she/her/hers)
Stanford University | Class of 2021

On 9/17/18, Vejas Vasiliauskas via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I am going to be involved in my college dorm's student government. I'm
> extremely excited, and don't anticipate any problems.
> My position will mainly involve communicating with the students on my floor
> or wing if they have any problems, and to work along with the rest of the
> team to plan events.
> I just wanted to know if anyone else who participated in a similar position
> ever had any accessibility barriers of any kind. I remember from the
> discussion two weeks on here  that sometimes there are sometimes
> accessibility issues in being part of a group.
> Thank you so much.
> Vejas Vasiliauskas
> Secretary and Treasurer of the California Association of Blind Students
> Phone: (310) 265-3949
> Email: alpineimagination at gmail.com
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