Ritika Samant
Ritika Samant, a first-year student in the Heersink School of Medicine, received the 2023 President’s Award for Excellence in Support of UAB and Shared Governance in a ceremony Oct. 11.
The award is given to a member of the UAB faculty, staff or student body who exemplifies and embodies the UAB core value of unity of purpose through shared governance that propels our institution to achieve excellence in all parts of its mission. Recipients are recognized for their use of collaborative dialogue and open communication to promote collective success and their ability to work with multiple constituencies to initiate positive change.
Samant served as president of the Undergraduate Student Government Association at UAB in 2022–2023. She graduated in spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a Master of Public Health degree from the Fast Track MPH Program in the School of Public Health. She also graduated with High Distinguished Honors from the University Honors Program, a specialized program in the UAB Honors College. Her interest in science was inherited. Both her parents are cancer researchers at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB and professors in the Department of Pathology: Lalita Shevde-Samant, Ph.D., and Rajeev Samant, Ph.D.
“Finding a win on both sides”
During her term as USGA president, Samant “was a driving force in advancing the student experience” at UAB, said John Jones III, Ph.D., vice president for Student Affairs. “Throughout her tenure, Ritika implemented innovative programs and provided critical feedback to campus leaders that has significantly enhanced student engagement and contributed to student success.”
“She is very organized, mature and reasonable,” said Rebecca Kennedy, Ph.D., assistant vice president for Student Health and Wellbeing. “When presented with barriers, she works to find another way to reach the goal. She is a great partner and someone who really understands how to build partnerships and relationships.”
"Through my graduate training in public health and my time as USGA president, I learned how to think strategically and find a way to align goals. You put everything on the table, align the goals that everyone brings, and then you are winning. That is when change happens."
“You are trying to find a win on both sides — that is how I have always approached things,” Samant said. “Everyone shares the goal of making things better for students, but administrators are thinking about constraints that students don’t always know about. Through my graduate training in public health and my time as USGA president, I learned how to think strategically and find a way to align goals. You put everything on the table, align the goals that everyone brings, and then you are winning. That is when change happens.”
“She understands the importance of being brave in her leadership and to use her voice to make a difference for the students at UAB,” said Mary Blanchard Wallace, Ph.D., assistant vice president for Student Experience. “She is an incredible mediator, as student groups experience conflict at times. She provided a supportive environment for teamwork by listening, facilitating conversation and moving individuals to consensus to continue the good work of USGA. In fact, Ritika’s skill set in this area is the most developed I have observed of any student leader in my 29-year career.”
Evidence-based actions
Several nominators cited Samant’s leading role in the Wellness Week initiative in 2022. Students were telling Samant that they felt burned out with the “straight sprint from start to finish” that was the fall semester. Could UAB add an undergraduate fall break, as other state schools had? “In my first meeting with Provost Benoit, I brought that up,” Samant said. Benoit explained that, with the strict university accreditation guidelines and the timelines of many of our programs, especially in the health areas, adding a fall break would mean “some students would have almost no summer break,” Samant said. Samant brought Benoit another idea — what if UAB could revisit the wellness days that were added in spring 2021 to counteract the lack of a spring break that year? “Students would still be responsible for keeping up with the material in their classes; but there would be no high-stakes testing, so they could focus on health and well-being,” Samant suggested. “We discussed that, Dr. Benoit shared the idea with the Faculty Senate, and we went from there.”
“I wanted to bring this culture of evidence-based actions that I learned in public health and medicine, to make sure that what we were doing was intentional, rather than just what the elected officers thought was best.”
The reactions Samant heard from students after Wellness Week were mixed, “which is a given because of the very different curricula in our programs,” she said. “Some students said that the week meant some tests were scheduled earlier and others later. But I also heard many positive comments, and several schools have either moved toward incorporating a fall Wellness Week or are discussing what other options could look like.”
Samant says she is proud of another innovation during her term as president: a summer survey to gauge concerns of students going into the fall semester, so that student leaders and administrators know the issues they should address. “I wanted to bring this culture of evidence-based actions that I learned in public health and medicine,” Samant said, “to make sure that what we were doing was intentional, rather than just what the elected officers thought was best.”
Pushing initiatives over the line
Nominators also pointed to Samant’s tireless work “to ensure that there is a grant available specifically for UAB undergraduate students who have medical bills of $500 or more,” as Kennedy said. “She worked directly with multiple people from my team, as well as others across Student Affairs and within USGA. Her passion and drive helped ensure a legacy of fundraising to support this new initiative.”
“Previous USGA administrations had laid the groundwork for an emergency medical fund,” Samant said. “It was great to get that pushed to fruition and furthered by talking with Dr. Kennedy and UAB Advancement. Most of the work had already been done, but there is a great sense of accomplishment in being able to push something across the finish line.”
Was it intimidating to raise her voice when she was often the youngest person in the room? “That is something that I have actually thought about quite a bit,” she said. “In a lot of settings, such as when I was given the opportunity to present to the [University of Alabama System] Board of Trustees, I was not only the youngest person but the youngest woman of color and child of immigrants in the room. That could have been intimidating, certainly; but I saw it actually as giving me the power of a platform.
“Instead of being meek and silent, I thought, ‘I am bringing some different points to the table that would not have been raised if I did not speak up.’ I have learned a lot from those experiences. I have no qualms about going up and talking to somebody, no matter what their position is. And at UAB, I have found that any administrator is willing to listen, because their goal is to make things better for everyone.”
