At the first meeting of the Colin Hood administration, Student Council put forward a bill that seeks to establish the Public Service Committee. If the bill passes, the Committee will join the 11 current Student Council presidential committees and will replace the Civic Engagement ad-hoc Committee established last February.
The ad-hoc committee was formed as an experiment, former Co-Chair Laura Nelson said.
"It rose out of a need of recognizing that there's a lot of stuff going on at U.Va. - a lot of things in all areas related to civic engagement. There are hundreds of organizations doing different things and lots of opportunities to get involved, but a lot of times it's hard to navigate that," she said.
So far, the Civic Engagement Committee has created EngageUVA, a weekly newsletter outlining the various public service opportunities in the area to hundreds of subscribers, and hosted ServiceFest last semester as a service fair for students, similar to the Student Activities Fair for organizations on Grounds.
Nelson also noted that the Committee will act as a liaison between the student body and the University administration to speak about public service.
"There's a Public Service Advisory Board in the administration," Nelson said. "This is supposed to be a student body that would report directly to them. The idea of public service in civic engagement is all over the place, but it's really hard to know what's going on."
Apart from acting as a hub for publicizing public service opportunities, the Public Service Committee, Nelson hopes, will act as a platform for critical discussion surrounding public service.
"The second side of it is more of a space for critical dialogue about public service," Nelson said, "a think tank ... bringing together student leaders who aren't on Student Council, but are involved in all different areas of U.Va. to talk about how we can collaborate and best work together at a place where there's so much going on."
Medical School representative Erik Criman noted that the Committee's intended goals overlap with those of Council's existing Community Affairs Committee.
"It changes every year, but the Community Affairs Committee is ... especially focused on the relationship between U.Va. and Charlottesville and that certainly falls under public service," he said, "but the role that this [Public Service] Committee plays is really two parts: Finding a way that takes a lot of what's going on and making that accessible - that would incorporate what they're doing - and the second part is creating a dialogue within Student Council and about public service. I think they complement each other really well."
Graduate Arts & Sciences representative David Hondula, meanwhile, raised the question of the Committee's financial commitment. In response, Nelson noted that the Committee's operational costs are relatively low.
"It's a pretty cheap committee," Nelson said. "We're not looking to host big events and create a lot of new things - it's a pretty simple concept. A lot of what we want to do is actually just learning what's going on and encouraging people to go to things."
Carrie Filipetti, one of three co-chairs of the Diversity Initiatives Committee, thinks the intentions of the Public Service Committee have merits but voiced some concerns about its creation, noting instead that it could be more effective as a separate contracted independent organization.
"I think it would add too much bureaucracy to Student Council," Filipetti said. "I just think we should bear in mind how big and expansive Student Council is and, particularly with the goals of being more transparent and getting rid of red tape being part of the fundamental aspects of this new administration, I think it would behoove us to encourage leaders like Laura to establish this as a CIO or work to unite the CIOs that already exist rather than creating another organization under Student Council."
Nelson noted, however, that the Committee could gain ground from the organizational benefits within Student Council and would be more efficient than creating a separate entity.
"Initially, I never saw this being a part of Student Council," Nelson said. "I think there's a lot of student energy to create a public service body at U.Va., but I think one of the things at U.Va. is that there are so many people creating new things, that taking a structure that already exists and being able to rope more students in and be able to know about public service. I think Student Council can provide an existing structure to be able to do that. It'll take a little bit to adjust it to fit within the Student Council format, but I really think it'll fit well."
Council will vote on the bill during next Tuesday's meeting.
Read More
U.Va. researchers identify that HIV drugs can protect against Alzheimer’s disease
By Lauren Seeliger | YesterdayDoctor Jayakrishna Ambati and his research team have begun work on a new drug called K9 which could treat and prevent Alzheimer’s.
Graduating students share their future plans as they enter the job market
By Nina Broderick | 2 days agoMany students find the Career Center to be a valuable tool during the job search and application process.
U.Va.’s Finals Weekend spotlights the achievement and service of the Class of 2025
By Leigh Bailey | 4 days agoIn University President Jim Ryan’s welcome address, he acknowledged the support of family members and friends present in the audience and beyond that played supportive roles in these graduates’ lives.
