As Student Council leaders start planning for an upcoming transition process, Council has suggested strategies to continue recent and important initiatives, such as the University Unity Project.
To ensure that newer initiatives continue successfully under new leadership, Council President Matt Schrimper said Council has developed an “intricate transition process” not previously implemented. This new transition process, Schrimper explained, will include a two- to three-week period, during which outgoing committee chairs will exchange reports with the incoming chairs regarding the budget, projects and initiatives from the past year. Schrimper added, however, that he expects many current committee chairs to remain on Council, which will aid in maintaining the continuity of current initiatives.
To further ensure success of the transition process, current Council members will complete a survey to provide feedback about their experience on Council. Results of these surveys will be evaluated to improve Council operations in the future, Schrimper said.
Schrimper was especially optimistic about the success of the Unity Project through the transition process, noting that Council has been “really fortunate to have a lot of individuals on Council and on all committees who devote an invaluable commitment to the project.”
While Council prepares to make its transition as smooth as possible, University students have varying views on Council’s ability to continue the Unity Project in its current form.
Third-year College student Jenn Sun said she thinks many programs established within the Unity Project are admirable because “they’re trying to do something good for the student body.” Fourth-year College student Vincent Zhu, though, said he believes the continued success of the Project is contingent upon a sufficient amount of publicity for its programs and initiatives.
One possible impediment the Unity Project will have to circumvent if it is to continue and grow is the University of Virginia Bookstore’s financial difficulties, Unity Project Chair Rob Atkinson said, because of the current economic recession. The bookstore annually donates funds to the Council and a portion of these funds are used to finance Unity Project grants of up to $500 that are “available to initiatives to bring together the Charlottesville and University communities,” Atkinson added. Because of the financial difficulties experienced by the bookstore, however, Council must “cut back on the number of grants they’ll be able to fund,” Atkinson said, adding that he envisions a different theme each year for the whole of the Unity project.
To guarantee that the project continues to see a steady stream of new ideas, Schrimper said he hopes Council will remain “connected to the University and in touch with fellow students,” noting that there has been a recent increase in the number of people visiting Council’s Web site and contacting Council about suggestions. Atkinson, meanwhile, said he hopes continued promotion of the project will encourage student organizations and their leaders to take more interest in further developing various projects on or near Grounds.
“There will always be new ideas as long as Council members are engaged with the University,” Schrimper said.
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