With experience in student government and leadership roles backing their campaign, two current Government of the Student Body senators have joined forces to run in the upcoming GSB executive election.

Ben Golding, senior in construction engineering, is in his second year of service as an engineering senator. Golding, originally from Cedar Rapids, is on the ticket for president.

Lisa Dlouhy, junior in genetics from Bettendorf, is running with Golding as vice president. Dlouhy is currently an off-campus senator and served on the GSB cabinet last year.

Building off their GSB experience, the senators decided to take the next step in student government to impact more students.

“My ideas and goals for GSB are bigger than a senate or cabinet position,” Dlouhy said. “I really want to reach a larger group of students than just off-campus, and being in an executive position facilitates that more than a senate position.”

Increasing accountability on campus is a major focus of the Golding/Dlouhy platform.

“The accountability issues are something that everybody at Iowa State will be impacted by,” Golding said. “Not only our accountability to the students, but the accountability of the administration and teachers to us, the students.”

To increase the accountability of the administration and faculty to the students, Golding said he and Dlouhy are aiming for student access to class evaluations.

“We want the students to have online access to some of the data that is done at the end of the semester with all the departments,” he said. “We’re really going to push that, and we’re going to work with the Faculty Senate and the Provost’s Office.”

To demonstrate their intent, Golding and Dlouhy have been passing out note cards to the groups they visit along the campaign trail. On these cards, students may write their concerns or questions.

“The best thing we can get is feedback,” Golding said. “We’re going to stay accountable to the students because we’re going to come back with those cards, give our answers, say, ‘This is what we can do,’ and tell them how they can help.”

Golding said the note cards are “just a start” in their quest to involve students in GSB.

“Obviously, we want students at Iowa State University to take ownership in this government,” Dlouhy said. “We need to have a more visible student government, and the president and the vice president are the ones who set that example.”

Golding pointed to a lack of vision and continuity in GSB as a culprit of the lack of student participation.

“There’s no strategic plan in the student government, no real vision for the students of Iowa State,” he said. “We’re not saying we have the plan, but we want to sit down and make one with the senate, the cabinet and any other student who wants to participate.

“People are going to come back and build on that plan, and hopefully, we’ll create continuity from year to year,” he said.

Increasing interaction with student groups, Dlouhy said, is another way to spark interest in GSB.

“GSB gives so much money to organizations, but we don’t do anything with them beyond that,” she said. “People talk about money, money, money all the time, but we need to actually go out and participate in these events we’re funding.”

To involve the students and work with the administration, Dlouhy said the GSB executives have to be able to connect.

“There’s one quality I really push all the time,” she said. “You have to be able to relate to the person you’re dealing with at the right time. You have to be able to talk to people, and they have to feel comfortable talking to you.”

Golding said the experience between the running mates is an important ingredient for success.

“It takes experience,” he said. “Not necessarily GSB experience, but you need to know how to lead people, and you have to know how to work with people.”

Golding and Dlouhy said they compliment each other as a slate, and they are enjoying their work together.

“We really build off each other,” Golding said. “We’re in this because it’s something we want to do, and it’s just come down to the issues.”