At Student Council's last meeting before officially transitioning to new positions, members informally discussed their thoughts about Council's performance over the past year.
Some members raised concerns about the role of Council in University life.
"I don't feel like [Council] is a student government," said Owen Howlett, Building and Grounds Committee chair. "It feels like we are one of several petitioning entities. As a group, if we decided to pursue a specific agenda very directly, we might be more successful in getting our voice out there."
Council consists of a representative body and various specialized committees. The relationship between these groups was one issue that was raised last night.
"It seems like there's almost two parallel structures," Engineering Rep. Pavan Gupta said. "There's the committees structure, which seems to be working well, and there's the representative body, which discusses stuff and sometimes passes legislation."
Several members brought up the need for greater integration of the two groups.
"If legislation comes up that we can take definite action on and pertains to one of the committees, we should have the committee work on it, rather than the reps, [so they] feel more inclusive in the representative body," Student Life chair Jeff McLaughlin said.
Engineering Rep. Matthew White said the legislative process would be easier if resolution sponsors could work with the appropriate committee.
"I think that if I have an idea, I should take it to committee so they can work on it and I won't have to do it all myself," he said.
The role of committee chairs at the representative body meetings was discussed as well. Committee chairs cannot serve as representatives but must attend Council meetings each week.
"I kind of feel like we're spectators; it's like we're here for a show," Student Life Committee chair Alex Zapple said. "We're in the back watching it all. I feel like it's kind of a waste to be here."
Graduate Arts & Sciences Rep. Gavin Reddick said Council has not always operated in this manner.
"It used to be the case that chairs could be reps, but over the past couple of years there's been a policy [that changed this]," Reddick said. "It's not a structural thing, but a choice that Student Council has [made] over the past couple of years."
Safety and Wellness Committee chair Tom Gibson said he thought the committee structure itself works well.
"It's very efficient and pretty well set up," Gibson said. "Elizabeth [Chu, Chief of Staff] can tell you what every committee's doing."
Student Council members will officially transition into their new positions at their meeting next week.
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