Rise and Shine Gators!

 

Today I have three things to share with you:

 

1.       Lunch on the Lawn with Free Chick Fil A at 11am!

2.       My trip to Tallahassee for the Florida Student Association Meeting

3.       Launching the #UFWantsUber Campaign

 

 

Lunch on the Lawn

 

Today at 11am on the Plaza of the Americas I am hosting my first Lunch on the Lawn. I will host these regularly throughout the year as a means to connect with students all across campus. Feel free to come on out for some FREE CHICK FIL A! If you have any questions or just want to say hi, make sure to stop by!

 

 

My trip to Tallahassee for the Florida Student Association Meeting

 

This past weekend I was at the Florida Student Association Summer Planning Meeting. The Florida Student Association is an organization made up of all of the State University System Student Body Presidents in the State of Florida. So, myself and the Student Body Presidents from UCF, FSU, FGCU, FIU, UWF, UNF, New College, FAU, USF, and Florida A&M all got together at Florida State University to discuss our plans for the coming year. Together, the 11 of us Student Body Presidents represent more than 350,000 students in the State of Florida, and when we are united on issues, we are successful at getting initiatives accomplished within our State Legislature. At the meeting, we began to draft our plan for some of the initiatives we hope to accomplish this year – among them included increasing bright futures to the summer terms, and increasing the amount of funding the state allows us to use for capital improvements. It was a very productive weekend, and I am looking forward to a successful year ahead! 

 

Doak Campbell Stadium

 

Launching the #UFWantsUber Campaign

 

Improving student safety and nighttime transportation around Gainesville is one of our top priorities this coming year. With advancements in technology, mobile safety applications have allowed individuals to move throughout cities in safer, more reliable, and more cost-effective fashions. The University of Florida Student Government supports all platforms which work toward enhancing student safety and improving transportation in Gainesville. Right now, @Uber has expressed interest in expanding into the Gainesville market.

 

For those who don’t know what Uber is – Uber is a ride sharing service that is hosted through an easy to use mobile application. Instead of calling for a cab, you can now request one with the tap of your finger and see the vehicle’s live GPS on a map as it drives to pick you up.

 

We want to show @Uber that #UFWantsUber! Tonight at Student Senate (taking place at 7pm in Holland Hall Room 180 of the Law School) we will be launching a social media campaign to encourage Uber to expand to Gainesville! If you haven’t already done so, download the app now to let Uber know demand is here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/uber/id368677368?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubercab&hl=en

 

I hope to see you at Lunch on the Lawn, and if not, hopefully you’ll post about Uber later today and help make Gainesville a safer place!

 

Go Gators!

 

Cory

The Gator Nation is Everywhere!

Hey Gators,

This past week has been awesome and I am excited to share some of the new initiatives that Student Government and I have been working on:

 

Today, I launched a new social media campaign! I created my @UFSBPrez Twitter and @UFSBPrez Instagram accounts as a way for you to stay updated on all I am working on. This campaign will allow me to connect with you all and hopefully create open lines of communication by allowing students to re-tweet, tweet @, comment, and like anything that SG and I do throughout the year.

 

                                    

I am also excited to announce the start of my Lunch on the Lawns – another way for me to hear from and get to know you all. I’ll be hosting these throughout the year as an opportunity for me to reach out to students. If you have any spare time next Tuesday, and are craving the Chick-Fil-A you didn’t get on Sunday, please feel free to stop by the Plaza of the Americas. As a college student the only thing better than Chick-Fil-A is FREE Chick-Fil-A. I will be at the Plaza of the Americas next Tuesday, July 29^th at 11am ready to answer any questions you all may have.

In addition, last weekend SG had the opportunity to visit the University of Auburn for the SEC Exchange. Each summer all 14 Student Government’s get together at one of our schools and exchange ideas, collaborate, and work through problems with one another to bring back successful initiatives to our campus. We gained a lot from the experience and I am looking forward to getting to work on some exciting new proposals! A couple of things that stood out were the campuses that had food pantries, unique nighttime transportation options, and one that I thought was really awesome – check it out here from Mizzou: http://msa.missouri.edu/trumans-closet/

 

Auburn, like the University of Florida, is a large, public, land-grand university with rich tradition. Here is a picture of our Student Government outside of Samford Hall – one of the oldest buildings at Auburn that is now home to their administration (kind of like Tigert Hall at UF).

 

At the conference we presented on our new Reitz Student Union as well as our mobile safety application – Tap Shield, among many of our other projects. Check out this cool article about Tap Shield here from USA Today: http://college.usatoday.com/2014/07/18/walking-alone-on-campus-there-are-apps-for-that/.  

Thanks for keeping up with the blog! Check back later this week for some fun things to do this summer!

Go Gators!

SB Prez Excited for the Summer Semester!

Welcome to UF!

With the 2014 Summer B term now in full swing, it is my honor to welcome all of the incoming freshmen and returning students to the Gator Nation!  My name is Cory Yeffet and I serve as your Student Body President. I hope to use this blog to keep you updated on what Student Government is doing to represent the students, inform you about different resources at UF, share interesting events and opportunities you could attend, and anything else that might be on my mind!

To start, Summer B is by far one of the best semesters here on campus!  I remember walking onto campus four years ago and feeling a bit overwhelmed, so here are a few quick tips:

·       Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and meet new people; I met some of my best friends over summer.

·       Get your bearings. Summer B is a great time to familiarize yourself with the campus and get comfortable before you come back in the fall.

·       Have your umbrella and raincoat handy because you never know when it’s going to start pouring; I learned the hard way.

·       Get involved! There are lots of clubs and organizations that appeal to almost anything and everything. It is a great way to make a huge campus seem a great deal smaller. Come on out to our SG Open House tomorrow for some free food and learn more about how to get involved with Student Government!

·       Intramurals are always fun if you enjoy playing sports! 

Here are updates on some of the initiatives and successes SG has worked on Summer A:

·       

    We were able to successfully lobby for $10 million in funding from the State Legislature to turn Newell Hall, which was previously outdated and abandoned, into a much needed study space in the center of campus.

·       This fall, two new group fitness rooms will be added to Student Rec! After working with RecSports, we are excited to share that construction is underway and more group fitness will soon be available!

·       Those of you who have cars probably know that towing in Gainesville is always a struggle. We are happy to share that after working with the City Commission, we made the towing ordinance much more convenient for students.  We increased the required hours of operation that tow companies have to stay open to allow you to pick up your car, they are required to wear uniforms and name tags to increase transparency, accountability, and customer service, and companies that receive a certain number of citations will have their towing license revoked. There is still more we can do to improve towing in Gainesville – but we are so happy about this giant step forward. If you ever have a complaint about an experience with towing – visit this website or feel free to contact me!

There’s a ton more that we are currently working on to make your experience as a Gator even better, and I cannot wait to keep you updated as the year goes on!

I hope to connect with you through various avenues this next year. The life of a grad student can be a lonely one, so don’t be shy! If you see me around campus, in the library, or at Chipotle be sure to say hello!

With that being said… I hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth of July and is ready for an amazing year!

GO AMERICA and GO GATORS!

Cory