Nahomi Rei, president of the Salt Lake Community College Student Association (SLCCSA), has several goals for her year in office.
Along with the priorities set forth in her vision statement, Rei said she hopes her administration can address student discontent with the ePortfolio experience, get better food on campus, make student fees more transparent, and ensure all students feel welcome at SLCC.
Rei said these goals grew out of a vision statement that she wrote following initial conversations she had with students and administrators at the Fall Student Forum on Sept. 26.
“I love to serve,” Rei said. “I want to be the voice of the students.”
SLCCSA goals for 2024-25
Rei’s vision statement takes on several important facets of campus life at SLCC. Namely, it lays out plans to increase visibility of on-campus opportunities and activities; ensure equal opportunities for academic, professional and extracurricular activities; bolster transparency in where tuition and student fees are spent; and identify and reduce barriers to achievement.
Rei is only a few months into her term as president. Even so, she is already hard at work on several specific projects with Lilo Tuiono, vice president for academic pathways at SLCCSA, and Dean Stewart, vice president for equality & representation at SLCCSA.
Rei said she is specifically working with Tuiono on issues related to the ePortfolio experience for students at SLCC. At the Fall Student Forum, several SLCC students were vocal and firm in their dislike of the ePortfolio requirement that is contained in every class at the college.
However, Interim Provost for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer Jason Pickavance responded at the forum that the ePortfolio program is “here to stay” and said the college administration is not currently considering getting rid of it.
“We are looking at alternative platforms or maybe adapting this one to be more user friendly,” Rei said.
Rei announced she is also trying to improve on-campus food options and vying to have more food courts that are open for longer hours.
Some campuses don’t have any food services outside of campus store offerings. The café at South City Campus was shut down in 2023 and hasn’t reopened. Meanwhile, Jordan Café recently announced they would be closing on Nov. 30 if sales don’t pick up.
“We would like to see more choices for students including some healthy and vegetarian options,” Rei said.
Another of Rei’s projects is creating more financial transparency, which is something students asked for at the forum in September.
However, members of the college administration, including President Greg Peterson, Vice President for Student Affairs Brett Perozzi and Pickavance, said during the fall forum that it is difficult to be transparent about what students’ tuition is spent on specifically. This is because tuition is lumped in with money from the state legislature and it all goes out to pay all the bills – salaries, rent, utilities, supplies, and other expenses.
Even so, Rei said she is working towards more transparency in student fees.
“I’m working on a portal where students can see how their fees are being spent,” she said.
The final aspect of Rei’s presidency, and perhaps the most important, will revolve around welcoming students from all backgrounds and walks of life. Rei said she is currently working alongside Stewart on how to ensure SLCC remains an inviting and safe place in the wake of H.B. 261.
Student input
Rei said she would like additional student input on all the issues that she plans to tackle during her presidency, and that she will use this input to guide her tenure in office.
Anyone in the SLCC community is welcome to drop by the Thayne Center, located in the Student Services building at Taylorsville Redwood Campus and share their thoughts.
Rei, who moved from Venezuela to Utah with her family five years ago, said: “I want everyone to feel as welcomed as I have been.”
