ASC Director

Cacima,

Congratulations on becoming the 2018-2019 ASC Director! Hard to believe that it’s already time for transition, yet here we are. I’m so excited to see all the things that you will accomplish and learn as Director. It is easily the best, most impactful job I have held yet, and I can’t wait to see what you do with it.

Here’s to new beginnings in the fight for justice — go forth and conquer!

MyUW netID: asuwasc | Password: ASCiscool! … add @uw.edu for logging into gmail.

HUB Reservations: asuwasc@uw.edu | Password: asc14

• This is where you reserve all of the HUB rooms/facilities. Key to remember, they have a checklist of things they’ll send you to complete/sign. When you reserve with the HUB be sure to get these done asap and have them on your to-do list. Always best practice to know deadlines. Don’t let others chase you.

Printing Code at the RSO Center: asuwasc-204q

• You start with 5,000 points, where b&w is 1 point and color is 20 points (check this to make sure).
• Many RSO’s don’t use all 5,000 points. Be sure to get to know them and develop a relationship, thus effectively increasing your points.

Shopping passwords are in the google drive: 2016-2017 –> budget –> shopping accounts | Build up these as you continue to shop around for ASC and RSO’s.

Budget Code: 16-9423

• This is how you purchase/pay for things ON campus, such as hubres, ECC rooms, UW Surplus, etc.

Your weekly to-dos depend on your goals for yourself and ASC each quarter. Generally, though, here are the things you’ll need to stay on top of week to week throughout the year:

1. Schedule your hours, reasonably and explicitly.
   • Stick to these hours as much as you can. Be present and share the office hours page often, so others can find you.
2. Meet with ASC Assistant Director in a professional and set manner.
   • Have a set meeting time each week or a consistent time for which you will both be in the office. It’s so valuable to have that face time and be able to plan when you are both present.
3. Meet with Patrick Stiver, the SAO Adviser for ASC.
   • Prepare for this meeting, just as you would for any meeting. Be proactive, don’t let Patrick chase. Come in each week with updates about what you are working on, as well as any challenges or questions that he can help you work through.
4. Meetings with ASC Interns.
   • Be prepared for these meetings. Be ready to tell the interns what you need from them to be successful and effective that week or in the upcoming weeks. Be as transparent as possible about the work that you are doing; when you are Director, it’s hard for everyone else to see all of the things that you are managing. There is so much going on behind the scenes that people don’t know, so take this opportunity to lead, educate, and mentor the interns. It is technically the AD’s job to lead these meetings and manage the interns, but it really is up to the two of you how you would like to distribute the work.
5. Newsletter or other form of weekly/bi-weekly update about what ASC is doing.
   • I used MailChimp to send out a weekly newsletter. This included upcoming events going on with the RSOs, as well as events or updates from ASC. I also tried to include general campus events that might be of interest to the RSOs or our constituents. Whatever you decide to do, it is important to stay as transparent and open as possible. Give RSOs every opportunity to stay updated on what ASC is working on. Make sure they know that the work you do is grounded in their needs.
6. Meet with Faculty and Admin.
   • Choose one Faculty and one Administrator to meet with every week. Be deliberate with these meetings and keep trying to schedule with them.
   • They can connect you to students. They can connect ASC to students… but they don’t know what ASC is. Be prepared to educate them on what ASC is and how we support students. Getting this information to them is beyond important and this is a way to develop a network. The amount of outreach faculty and admin can do is insurmountable.
     • Key ones to start with: OMAD, UW Student Life, UW HFS (yes I know, but they have large listservs), American Ethnic Studies, Anthropology Department, International Studies Department, Ethnic Cultural Center (ECC), HUB & SAO, the Burke Museum, UW Law, UW Medicine, Board of Regents, Intellectual House, and so on.
   • Make these contacts early, be professional with scheduling. Make sure you are well-informed about what is going on with ASC, as well as anything going on with the RSOs or ASUW that might be relevant.
   • On top of those 6, you need to constantly outreach to RSO’s. There are a TON. I can tell you this though, when you reach out to RSO’s you meet people, see ideas, and learn from them. ASC needs to be proactive in going to meetings, board meetings, and events. I required interns to attend Senate meetings and RSO events/meetings each quarter — the number is up to you, but it is so important to bring ASC presence with the RSOs. Show up to their meetings and events, but not just once to show face. Really demonstrate that you are invested in what they do.
   • In the past, ASC has had liaisons that report back and forth to the RSOs (i.e. RSOs assign an ASC liaison officer position). We haven’t had them for the last two years, and frankly I don’t think that they are particularly useful or effective. However, I want to make sure you know about this in case you think it would be worthwhile to reinstate this position.
   • Some key people to know:
     • RSO presidents, officers, and members — lots and lots of names to get to know super quickly, but I promise it is so impactful to people when you put in the time to get to know them and care about the work they are doing.
     • Magdalena, Cicero, Adiza — all the people that work at the ECC. Get to know the student employees too.
     • Rene, Patrick, Coop — the 3 people you will probably interact with most in SAO. Doesn’t hurt to get to know the other advisers too.
     • Justin — HUB Director. Use his discretionary fund for food.
     • Denzil Suite — Student Life VP. Use his discretionary fund for food.
     • Seattle API community members — I’m sure you already know a lot of them, but never stop making those connections. Always plug ASC and try to loop in students/young people whenever you can, even if you meet them in community off campus. Never stop networking.

