Northeastern University is home to an active and engaged community, one that is ripe with opportunity for all students. Now, more than ever, is a great time to be a Husky. We want to serve the student body because we love this school. This university has come far, and opportunities for improvement still exist — this excites us.

Working with our fellow students to facilitate changes that enhance their Northeastern experience should be the role of SGA at Northeastern. Northeastern students thrive when being heard, taking action and getting results. We were both drawn to SGA because of its unique relationship with change on campus. If elected, our plan is to increase SGA’s engagement with the student body, provide an infrastructure for student-led change and, most importantly, take action.

1. Engage: We want to engage and connect students with SGA through new platforms that enable discussion. We want students to feel comfortable seeking us out, and we want to listen to their ideas and perspectives. This must be an active, ongoing dialogue with the student body to advance student ideas. By combining annual initiatives, such as the budget priorities survey, and interactive content, such as online forums, Vlogs from our cabinet meetings and committee progress podcasts, we want to share what we do with you.

2. Build:  All change begins with a conversation. We want to be a part of that conversation early on to connect students with administrators who can help accomplish student goals. Our goal is to build the infrastructure needed to facilitate ideas and solve problems on campus. The most insightful feedback SGA receives comes from student opinion. We want to enable an open relationship with the student body at large because we truly believe more Northeastern students need to be at the table representing the complete picture of the student body.

3. Act:  As an association, we will commit to follow through with all problems — big and small — to become an accelerator bringing student initiatives to life. At the core of our purpose is the determination to better the student experience. Every student has a different experience and wants something out of their school. We not only want to be an incubator, but an accelerator of student change. SGA exists to serve students; how can we help? Together through our experience and active engagement with Student Services, Finance Board, RSA and the Student Conduct Board, we have worked hand-in-hand with many student leaders and administrators alike. If elected, we have the experience and insight to lead the Student Government Association. We want to empower SGA to help move your initiatives forward.

We have a number of concrete, actionable changes we would like to work on as well as points of discussion we believe are important on campus. Some of which include:  celebrating culture groups, continuing sexual assault policy reform, furthering our social impact, cultivating a green campus and expanding our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Northeastern—we are on the cusp of something special. Let’s continue moving our university forward together. Let’s get to work. Please visit www.engageNU2015.com to learn more about us and our platform.

– John Finn is a third-year business major. Neel Desai is a sophomore economics major.