A future Air Force officer and the chapter president of Alpha Delta Pi believe they can be there for “I-S-You” if elected the next leaders of Student Government.

Conner Tillo, junior in political science and military science, and Rachael Barnes, junior in biological systems engineering, hope to become the next student body president and vice president running on a platform that emphasizes creating a more accessible and safe campus experience.

They have ideas to digitize student IDs, increase campus lighting while remaining eco-friendly as well as make sure students continue to receive the resources they need.

Tillo and Barnes also see the necessity in making the Senate for the students which to them means giving all students a voice.

“I think a lot of students don’t know who their representatives are and every time we go around to different clubs and organizations, ‘Oh do you happen to know who your representative is?’ [There are] a bunch of blank stares,” said Tillo.

Their plan to fix this problem is to make student organizations a third representative council. Currently, every college and residence hall are represented and Tillo believes that student organizations should be as well.

They hope this communication tool will make the Senate a more accessible resource for students. They also plan to make the process of getting funding more accessible to students.

Barnes spoke of certain stipulations that create barriers for clubs that need funding.

For example, there is a bylaw that restricts many clubs from the College of Engineering from receiving funding. Because the college receives additional funding from their college, they are unable to receive any money from the Senate.

“The College of Engineering’s budget for that is about $36,000 in comparison to the Senate’s which is much bigger. So just the amount of money they are able to give is a lot less which is really hard for student organizations that are smaller and would really benefit from that,” Barnes said.

Digital student IDs may make an appearance if Tillo and Barnes are elected. They feel that students should have a backup plan just in case their IDs are lost or forgotten.

“Anything to make the ease of being a student easier is great. I know I’ve gone to the gym and forgot my ID and had to run home and go get it,” Barnes said.

Tillo and Barnes also want to give students a better experience when it come to testing centers. Barnes said that she personally could not test in that environment. Everyone typing at once was too distracting.

This was difficult for her because it is a three week process to get approval to move to test in a different location. They want this campus to be inclusive of all learning environments and make the process to take a test elsewhere to be easier.

Another one of their ideas is to put cameras at the gym, so students can look and see if the machine they want to use is available instead of going all the way to the gym and finding that it is taken.

They have been considering the issue that some raise regarding privacy. They are considering alternatives such as putting cameras only at the front entrance or something involving keeping count of those coming in and out.

After noticing a common theme of an increase in students, Tillo and Barnes had the idea to implement some kind of enrollment management.

The pair feels that the university is being reactive to this increase rather than proactive despite enrollment increases have happened every year. Barnes said that different departments should work together and share each other’s resources.

“If we get [the different offices] in a room to have a conversation about how can they benefit each other and utilize each other’s resources, I think we can start to navigate that gap that is being created by the increase in students,” Barnes said.

With this, they hope that students will continue to get the resources that they need during their years at Iowa State.

Tillo is currently a cadet for the Iowa State ROTC and will graduate as a second lieutenant. After graduation, he will serve as a pilot in the United States Air Force. As vice speaker for the Senate, Tillo said that he knows how the institution works and recognizes the changes that need to be made to improve this system.

Barnes gained experience outside of the Senate leading over 180 members of Alpha Delta Pi as chapter president. If elected, vice president will be her first position within student government.

She was also involved in WiSE and served as vice president of membership development for the Collegiate Panhellenic Council. Barnes said that in all of these roles she was driven to “empower women to make change in the community.”

“All of those [roles] have really helped me advocate for women in underrepresented majors, but also to understand a lot of the experiences that a lot of women are facing here at Iowa State and what we can do to make sure they’re going through the herd and that’s a huge reason I am running,” Barnes said.

To see more on their platform, visit tillobarnes.com.