There has been a changing of the guard at two of Georgetown’s largest student-run organizations, Students of Georgetown Inc. and the Georgetown Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union, with both groups introducing new leadership into their executive boards.
Laura Krivacek (COL ’15), the newly hired incoming CEO of GUASFCU, has been with the group for three years.  She most recently served as vice president of the member services department and has expressed that her prior experience, along with working at the Credit Union this past summer, makes her uniquely qualified for her new role.
“I stayed at the Credit Union over the summer with three other interns to run operations.  That experience allowed me to gain a wider perspective of what is going on at the Credit Union, what our future goals should be and where it should be moving,” Krivacek said.
The Credit Union hires new members in both the fall and spring semesters, while the board turns over yearly at the start of the spring semester.
“We recently took 18 freshmen — sophomores are only hired in the fall semester, while juniors and seniors are not eligible — from the business school, the College and the SFS,” Krivacek said. “It’s always a competitive process, with so many qualified applicants, but we feel really strongly about the candidates that we selected for this semester.”
The new GUASFCU board was elected one month ago and will take over March 1.
With Capital One Bank recently announcing that it will be removing its ATMs from campus, Krivacek sees a unique opportunity for GUASFCU to grow its base of users.
“We always want students to come to us instead of other banking options on campus,” Krivacek said. “We are going to keep marketing to students.  While Capital One moving off campus does not directly affect us, we are always trying to grow.”
GUASFCU wants to be competitive within Georgetown and with other credit unions so that it is the premier banking option for students on campus.
“We are really pushing to increase our loan portfolio with the goal of rolling out private student loans within the next couple of months, which we think will be a great opportunity for not only the Credit Union but for the university, as well,” she said.
Similarly, newly appointed Corp CEO Sam Rodman (MSB ’15) has big plans for his organization.
“The chance to accomplish individual goals and see a lasting impact on a service even after graduation is a great opportunity,” Rodman said. “One of the biggest strengths of organizations like The Corp is employee buy-in is higher than any organization you’ll see. People really care about the products they are putting out, and they really care about the impact that they can have on the organization.”
Rodman, a former Editorial Board member of The Hoya, emphasized the importance of The Corp’s social culture.
“Part of it comes from the social aspect of it; the fact each individual service is its own group with its own social culture, and part of it comes from the fact that there is so much upward mobility in The Corp,” he said.
Rodman’s tenure will include overseeing the upcoming opening of The Hilltoss, The Corp’s new salad and smoothie shop that will be located in the Healey Family Student Center.
“With Sweetgreen far away and pretty pricey, and Leo’s not quite as pricey but not the quality students want, salads just made sense for us,” Rodman said.
In addition to the new board members, The Corp also hired 38 new employees this semester. With high turnover every year as employees graduate, The Corp must constantly replace its members.
Gene Ball (MSB ’16) is the new Chief Financial Officer for The Corp. He indicated that because of the changing government policies and the rising minimum wage of employees, The Corp must adapt its business plan to retain profits.
“Over the next few months, we will be working to reduce excess costs in order to keep prices as low as possible in response to the upcoming minimum wage increases,” Ball said. “While we must maintain profitability in order to fulfill our mission of serving the Georgetown community, we also want to ensure our customers’ happiness and regular return with lower-priced goods.”