Union faces internal challenges, senators say

Some Student Union senators expressed mixed reviews about how Union has communicated and functioned during the spring semester.

“This semester has been and will continue to be a tumultuous period in Student Union’s history,” said College of Arts and Sciences senior James Boggie, a four-year Union member.

Union has faced staffing problems as well as communication issues throughout the semester, senators said. Union members have left their positions for a number of reasons, including time management and communication.

“There will always be turnover and people decide that they want to leave,” Boggie said. “I’ve been involved since 2009 and I have seen a lot of people go, but this is the first time that I have seen people go who are good at their jobs.”

A few Union seats remain empty, Boggie said. The students who represented the College of Fine Arts and Shelton Hall left and have not been replaced.

Sophie Miller, former Union executive staff and vice president of internal affairs, said her involvement in the first semester did not go as she hoped it would.

“I know that often the reasoning behind a resignation is unique to each individual,” Miller, a CAS sophomore, said in an email interview.

Miller said her challenges were not due to a lack of personal investment, but to the nature and circumstances of her position. After trying to approach her leadership in a different way, Miller said she decided to step down for the year.

CAS freshman Sean Gunning said he resigned from his position as advocacy committee chair in February because the semester had been very busy and it became stressful.

“Student Union does some great work so there was a lot of pressure to get things done faster than I had been, which is very fair,” Gunning said in a phone interview. “I was not as devoted as they deserved. It wasn’t fair to anyone in my committee, Student Union or the student body.”

Boggie noted two interpretations of why Union is less cohesive this year. One is that people developed higher standards and began to place more pressure on Union members. The other is that the executive board has not communicated very well.

Howard Male, a SMG and School of Hospitality Administration senior and Union president, said that the structure of Union in terms of committees is a significant change from last year.

“Last year they changed the structure of Union to one that’s a lot more streamlined but on that focuses on skill rather than issues,” Male said in a phone interview. “We as an organization are still adapting to it because it’s the second year it’s being used. We’re continually trying to find a way to be the most efficient and best serve the students.”

Union wasn’t as transparent as College of Communications senior Matthew Bae said he had hoped it would be.

Bae was appointed public relations director at the end of the summer, but resigned six weeks later. Bae said he had trouble dealing with the several groups within the “spread out” organization.

Due to Union members’ busy schedules, Bae said direct contact with members was hard to achieve.

However, Bae said he resigned because he was busy.

“There hasn’t been one coherent communication process that we have stuck with,” said Prutha Patel, director of City Affairs, in a phone interview.

Patel, a School of Management junior, said all the position changes have created difficulties for Union members.

“What we’re lacking is knowing who to report to and knowing who is doing what so we can go to the best source,” Patel said. “We do not know what is technically going on because we are not always informed.”

However, Patel said she does not think communication difficulties were the sole reason or a big reason why anyone resigned.

Senators addressed the transparency issue at a meeting a few weeks ago, Patel said. The executive board members said they are making an effort to improve communication.

“I know senators are supposed to have a lot of power but I did not feel particularly involved [last semester as a senator],” said SMG sophomore Vivian Chao, Union events committee chair, in a phone interview.

While committees used to be organized depending on an issue or cause, Chao said each committee has its own specialty such as events or advocacy. She said it has been difficult for her to connect with the different committees.

Union now has a stronger presence on campus, and student groups are reaching out to Union more than in years past, said Blyss Buitrago, a CAS junior, in an email.

She said, “You can see that we definitely have a greater presence on campus [this year as compared to last], student groups are reaching out to us more, allowing amazing proposals and ideas to be implemented.”