New UCOSA leadership discusses future plans

The newly elected president and vice president of the University of Central Oklahoma Student Association (UCOSA), Alex Webb and Emma Martinez, laid out their plans for the upcoming academic year, including increasing student involvement and campus pride, outreach initiatives to get commuter students more involved and bridge the gap between UCO and the broader community.

“The biggest thing is increasing student involvement and increasing student pride in UCO,” said President-elect Alex Webb.

Webb noted commuter students as a group that he will seek to further involve in campus.

“We want to really bridge that gap, and make people proud of being at UCO,” said Webb.

He said ways his administration will attempt to do that is by spotlighting organizations, letting students know what resources are available and showing what the UCO campus can offer.

“To enhance student experiences at UCO, we want to let people know about the resources that we have on campus,” said Vice President-elect Emma Martinez. “For example, we have the Center for Counseling and Well-Being, there’s Central Pantry, there’s also The Center in Thatcher Hall.”

Martinez said she wants to make students aware of these organizations, since they are already paid for by tuition.

Webb also discussed the money set aside for initiatives through UCOSA.

One initiative Webb is attempting to develop is a clinic which would be in partnership with a church near campus that could provide healthcare for students who may not have access to health insurance.

“So we can funnel students who may not have health insurance and may not have access to healthcare to encourage them to actually go get seen for free,” said Webb.

Another initiative Webb hopes to establish within the Edmond community is the possibility of garnering discounts for students across various locations in Edmond for goods and services.

“Our biggest goal with the administration is to be the liaison between the student body and the UCO administration,” said Martinez. “I feel like there are a lot of issues going on, on campus that people may not talk about because they are scared to voice their opinion, or they don’t know who to reach out to.”