Fall Quarter:

• Recruit, recruit, recruit. Get ASC’s name out there. When people sign up, be sure to email them quickly and account for them. This is the best time to get the word out about what is ASC.
• Establish connections with RSOs. Get to know the presidents, officers, and members. Show up at as many events and meetings as possible. Honestly, it can be very tiring with how busy this will keep you, but it will be so worth it. Put in that work now so that those relationships have longer to grow and solidify.
• Lantern Night
• Fall Social Mixer. Focus on outreaching to freshmen. Give this event 3-4 weeks of outreaching (GIVE EVERY EVENT AT LEAST 3 WEEKS, don’t do what we did.)
• Get out the Vote
  • November 8th is a deadline. Maybe hold a workshop on why vote and ballot party. Be creative with civic engagement.
• Establish your meeting expectations with yourself, your AD, your team. Get to know your team — this is critical for the rest of the year. Establish personal relationships with the interns and the AD.
• Book dates/venues/equipment for Bite of Asia, Talent Show, and Asian Identity Week.

Winter Quarter:

For winter quarter these two items are your big ticket ones.

• Asian Identity Week.
  • Establish this week in Fall. Establish a working group with your interns/RSO’s.
    • Interns: give them lead roles, such as two plans this, other two plans that, etc. Have all come together for the big night.
    • RSO’s: have them be the table captains. You need to set up meetings with them as soon as possible (near end of fall/beginning of winter). Give them ownership to the large event, such as selecting who will speak and what questions will be asked.
  • Get this to AES/Anthro/International Studies/CHID. They will fully support you and your efforts on this event.
  • Food. You need to muster up the money for food. Ask Justin from the HUB. Ask Suite from Student Life. Ask RSO’s if they can chip in as well (if you get 10 RSO’s giving $20, you have $200). Budget this and get the food permits!
• Bite of Asia
  • You need to have the meetings with RSO’s beginning of winter quarter. They can be monthly up until the last month of winter (then they need to be weekly).
  • Iron out the general logistics, but then make sure you go above and beyond. Have the RSO’s be invested in the success of the event.
  • Again use the bluff. We have $4,800 on record, but lowkey it goes up to $5,000 plus. Say each organization should make $500 at minimum.
  • Promote this like no other. This is ASC’s largest event and needs to be. 20-25 RSO’s participating is key, get this on their calendars early. Like now.
  • Again, get UW Parent and Family Weekend (PFW) to back you on this. This needs to be a feature event of theirs. One of the main ones. Make sure to reach out in the fall. Chelsa Ayers is our contact. Bite of Asia date is determined by what weekend PFW is — I’ll try to make all the reservations for you now so that you don’t have to worry about them.
  • Marketing. I really wanted this, but uniform t-shirts and banners for Bite of Asia. Get a real banner. Have someone develop designs in Fall quarter, so you have them ready for RSO’s by Winter. Go above and beyond in decorating this event, hopefully the weather permits it.

