Opportunity, stewardship and a new identity are the basis of the contract offered by New Deal members – all you have to do is sign the dotted-line.

The New Deal, which prefers not to have the word ‘party’ attached to their title, is one of the two Student Government Association groups running for executive candidacy.

The group pledges to achieve five goals by the end of its term: stewardship of the student activity fee, academic improvement, judicial reform and increasing student safety and access to paid services.

The first item up for business from the New Deal is the stewardship of student fees.

“We feel since [students] pay for [fees], they have the best knowledge of how to spend it,” said vice presidential candidate Cameron Secord.

In their plans for academic reform, the New Deal hopes to make the C minus a passing grade in major departments.

The group will also “work with the staff council to make midterm grades available before withdrawal,” Secord said.

The New Deal plans to increase student safety by creating a 24-hour escort van service in place of the 24-hour bus service.

“This allows for students to not stand around waiting for a bus and have a van that comes directly to them. It may also cut down on fuel costs,” said presidential candidate Katie Barlow.

Barlow also hopes to extend routes to River Road.

“We basically [want to get] a bus stop as close as we can to River Road,” she said. “Because of safety, transportation doesn’t think [buses] can go up there.”

Secord, employed by Campus Transit, said there is blind spot for bus drivers approaching the train tracks.

“Even if there were a mirror, it wouldn’t be big enough to see the blind spot,” he said. “We hope to extend bus services along further on East Campus Road to accommodate residents on River Road.”

The New Deal also plans to increase student access to paid services.

“I live off campus, but I am still on the meal plan,” said Joe Chaudoin, candidate for treasurer. “Sometimes I want to eat in the dining hall, but can’t because of [enforced parking]. We want to open dialogue to provide one hour of free parking at South Deck.”

He hopes to increase parking availability for alternative transportation.

“We are currently working on this issue with parking passes,” said Chaudoin. “Right now, if you own [only a car] you pay for one parking pass, but if you own a moped and a car you pay for two.”

The New Deal is also concerned that funds collected from students leasing space in Tate 2 go to the administration.

The candidates said they would like to give students the discretion to decide how to use those funds.

The New Deal’s fifth item of business is to change the minimum sanction under judicial reform.

“Minimum sanctions don’t allow for all circumstances to be considered when sanctions are being handled,” Secord said. “We want to try to reword policy so that circumstances can be considered. Right now it is you either did it or you didn’t.”

Though the New Deal plans on carrying out their own agenda, they intend on completing what was started by the current administration.

“The push for Gmail is still going on and the plus/minus system is solidified, the [Board of Regents] voted on it,” Barlow said. “All we have to do is submit research to the [University] Council to do internal changes.”

When it boils down to it, Secord said, the New Deal is “timely and deals with newness.”

“The three of us came together and decided to run because we care about SGA’s past and where it is going,” Barlow said. “We’re seeing [SGA] as in an identity crisis. We are either an advocacy association that does lobbying or we do both of those things and are a government.”

The New Deal is “making a contract – not a platform,” she said.

She said at the end of the next term, students will be able to vote on how SGA should be organized and run, provided that the New Deal doesn’t hold up its end of the contract.