After a semester of internal changes, the Boston University Student Union has still not found its focus, President Brooke Feldman told the General Assembly in her State of the Union address last night.
Although she said the Union has undergone a “radical change” this semester – noting the ideological and Constitutional changes — Feldman admitted this semester’s Union lacked a clear agenda.
“What we’re missing right now, as I see it, is a focus or a direction,” the School of Education junior said in her speech.
Discussion at this semester’s General Assembly meetings has mostly focused on the debate of proposed Constitutional amendments.
At the first Union meeting of the semester Oct. 5, Assembly members proposed an amendment that would assign representatives based on the student population of a given school, consortia or RHA.
Over the course of the semester, the Union passed two parts of the amendment, creating proportional representation for college governments and Residence Hall Associations, but never passed proportional representation for consortia.
The Union also passed an amendment to the Constitution allowing committees to create and dissolve as necessary. Previously, the Union created committees by semester. At the end of each semester, the committees would cease to exist and the General Assembly could choose whether to recreate the committee in the following semester.
In the final Union meeting of the semester last night, the General Assembly passed an amendment forbidding discussion on amendments that had already been voted on previously in the semester.
In previous semesters, General Assembly meetings focused on committee reports and updates. This semester, committee chairs were expected to submit a committee report to the Executive Board by 5 p.m. the Friday before the next Union meeting. Copies of the committee reports were then distributed to the General Assembly, however, they were rarely, if ever, discussed at meetings.
Union Vice President Mark DiCristofaro said the procedural changes has been beneficial to the General Assembly.
“I think it has affected the Union in an extremely positive way,” the College of Communication junior said. “I have seen that the Union meetings are no longer static and boring. We switch it up every week and do slightly different things to keep people entertained but grounded.”
Similarly, Union Treasurer Caroline Cahill said the procedural change engages more people.
“This happened because the meetings were just plain boring,” the COM senior said. “We wanted people to want to come to our meetings. Not just GA members. We wanted people on campus to want to come to voice their opinions and find out what we’re working on.”
However, Cahill said next semester, she would like to see more discussion about committee progress.
“I do think it’s a good thing,” she said, “but I hope it will continue to evolve next semester. Ideally, we would like for the GA to read the committee updates before the meeting and use the meeting time for discussions. If people know what’s going on in other committees, they can offer up their services and views.”
Union Secretary Erica Homan also said the amount of time spent on amendment discussion was unexpected, and the Union should refocus on committee efforts.
“I wasn’t expecting it to take this long,” the College of Arts and Sciences senior said. “Next semester, I’d like to see the meetings focus on the committees, because that really is the crux of the Union.”
DiCristofaro said to remedy this, the Union E-board is forming a “task force” to address Constitutional issues. The task force, which will include the Union E-board, cabinet and any other interested General Assembly members, will fulfill the same duties as last semester’s constitutional committee. The task force will discuss potential Constitutional amendments and wording outside of the General Assembly meetings.
“We did not expect that it would charge that much discussion,” DiCristofaro said. “We do not want to spend that much time on an amendment ever again. That’s why we are seeking the proper steps to make sure the process in place is quick and efficient and fair. We’re going to develop that internally.”
DiCristofaro said the group will also address the difference between Constitutional amendments and bylaws. According to DiCristofaro, the bylaws will detail “how things are run” to make the legislative process more efficient, whereas constitutional amendments dictate “what you can and cannot do.”
Feldman presented another proposal for General Assembly meeting procedure, which will bring more focus to Union initiatives. The proposal, which Feldman called “Windows on BU,” will foster dialogue within the Union about student issues.
“Basically, what we’re going to be doing is transforming the GA meetings into guided discussion,” she said, “a guided conversation about one of these perennial themes that affect student life at BU.”
Feldman’s “strategic plan” is focused on fostering “four pillars:” community, advocacy, empowerment and leadership.
During her address, Feldman also said she had to “assess where we’re coming from.”
Feldman said that after elected Union President last April, she “didn’t really have much of an answer” when the university community inquired about the Union’s role on campus.
“We were a student government just so we could have a student government,” she said. “It was a student government in name only.”
Feldman said she and her Executive Board have worked this semester to increase the efficiency of the Union.
“We’ve created a cabinet,” she said. “We’ve increased the amount of leadership and ownership within the GA itself with dynamic and unique chairmen.”
Feldman also noted the new look of the Union, which an updated union slogan – “Your community connection” – and the new website.
“We’ve basically got everything new except for our name,” she said.
At the State of the Union address, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said he noticed an increase in student involvement in the Union.
“At the last State of the Union, there were crickets,” he said during his speech. “I think you need to be congratulated on what you’ve done.”
According to Feldman, there was a “300 percent increase in attendance” for this semester’s General Assembly meetings.
At the beginning of the semester, the Union E-board also added six new cabinet positions in an effort to increase student involvement in the Union.
Chairmen of the six Union committees – academic, environmental, residential life, school spirit, technology and transportation – gave their transitional reports at the final meeting of the semester last night. Unlike previous semesters, the current committees will continue their efforts into next semester, until they feel it necessary to “dissolve.”
Although there is currently no Guest Policy committee in the Union, Elmore choose to address the controversial policy at last night’s State of the Union. The Union has not had a guest policy committee since fall 2005, after Union President emeritus Jon Marker submitted a proposal to the Student Life Task Force, where the policy is currently being discussed. The Task Force is part of the Faculty Assembly Council.
“One of the issues that we’re looking into is the much-beloved guest-visitor policy,” Elmore said jokingly. “I anticipate we will be bringing something to the University Council early next semester . . . It’s a process that moves a lot faster than it may sound.”