Spring Quarter:

• ASC Talent Show. This also needs attention in Winter, but near the end. Manage this with Bite of Asia, and you’ll be good. With these two events, you’ll draw the big numbers in. Try to aim for 8 RSO’s to be participating.
  • One thing I would like to see is documentation going above and beyond. Promo video and recap video.
• Southeast Asian Graduation.
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
  • Try to create a large social event, maybe a fair for the students at the end of the month.
• ASC RSO Leadership Camp/Retreat… this would be amazing. Work with Patrick on it!

Meetings:

• Joint Commission Meeting
  • Be active in these. Share your thoughts and opinions/reflections. Contribute to discussions.
  • Again, plan for these meetings. No meeting should you go to if you’re passive. Don’t go to learn alone, but go to learn and contribute.
• ASUW Senate… it’ll be rough, but find someone who is passionate. If you share among the team to go, actively discuss what is on the agenda and propose bills. At team meetings, get your team active in looking at issues that AAPI’s face and be the source of ideas/thoughts. Not everyone has passion in social issues, but they each have their own insight and perspectives. Make this a group effort, possibly have one senate bill sent in a month. Make sure that you have interns regularly attend Senate meetings. This will keep them informed on what is happening, as well as give them a chance to get to know the Senate intern (but also give that intern some company because going to Senate alone every week can feel isolating).
• Asian Pacific Islander Coalition Meetings (APIC).
  • This is where you can connect with the Greater Seattle Community. Community leaders are here. Be proactive in presenting what the API students need support in, whether it be events or specific issues. These are at ACRS, so be prepared to make a trip.
• Student Advisory Board… aka ‘SAB’
  • These are for the students who are affiliated with EOP, Trio, etc. OMAD is the one that host these meetings and support them. This is where you can address issues that affect the API students as well as other under-represented students. Also, be proactive in these as you have not only knowledge on some issues, but the means to address them (aka money). And free food!
• RSO meetings
  • There are so, so, so many. Attend as many as you can, but make sure to also distribute the work among the interns and AD. ASC should have a presence at as many of these as possible. Especially make sure that you are including everyone by attending different events and programs. Again, it can be super tiring — there were weeks where I had multiple meetings every night every day of the week. It’s definitely a lot of fun, and you get as much out of it as you give. Make sure to really work on getting to know the RSOs and establishing relationships with them.

Be sure to keep on educating people what ASC is. Who ever you meeting, always introduce what ASC is, what you’re doing, and what you have planned. The more they know, the more they are likely to ask questions.

Always follow up. Don’t leave anyone waiting too long for your response.

Stay on top of Slack and your email. I personally made sure to have email and Slack notifications on my phone. I tried to stay good at only working during my scheduled hours (you definitely need time to self-care and have a personal life outside of work), but it was nice to have those notifications on my phone so that I could at least keep up with things. It’s your call, but because things move so fast I would recommend doing this to make sure that you don’t miss something important. Otherwise, you just have to make sure that you are very, very, very good about checking on your own.

“The Asian Student Commission is an entity under the ASUW.” Yes, but you are to represent the students first, not ASUW. Make sure you’re always in conversation with a body of students and gathering input and data on what they are perceiving and thinking about. Always have your door open to these conversations. Be proactive in having students come in and talk about these issues. When it comes to having a say on certain topics, you know you’ll be have some information on the perspective of the students you represent. You are not the expert on everything, so make sure to utilize the students on campus who know more than you do about certain things. You represent community first. Always bring it back to students, RSOs, and the greater API community.

