The Vice President of Leadership works closely with the president of Medical Student Council (MSC) to serve learners across the state and lead the annual Statewide Leadership Orientation Day. We asked Rebekah Roll a few questions to learn more about her ideas and goals with newly elected President, Megan Chiu. You can read her platform here.
Can you share with us more about your platform to make student activities funding more accessible?
Student activities funding is an important part of making sure our students are able to host events that they deem important. The process of applying for funding should be transparent and easy! Right now, there is funding that is not always the easiest to access because our students don’t know it’s there. Eventually, my goal would be to provide a one-stop-shop, online webpage where students could go to learn about funding such as for hosting events, traveling to conferences or planning a wellness activity. This goal will require much communication with our administration, including our regional campus deans. However, the Medical Student Council Executives are up for the challenge!
You have been highly involved in student leadership already at IU School of Medicine. What is your proudest accomplishment to date?
My proudest accomplishment lies within the personal growth I have had in my leadership identity these past three years. I find myself saying ‘yes’ to many things that initially make me uncomfortable. However, I know that is how I do most of my growing. My positions within our student committees, service opportunities and student government afforded me these opportunities, and I could not be more grateful for that.
In your platform, you discussed creating deeper relationships with regional campus deans. Can you share more about this vision in engaging in the statewide mission of Medical Student Council?
Our student government serves a large student body, and many students are based at our regional campuses. As student government, we are at the forefront of creating policy and curricular change. We want to be sure the voices that go into creating this change represent all of our students. Therefore, to better serves our regional campus students, I feel it is best to also involve our regional campus deans in the discussions we have as a Medical Student Council. If we do this, we create a closed loop of communication which allows us to make sure everyone is aware of the ideas we discuss and the changes we make together.
How can the student body help you and other members of the leadership team succeed in your goals?
Come to our meetings! General Body Meetings are open to any and all IU School of Medicine students. You do not have to be a MSC voting member in order to ask questions or voice your opinions on whatever we talk about at the meetings. We are having important discussions about curriculum, statewide affairs, and leadership around the school at these meetings. You are always welcome. We want to hear your voice and see you engaging with student government!
What project or event are you most excited about right now?
I am most excited about Leadership Orientation Day! This is a day where student leaders from student committees, student interest groups, medical student service groups, class officers, campus representatives and medical student council executives come together in one place to talk about our leadership roles. It is a huge event that tripled in attendance from last year, totaling around 170 students from across the state! This is a one-of-a-kind event, and I cannot wait to see it grow more this year!
Is there anything would like to add?
Our student government serves each and every one of you. Please know that you can reach out to any one of us on the Medical Student Council in order to make your voice heard. If you have topics you think need to be addressed, we are just one of groups of people you can turn to. My goal is always to leave something better than what I found it. As a Medical Student Council executive, the way I can accomplish that goal is to make sure my colleagues’ accomplishments, concerns and ideas are being given the proper platform to be shared, discussed and praised. Thank you for allowing me this honor to serve you. Now, put me to work.
