Senate Corner
Senate approves new committees
December 12, 2013
Confusion is an inevitable situation when trying to modernize the way Student Senate is set up or organized.
Evolution is an uncertainty, so as Senate continues to review the Shared Governance Modernization Act, headed by Anthony Sumnicht with the support of Matthew Hobbs, there is still much that needs to be fleshed out and reviewed by the entire Senate. Although, for the moment, this is some of the information that was explained recently in the Senate meeting (remember, all of this is a possibility, not a certainty).
There will be a possible change in some of positions held on the Senate, such as the inclusion of Chairs on three new committees that will be created with this same Act. These chairs are Student Affairs, External Relations and the Academic Council. Because the Chairs of these committees will be on Senate, the number of At-Large Senators will go down from eight to six and the Facilities and Fees Chair will be cut along with the entire Board. The responsibilities will be absorbed by the Executive Board of Senate.
However, since this was only one out of numerous amendments to the Shared Governance Modernization Act, there is a lot of information that can still be said (and there is not enough space for it all to be explained). If someone requires more information about the amendments and the actual Act in general, talk to a senator in the Involvement Center to get a bigger picture on what could possibly happen in the future of Senate.
Recently, Senate passed a motion to make a sub-committee of the Allocable Fee Appropriation Board called the Sports Club Committee. This way a committee of people well-informed about sports on campus can handle the money given out to all sports on campus and prioritize where the money should go. Now they will not have to compete against other organizations that are not related to sports clubs.
At the last meeting, a new committee has been approved by Senate for the same reasons; the Student Media Committee. These committees will not only handle the fees and budgets for the organizations under their jurisdictions, but it is a big part of what they will do. Along with that, the budget process for both organizations was approved as well so that they are actually able to receive their money through allocable fees for the 2014-2015 school year.
Other than that, the meeting went smoothly and if anyone wants more information not mentioned here, visit the Involvement Center and feel free to talk to a senator. Only two of them bite so chances are, you will be fine.
Joseph Schmit is a student at UW-River Falls.