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Bite of Asia

This is the largest, most important event besides Talent Show. This gives you a role in being a key umbrella for all the RSO’s under you. Hosting this gives you the leverage you need to persuade RSO’s to listen up. Last year we had 16 groups (get this up to 20-25, you got this!). This year you could expand, and by the stroke of luck, have great weather. Here are the things you need to keep in mind asap:

• You need to contact UW Student Life and UW Parent and Family Weekend as soon as possible. Get them to have the option to buy tickets as they are registering, this is the wager you need to make. They are willing to cover half of the event (budget this wisely, and be sure to submit your invoices and requests).
• Reserve the HUB and Intellectual House and the equipment to transport food quickly and promptly.
• Reserve tables and chairs. Order the large canopies from Abbey Party Rentals. You can talk to Patrick about doing this, but you can also track all of the details in past Slack messages or in the asuwasc@uw.edu email.
• Reconnect with the student leaders. They’re willing. Pull a bluff, like each RSO could earn up to $500, even $1000 (CSA & HKSA reached this number). This is your big ticket event. This is the biggest event you’ll have.
• Connect with the HUB EARLY on this and get the system down. Make sure they are ready for the large influx of people and are fully supportive of this event.
• Outreach to faculty. This is an event that can draw them to ASC. They are also willing to chip in money, which could be used to reduce costs for the tents/equipment rentals.
• Start this as soon as possible. The more time you put into this event, the better it will be. Please advertise this like 6 weeks ahead. Do the same for Talent Show. It is never too early to prepare for Bite of Asia, Talent Show, or Asian Identity Week.

There are three sources of money for ASC.

1. ASC
2. UW discretionary funds (HUB, UW Student life)
3. RSO’s and Community Organizations

For ASC money, it’s restricted (i.e. can’t be used for food, gifts, giveaways, etc).

For Discretionary Funds, it’s literally free to be used for anything. Use this to pay for food (by emailing Denzil Suite, Student Life VP, or Justin Camputaro, HUB Director).

For RSO’s, they are usually more flexible with how they can spend their money, but it depends. Always ask to make sure.

When dealing with funding, always be very clear about where money is coming from and where is going. It’s easy for this to get confusing when you are in the middle of event planning, but you will make things endlessly easier for yourself by keeping excellent tabs on the ASC budget and where each dollar goes.

Get to know the interns. You are a mentor, friend, coworker, and role model for them. If you can, try to organize time to hang out with them outside work. Obviously, be professional and reliable, but make sure they know that they can reach out to you for help with school, work, jobs, RSOs, or anything that your expertise with ASC might be able to assist them with. You are in a great position to be connected with so many important people both on and off campus in community. Utilize those connections to help out interns, as well as leverage what you can do on campus with ASC.

Interns are not just volunteers. Have a set group of leisure volunteers (hopefully from RSO’s). Interns should be given lead roles in the big events, not the menial ones. Encourage your interns to bring their friends to the ASC office to work/volunteer/hang/etc. This can effectively give you a working body of 20-30 people, which is more than helpful at large events.

The mission of the Asian Student Commission is to bring awareness to the uniqueness of the Asian/Asian American student body on campus.

The vision is to create tangible systems that promote the awareness, though events, meetings, and workshops.

Super simple. You need to modify this to your own skill set and assets. Create a vision you can see yourself achieve this year.

Large events is one thing. Small events is the other. You engage deeper with small scale events, meetings, and workshops.

Have maybe workshops every other week, ranging from all kinds of topics. Professional development, networking nights, etc.

Honestly, you can take this wherever you want. I know you talked about anti-blackness being a big focus of yours next year. Make sure that you are giving proper attention to issues that your constituents care about, as well. Sometimes, issues will come up throughout the year and you need to readjust your goals to accommodate that change. Be flexible. Be knowledgeable. Stay on top of politics going on in the Seattle area and the API community, as well as what is happening on campus. Everything is connected.

Let’s get ASC to 2500 likes next year! Make sure to stay active. Have interns manage the Facebook and Instagram pages. Stay active and like posts from RSOs, and don’t forget to schedule your own ASC posts regularly as well.

Website. Revise it and make it professional. Have an intern manage it, such as create posts on all the events happening (ASC/RSO’s) for these to be posted on the webpage as well. Have a newsletter going. Create a directory with all the logos.

Create a small campaign, maybe the Presidents of ASC. Or even, Past ASC Directors Photo (I’d love to help you with this)