Treasury Board Member Candidate

Diego Cordero-Rios

Diego's photos were captured by:

Fischer Schluessler / The Avion

Diego Cordero-Rios

Freshman, BS Aerospace Engineering

"My name is Diego Cordero-Rios, and I am a second-semester freshman pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering – rocket propulsion with a minor in human factors. I was born in Puerto Rico, but being in a military family, I only stayed a short while. My true home is in Washington state, where I resided in a medium-sized town called University Place. In my free time, I would often go mountain biking, launch high-power rockets, and run intense space simulations in Kerbal Space Program. I am running for the Student Treasury Board so I can help improve the relationship between RSOs and the SGA Treasury. I want to initiate one on one conversations with club treasurers. I want open, helpful dialogue that provides feedback on a treasurer's concerns. We are all in this together. Let me help you make your club's dream a reality."

  • What makes you a qualified candidate for this position?

    "Before coming to Embry-Riddle, I worked at US Bank in Washington for two years. I was in charge of keeping track of customer funds whose portfolios exceeded $100,00. In that capacity, I regularly communicated with clients to build relationships and answer any questions they had about their accounts. My other duty at the bank was (with my fellow coworkers) to take a full accounting of the bank's funds at the end of every work day. That task took incredible attention to detail, and if any at any time we found the bank to be over or under the designated total, we made sure to go back and recount until we got it right. While in Washington state, I also attended my local community college, where I served as the Treasure for the engineering club. My duties for the job went from organizing fundraisers, itemizing funds, and ensuring no dollar was ever unaccounted for. I also worked closely with project leads within the club, ensuring they had the appropriate funds they needed to successfully realize their mission."

  • What is the purpose of the Student Treasury?

    "The purpose of the treasury, not only the student treasury but the treasury of clubs and businesses, is to keep track of funds, provide advisement to the executive staff for financial matters, and approve projects that are of benefit to the entity, in this case, you. The SGA Treasury board's job is to help clubs achieve their mission, but it also held fund projects that increase the quality of life for the student body, examples being the shuttle program which ferries students from housing communities nearby, free coffee in the second-floor student leadership suit, to touch and go who bring amazing excitement to campus. None of this would be possible without an organized treasury run by the people you sit next to in class. The purpose of the treasury is to help you, and in the case of an awesome idea for a new club you have brewing. The SGA treasury is right behind, helping you turn that dream into a reality."

  • How would you define risk management, and how would you relate this skill to your position as Student Treasury Board Member?

    "Risk, no, not the board game. But the actual management of it. Risk management is the management of potential financial situations that may or may not happen. There are many ways to do this, through collaborative thinking of scenarios, to damage control of unideal events. My time in the banking industry has taught me many safeguards that are in place to protect the customer. For every personal bank account opened, the FDIC Federal deposit insurance cooperation guarantees $200,000 worth of a customer's account in the case a bank fails. In this case, this is a reactive measure. And there are many other safeguards are in place to ensure a bank does not fail. You might ask how this applies to the SGA and the treasury board in particular. My time in the banking industry has taught me one thing for certain, it is better to prevent a dire situation rather than react to them. And now that I am studying engineering, it is my job to think of every situation and plan accordingly. This would ensure that the SGA treasury can run efficiently and provide its service to you 100% of the time."

  • How do you plan to ensure the organizations you represent receive the funding they need without putting others at a disadvantage?

    "If granted your vote, I want to make the SGA treasury as transparent as possible when dealing with clubs. I believe that everyone should have access to the same information when dealing with their budget. And not only do I want to make the process fair, but I also want to make it equitable as well. Not every club starts the same, nor does every club have a perfect treasurer every year either. At times, a treasurer in a club can be fantastic and accomplish all their duties and secure proper funding. While at other times, a treasurer can lack in their duties, and a club can suffer for it. We are all human, and understandably, mistakes can happen.

    What I want to propose in the case of a mistake is an in-person meeting with a treasury board member with the RSO treasurer to help them through anything they may not have understood. I also want to add that sometimes budgets can be denied. But, with how I started this piece, the goal is transparency. A denial message should state all the facts and reasons why something was unable to happen, but most important with the denial message is the follow-up, the recommendation. What is next? Because there is always a next time, and providing an environment where the RSO treasurer feels heard is extremely important. At the end of the day, we are all in this together, I want to make it my mission to see all the clubs succeed financially, for the good of Embry-Riddle."