Student Union officials said they have had numerous meetings to discuss changes to the current Union constitution, including possibly consolidating the body’s executive board and giving each officer more responsibilities, Union vice president of Student Affairs Carl Woog said last night.
The discussion of constitutional changes is an effort to make Boston University’s student government more “efficient,” Woog said.
“We are at the beginning stages of reviewing the constitution,” Woog said. “We have had several meetings to discuss our general ideas and recommendations for how the constitution should appear. One of those goals would be to consolidate the executive branch.”
Woog said the e-board would best serve the student body if each position had more power.
“We’ve come to realize that perhaps there should be fewer and stronger positions that have the title and the force behind them to serve the students the best we can,” Woog said.
Even though the committee has met several times to discuss ideas for the constitution, Woog said they have not made any specific recommendations as of yet.
One of the committee’s main goals is to have all of the Union’s “important decisions” made by people “elected by the student body.”
Woog said students should have the right to choose how their student government is run and how their money is spent. He said those decisions should not be made by administrators, but by officials elected by students.
“Only people that are elected should make those decisions,” he said. “That is our basis for looking at this — that is the kind of premise we operate under.”
Committee members are examining all aspects of the constitution, Woog said.
“We are looking at every aspect of the constitution — everything,” he said. “From the way senators are elected to the way funding is allocated to the student body. The entire spectrum of student representation needs diligent review and that is what we are trying to deliver.”
The next step for the committee is to create a draft of the new constitution that will then have be passed by the Senate, Woog said.
“Once we draft the constitution it is ultimately up to the Senate to approve or disapprove,” he said. “There are a lot of stages we have to go through to bring the constitution to the student body.”
The current committee will attempt to make the changes by the end of this year, Woog said. He also said the process would continue regardless of the results of upcoming e-board elections.
“It is in the best interest of the student body to have a fresh document that allows their leaders to make changes at the university,” he said. “It is a goal that we will certainly pursue regardless of the upcoming elections.”
Woog said, however, that the process could go well into next year.
“We could have a fully drafted constitution in six weeks and not have it approved for a year,” he said.
The idea for making changes to the constitution was formulated during last year’s elections, according to Woog. He said Union president Ethan Clay had been a proponent of the changes, but took a few months in office to realize what changes needed to be made.
“Ethan and I had ideas about what we thought should change about the constitution,” he said. “What the current constitution states is not the most efficient or appropriate for the student body.”
The Senate also said they would also look to making recommendations to change their current by-laws alongside the constitutional changes, according to Senate chairman Joel Fajardo. However, Fajardo said the Union Tribunal informed him last night that a committee would need to be formed before making any changes to the current by-laws.
“I’ll be investigating before I go any further with this,” Fajardo said. “I am sure the Senate will appreciate that we follow the guidelines to make new bylaws. As for right now it is on pause.”