Unlike students in most other ASUU elected positions, chief of staff Scott Thatcher does very little legislative work.
Vice president Sara Seastrand, a senior in political science, is the chair of the Assembly, and president Sam Ortiz, a senior in social work, handles most of the legislation between ASUU and the administration. Thatcher, however, runs the ASUU office and keeps in touch with the 16 boards associated with ASUU.
“I’m mostly in shop,” Thatcher said. “I just try to make sure everyone is collaborating and that everybody is doing what they are supposed to be doing.”
Thatcher meets with each of ASUU’s boards for a one-on-one meeting every month where he makes sure the boards are accomplishing their goals and the initiatives they are working on are in line with the four platforms their party ran on — sustainability, diversity, inclusivity and transparency.
“I also have to sign our compensation and do some of the other things that aren’t as much fun,” Thatcher said. “I’m kind of just the internal, office manager of a type for ASUU.”
Thatcher said before he became ASUU’s chief of staff he was not involved with the organization. He said this was for the same reason that he believes a lot of students don’t get involved — because they are not aware of what they can do.
“I just met Sam [Ortiz] in a leadership class,” Thatcher said. “I just asked him, ‘Hey, I know you’re involved, how can I get involved?’ ”
In the beginning, Thatcher was not sure what to expect from the position, but said he has enjoyed the opportunity.
“I’ve enjoyed it a lot. It’s difficult, but it has opened a lot of doors,” Thatcher said. “Because I was new to ASUU it was like baptism by fire.”
Thatcher also said the next chief of staff has to be understanding and able to put themselves in someone else’s shoes in order to do the job right.
“I think that one thing I have really learned is how to be empathetic,” Thatcher said “I think another thing they need to have is being comfortable having tough conversations with other people.”
One of his proudest accomplishments was last semester’s ASUU town hall style meeting. Thatcher said students showed up and brought several things to their attention they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
“We wanted to make sure that students could come and let us know about our job and how we’re doing,” he said. “We are hoping to do that again later this semester.”
Thatcher said he wants to make ASUU a more welcoming place for students to come and share their ideas. His most recent attempt to make ASUU more inclusive and help it grow was a survey to all the board members and directors to see how they can be improved.
“We want to finish strong,” Thatcher said. “We know our term is coming to an end, but that’s no excuse to not serve students or coast to the finish line.”
Thatcher said they are also working on transition binders for each board to give to the new officials once they are elected so they are not lost with what has already been done.
“I would not be able to do my job as president without his help,” Ortiz said. “He is not only very supportive but also very competent. He keeps ASUU running smoothly and manages the day-to-day operations with our directors.”
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