Ever wonder who brought you the Hoo Crew, new bus schedules and other little things that make your life at the University much easier?
Student Council committees, that's who.
A majority of the initiatives implemented by Council this year were accomplished by the work of its committees, which include academic affairs, housing concerns and various ad hoc committees.
"Committees are where the bulk of the work gets accomplished," said Anita Gupta, Council chief of staff who is responsible for committee oversight.
Committees undertake particular tasks brought to their attention by Council as a whole, members of the committees and concerned students.
"A lot of [the committees] were responding behind the scenes to particular concerns of individuals," Gupta said.
Some committees successfully implemented new initiatives such as the Athletic Affairs Committee's new line monitoring system with wristbands at basketball games and the introduction of Hoo Crew.
"I definitely feel that this year, the AAC [Athletic Affairs Committee] has made a real difference," Chairman John Steck said. "The arrival of Hoo Crew made a huge impact on our campers for men's basketball and the orange of the new Team Cavalier shirts was seen at games and all over campus this year."
Committees diligently work on projects, although success is not always guaranteed. For example, the Parking and Transportation Committee could not secure a program for late night parking provisions at Clemons Library, so they worked to post bus schedules instead.
Many committees try to expand on initiatives from previous years.
"We are currently working on our Foxfield Races initiative, a safety tent that we co-sponsor with U.Va ADAPT [Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team] at the races," Safety Concerns Committee Chairwoman Ellie Troland said.
Other committees maintain constant goals from year to year.
"Our goals are the same every year - to help recruit the best and brightest students to U.Va as well as to help with admissions related activities," Admissions Committee Chairwoman Stacey Benzel said.
Committees always welcome the addition of new members because most committees are comprised of between five and 10 active members.
"You can join without an application and without an interview," Gupta said. New members can "just show up at a meeting and start working."
This semester, a major change took place when Council split the traditional Council meeting into a representative body meeting followed by a "big meeting" intended to include all Council members.
Last semester, three committee chairpersons would report on the status of their committee at each Council meeting. Currently, Council asks all committee chairs to attend the big meeting and keep Council apprised of its current projects.
Attendance has been a bit of a problem at the big meeting this semester because many committee chairs already had classes scheduled at that time, but next year Council hopes to correct this problem, Gupta said.
Committee chairpersons "are all required to come to the big meeting next year," said Sarah Jobe, next year's chief of staff.
Next year's committee chairpersons already have submitted their master plans to Jobe.
"Big meetings foster a greater sense of community and team-work within the larger Student Council body," Student Arts Committee Chairwoman Sheila Laderberg said.
At times, some committee members express feelings of isolation from Council as a whole.
"I would have liked to see more representative participation in my events," Troland said. "Only one representative showed up for the safety walks, for instance, and we have only one active representative on the committee."
Generally, the committees feel Council provides support for their efforts.
"Council has been great with just providing support and giving international students a voice," said Minal Rahimtoola, International Student Affairs Committee Chairwoman. "Having Student Council support makes it easier to approach the administration."
Ad hoc committees such as the Good Old Song Committee, the Technology Committee and the New Student Center Committee work on specific goals and are renewed by Council each fall on an as-needed basis.
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