James Beauchaine
James Beauchaine, junior in biomedical sciences, thoroughly enjoys handling money.
Sophomore year, he served on the finance branch of SGA in the Verizon Wireless position.
“I really enjoyed it and got to see the benefits of a partnership that Auburn and Verizon have,” Beauchaine said.
In the past year, Beauchaine said serving on the Budget and Finance Committee is what sparked his interest in running for SGA treasurer.
“I really got to see more of the monetary side of things,” Beauchaine said. “It really opened my eyes to some areas that need change.”
Growing up in Birmingham, Beauchaine has been a fan of handling money and business since he was a teenager.
“I had a vending machine that my grandfather gave me when I was 14, and it stays on my parents’ farm,” Beauchaine said. “Surprisingly, it actually does pretty well. I pay a guy to stock it for me.”
If elected treasurer, Beauchaine plans to channel his passion for finance into reform.
“Invest in BEST stands for being a bold voice: allowing the students to have more of a say in where their student activity fee goes; excellent experience: providing the students with an excellent college experience by growing revenue and building the quality of these programs; salary review board: We used to have one, and I think we need to bring it back to make sure student money isn’t wasted; and transparency: letting students see the process from the inside out,” Beauchaine said.
Beauchaine said his main goal for improvement is to allow the students to have a more active role in seeing where their money is being sent.
“A lot of students don’t know what a SAF [student activity fee] is,” Beauchaine said. “And that it’s the Budget and Finance Committee’s job to allocate that money out to the student activity portfolio.”
Beauchaine plans to have the Budget and Finance Committee records placed online so students can have easier access to them.
“It’s really the role of the treasurer — and it hasn’t been utilized in past years — to have these budgets presented online,” Beauchaine said. “My goal is to get the budgets online and have an overview with a link to how each line item is spent with the overall budget that is given.”
Beauchaine believes it is also important to have more of a checks and balances system on SGA’s budget.
“Not only do I want to make sure SGA is spending their money appropriately and doing it in the student’s interests, but also that these other SAPs [satisfactory academic progress] are using the money effectively as well,” Beauchaine said.
Along with this goal is why Beauchaine feels it is important to collect feedback from students on what they want from SGA.
“We have to have student feedback and insights to make sure that they [administration]aren’t just collecting a payment without doing their job,” Beauchaine said.
James Pinkleton
James Pinkleton, junior in accounting and finance, has been around campaigns for most of his life.
“My brother has worked on a few different political campaigns and actually ran for local office a few years ago,” Pinkleton said. “Helping him with his campaign made me realize that I would really rather be on the side funding the campaign.”
If elected treasurer, Pinkleton said his goal is to teach students how to manage money.
“Knowing that only 57 percent of Americans are financially literate, and many college-aged students are financially illiterate, made me want to do something to change that,” Pinkleton said. “I want students to be prepared for the real world; to know how to pay student loans and taxes.”
“Pay it forward with Pinkleton” encompasses Pinkleton’s plan to teach students how to have an active role in their finances.
“I have friends all the time tell me they wish Auburn had a one-hour class that taught you how to manage money,” Pinkleton said. “Auburn doesn’t really have anything like that, and I plan to work with administration to provide an office or support system where students feel safe to come and ask any questions they have about finances.”
Pinkleton said whether he is elected or not, he will continue to work on providing a financial advising service for students.
“This is something I’ve been working on with the current treasurer,” Pinkleton said. “I’m currently the assistant vice president of SGA finance, and I got the idea to work on this about a year ago.”
Managing money is something Pinkleton is truly passionate about and an area he feels he has experience in. Along with being the director of academic affairs, he is also involved in a few other extracurricular activities.
“I really love volunteering because I love being busy,” Pinkleton said. “Right now I do taxes for underprivileged families. I’ve also gone on mission trips the past two and a half years.”
Pinkleton feels his experience with the campaign world and his upbringing are two of the reasons why he would make a good treasurer.
“I have a lot of experience with knowing how to properly use money,” Pinkleton said. “My parents raised both my brother and I to understand how to stretch the dollar. Finances and money are something I’m passionate about. I couldn’t decide between accounting and finances so I did both.”
During campaign week, Pinkleton plans to raise awareness for financial literacy and gauge students’ opinions and reactions to his platform.
“I’m trying to prepare a survey to get just a baseline of where students are at with understanding finances,” Pinkleton said. “This is something [Walker] Byrd really wants as well, to better prepare students for the real world after they graduate.”
In the upcoming week, Pinkleton will work to determine the best ways to survey students about finances and prepare for his campaign.
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