With Student Union set to vote on altering its election schedule on Monday, members said starting a new term in January could improve cooperative efforts, but could cause challenges for rising seniors and students outside of Union.
Union vice president Alex Staikos, a School of Management sophomore, said the proposal, which suggested the Union term begin in January instead of May, is meant to provide continuity among executive board administrators and give power back to senators.
“It is impractical to have a new executive board have to work with administrators in the summer who they have never been introduced to,” he said in an email interview. “Filling a cabinet can be difficult when it needs to be done in the summer months, since very few people are on campus.”
Only the executive board, directors and the chief of staff would have a different election cycle, Staikos said. Senators are elected based on an election cycle determined by their constituency.
“There are a lot of secondary effects, which include a stronger willingness of administration to work with the Student Union, year-to-year continuity on major issues, stronger presence in the summer months and more input from senators at the beginning of the year,” Staikos said.
The new timeline would allow for a preparation period before intercession, which could potentially extend into a training period during the break, Union Chief of Staff Sophia Woyda, a CAS junior, said. The previous executive board would still be at BU to aid in further mentorship and provide insight during the first four months of the calendar-year term.
The proposed election cycle will remedy the lack of continuity that exists in Union, said Student Union Director of City Affairs Prutha Patel, via email.
“By switching to an election term that runs from January-January versus the current May-May cycle, the Student Union will be able to better serve the student body with effective leadership,” Patel, a SMG junior, said.
The change, however, would prevent seniors for running for positions in the executive board, as the term would end after they graduate. Union Senator Patrick O’Sullivan said the exclusion of seniors in the election cycle could be a downside.
“Students may get confused, as there would need to be a special election for an interim board to serve for the first semester before the permanent board is elected for the full calendar year,” O’Sullivan said via email, “but other than that, [there aren’t] not much changes.”
Other student governments, such as the Harvard Undergraduate Council function on calendar-year cycles, Staikos said.
The SEDSG’s academic-year schedule allows the executive board to plan fall events and outreach efforts geared toward the freshman class over the summer, said SEDSG president Lindsay Moran, an SED junior, in an email interview.
Greek Life also follows the calendar year, said President of Panhellenic Council Marisa Feehan via email. Though the Panhellenic Council has its own election cycle, sororities follow the calendar cycle.
“One of the big pros of having it on the calendar cycle is that the transition can be made more effectively and the new president would have the past president still on campus to ask any questions,” Feehan, a CAS senior, said.
However, Feehan said the proposed Union election change could cause the “outside world” to be confused as to who the president is.
Molly Meehan, Student Union Vice President of Finance, said the greatest benefit to the proposed change in election cycles would be added planning potential.
“Under the current system, it’s very difficult to be productive during the summer because newly elected executive board members are not familiar with their responsibilities and various directorships are vacant,” Meehan, an SMG junior, said. “In a transition between the fall and spring semesters, the outgoing executive board would likely be more accessible than they are under the current system.”
Woyda said the Union executive board could use the summer to review the progress, successes and challenges of the first semester to empower the new senators and Cabinet members elected and appointed in September.
“In working with both the Executive Board, Cabinet and Senate this year,” Woyda said. “I feel that there are several benefits of having elections occur in mid- to late November of the first semester.”
CORRECTION: The article previously stated that the School of Education School of Government worked on a calendar-year schedule. However, the SEDSG runs on an academic-year schedule.
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