New operations director hopes to help students where they need it most.
Sometimes new board members know exactly how they want to serve students.
Sandhya Ethiraj, director of operations for the Student Association (SA) plans to prioritize empathy, financial education and expanding campus services to support her peers.
To navigate economic challenges, she believes financial education and outreach are also key.
“I stepped into this role because I wanted students voice to be heard. When I pitched into [the] director of operations [position], I felt that most of the students felt comfortable to come and talk to me whenever I step out of the campus, or whenever I step up to the room, I would see at least five to six people approaching me with these and I think that is one of the areas that I want to improve more like now it’s six people when I leave. It should be 15 or 20 people, because everyone should be comfortable in telling me their issues. I know that we all are restricted with certain responsibilities, and we have certain like limitations with the work that we can do, but navigating it in a right way and making the students voice heard is what I like to carry,” she said.
Ethiraj, previously a student in the business analysis program, is now studying health informatics. She stepped into this leadership role because she considers herself a community-driven person.
Her main goal is to ensure the Student Association acts as a clear voice for the student body.
Ethiraj notes that financial struggles are the primary difficulty for the campus community.
“Right now, students are facing a lot of economic challenges. So I think [the Student Association] has done a lot [of] good work, considering many of our services focusing on what students need say. For example, right now we have tax claiming. So that’s one of the areas that students are going to spend in some time if they are going to file services using an external party. So, we have something that we are doing it for free and say for the snap… So, such services, if people come to know, if students come to know, I think they are going to use it one way or the other, and down the lane. We never know. Maybe there’s a student who’s afraid of walking alone in the night. Such a student can take a self walk service and say one of the students is not having any other jobs and they want to pay their bills for the grocery such a student can use snap, yeah, that’s so and coming to tax cleaning, everybody is going to use self services. So think we do. We have already focused on the what are the major requirements of the students, and right now, our focus should be more on taking it to the students and getting the visibility that we need.”
During her term, Ethiraj is focusing on three specific campaign promises.
First, she wants to bring in financial advisors to improve financial education. This will help young students avoid credit card debt and understand tax-free savings accounts.
Second, she plans to increase the organization’s visibility. She asks representatives to conduct class talks rather than waiting for students to visit booths.
Her third promise focuses on helping networking for students and it could support find employment. She notes that statistics show people rarely land jobs solely by applying online.
Behind the scenes, Ethiraj handles payroll, attends finance committee meetings and aligns operations between the board and management. She describes this balancing act as ensuring the ship sails properly.
She believes empathy is the most vital skill for any leader.
“Everybody has sympathy whenever something goes wrong, but empathy you should have, because that’s when you put yourself in others’ shoes and you understand what’s happening,” Ethiraj said.
Her advice to everyone is to step back and analyze situations rather than reacting in the heat of the moment.
Armed with a solid plan and a clear passion, Ethiraj is ready to support students and make campus life easier.
