As the University's spring semester comes to a close, Student Council reports it has accomplished many of its goals for the past year, while it also plans to continue its work into the summer months.
Student Council President Matt Schrimper said one of his main goals for this semester was to reach out to as many students as possible in the recruitment process for Student Council committees.
"Our greatest success is we had a record number of applications for Student Council -- we broke all records in recent memory." Schrimper said. "For the first time we have our committees filled five months ahead of schedule."
He added that Council has not seen this kind of talent in its committees for quite some time.
"We are so far ahead in working on projects," Schrimper said. "I think it really is a positive sign for how things are going to go next year."
Former Chief of Staff Ryan McElveen noted that although the current Executive Board has been working toward increasing outreach within the University community through recruitment, there is still room for improvement.
"I think what we've seen is, definitely in the beginning, they tried to reach out to different communities in terms of recruiting people for Student Council," McElveen said. "And I don't think they did as good of a job of going for diverse communities as they first claimed they would do."
McElveen explained that he believes Council also should be more open-minded while passing resolutions, suggesting, for example, that representatives from the Office of Residence Life should have been included in discussions of the recently passed bill concerning Safe Space training for resident advisors.
"I can see their hard work," McElveen said. "But at the same time I think it's a bit closed-minded in how they're handling things."
Schrimper noted that Council recognizes that some members and individuals involved in lesser-known aspects of Council have not felt as engaged by Council.
"One of the things we've been doing this year is giving them consulting orientation sessions for new Council members," he added. "And we teach them about various aspects of Council and what their roles are within the organization."
Vice President for Organizations Kayla Wherry also expressed a desire to continue outreach goals to CIOs by creating a CIO scholarship fund during the next academic year.
"It would cover whatever is not affordable for individual members," Wherry said of the fund, adding that this program would ensure students do not face a financial burden while trying to get involved in activities around Grounds.
In an attempt to increase its own involvement within the greater Charlottesville community, Council has also discussed creating a new Council representative role to attend Charlottesville City Council meetings next year.
"One thing that we're going to be doing next year is have a single Student Council member at the City Council meetings." Schrimper said. "The representative will be a conduit between us and the Charlottesville community -- for them to understand what we're doing and for us to understand what they're doing."
While the spring semester may be winding down for most students, Council members will remain focused on future work and plans throughout the summer, Vice President of Administration John Nelson said.
"The summer will really be a planning phase," Nelson said. "We want to be able to hit the ground running come fall."
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