The two candidates running for UB University Council, Ilia Nossov and Creighton Randall, sat down with Generation this week to talk about the responsibilities of UB council as well as their individual platforms. Elections will be held April 2-4 on UBLearns.
UB University Council, President Simpson’s advisory board, is made up of nine Western New York business representatives and one student representative. If you’re hearing about this for the first time, you’re not alone. Both candidates have agreed that the council is underrepresented among the student population, mainly because not enough students are made aware of it. They assert that more student input is necessary.
Creighton Randall
Creighton Randall, current SA director of external affairs, has many years of experience working in UB government. One thing that excites him about the position: “They can’t not return your phone calls.” Randall continued, “You’re on the board whether they like it or not. The one seat out of ten is misrepresentative of the fact that you’re the only student, and you have the ability to put in more time than any of the other board members do.”
Randall also spoke at length about the proposed Rensch Road development and other pending UB housing options, insisting that students need a voice in speaking with President Simpson. He said, regarding the Rensch Road project,“The university looks at Amherst and says ‘they want the tax dollars,’ you’ve got Amherst looking at the university and saying ‘they want the room and board.’ I have no agenda.” Randall says he went to the Amherst Town Board meeting regarding the proposed Rensch Road development, not with a specific goal, but as a representative to the students. “What’s best for the students is not Sweethome, and it’s not on-campus housing, it’s something in the middle,” said Randall. “Someone in this position can lend a sense of legitimacy to it, just serving as a mediator and nothing else.”
The biggest issue with the position, Randall says, is a complete lack of student awareness. “There’s not a lot of press about it. Part of that’s due to people not exercising the potential of the positions. Not a lot of people know about it.” Randall said that students could be heard much more clearly at council meetings if they knew whom their representative was, and feels a physical location for contact between all representatives and students is essential. “The average student doesn’t know who’s on the board. We need to have an office on the first floor [of the Student Union] where a student can go up and look at a chart and say ‘the president of FSA or the president of SA will be in the office at this time and I can come back and ask him a question.’”
Randall intends to attend graduate school in urban planning, and co-founded an urban renewal SA club. “Growth is good for UB,” his platform states, “but not on the backs of students.”
Ilia Nossov
Ilia Nossov approaches the council position from a business standpoint, as marketing director of Level nightclub. He has held positions on campus, as an SA senator and an orientation aide, and says that his experience will help him to serve the student body. “I’m very professional,” said Nossov.
Nossov, like Randall, is quick to mention some of the current issues associated with the council representative position. “There’s a communication gap. You don’t hear much about what President Simpson is doing and how it’s impacting students.” His idea for greater student involvement? “I will have a website that I can be contacted on, and will be very responsive via that.”
Nossov also wishes to harness a medium most students are already familiar with. “I did a lot of promotion on Facebook for things I did for Level nightclub. I plan to use the same concepts to promote what’s going on with the university and with the administration, allowing them to have a voice and get a discussion going.”
On the subject of President Simpson’s 2020 plan, Nossov explained, “There’s a lot of discussion, but not a lot has been done.” Nossov stressed the importance of UB2020, but said its implementation will take a great deal of work. “It’s a very ambitious goal, however we need to be more realistic. That’s where my business experience will be useful. In understanding the numbers that go into it, the planning, and being able to bring student feedback to President Simpson.”
Additionally, Nossov stated his interest in bringing private money to campus. “I’d like to work on corporate sponsorships,” he said, noting the possibility of widespread on-campus advertisements to lower the operating costs of the university. “Advertisers market to 18-25 [year-olds],” Nossov said. In his mind, if a corporation can advertise through the university in “an unobtrusive way, we could build more parking and residence halls. It’s worth it, I think.” Yet, he says, if students spoke up in protest of such a plan, he would represent their concerns in front of President Simpson.
