Cabinet
Cabinet is the UA’s peak management committee, consisting of the Executive Board and the Committee Directors. It meets once a week on Fridays to help coordinate and discuss the UA’s activities. Cabinet is an advisory, non-constitutional body: Executive authority rests with the Executive Board elected by the General Body at the end of Spring.
Executive Board
The Executive Board is charged by the UA Constitution with setting UA meeting agendas and discussing internal and external issues related to the UA. It has the right to invite anyone to meetings and may establish charges for the UA as a whole.
President
Matt Amalfitano (president@pennua.org). The UA President, who is elected by the entire student body, heads Executive Board, and represents the undergraduate community to University administration, faculty, staff, students, and the wider world.
Vice President
Mark Pan (vp@pennua.org). The Vice President, who is also elected by the entire student body, is responsible for managing the UA’s relations with students, student groups, and other governance groups at Penn, most notably through facilitating UA Steering.
Speaker
G.J. Melendez-Torres (speaker@pennua.org) The Speaker chairs UA meetings and facilitates all internal business, including serving as a link between the executive and the body and managing the associate member process.
Treasurer
Ryan Houston (treasurer@pennua.org). The Treasurer is responsible for the UA’s own operational funds, the Student Government Budget that appropriates over $1.9 million for all undergraduate government branches at Penn, as well as the UA’s $20,000 Contingency Fund.
Secretary
Cynthia Ip (secretary@pennua.org). The Secretary is responsible for record-keeping, communicating to the student body on the UA’s progress through the website and the press, as well as other administration necessary for our operation.
The entire executive board can be reached at exec@pennua.org
Directors
Much of the nitty-gritty project work occurs in our weekly committee meetings, facilitated by the Directors. Each Director is responsible for a particular standing committee with a particular portfolio. All members – associate members and representatives – are assigned to one committee that best fits their interests; the Director is their immediate mentor. You can see the current work of our committees under New Business; old committees still appear under Recent Accomplishments. This year, the committees are:
- Academic Affairs – Faye Cheng (academics@pennua.org)
- Civic and Philadelphia Engagement – Jake Shuster (civic@pennua.org)
- Student Life – Tyler Ernst (studentlife@pennua.org)
- Housing, Sustainability, and Facilities – Amanda Young (hsf@pennua.org)
In addition, the Communications Director (Chris Cruz – communications@pennua.org) and the Speaker Pro Tempore (Grant Dubler – speakerpt@pennua.org) are also members of the Cabinet.
The Directors and the Speaker Pro Tempore are appointed from among the Representatives immediately after internal Executive Board elections in Spring semester.
