Members of the Student Assembly continue to discuss efforts to restructure the Assembly in the wake of a motion made last week to adjourn for the remainder of Winter term.
At Sunday's executive committee meeting Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95 unveiled a proposal to form an objective external review committee.
According to Sichitiu's resolution, the committee would look at structures within the Assembly that prevent it from acting, create a constitutional process to support Assembly leadership and establish an effective representational system.
Sichitiu's proposal followed a proposal by Assembly Vice president John Honovich '97 last week calling for the adjournment of the Assembly.
Although the executive committee did not vote on Sichitiu's proposal, it discussed the proposal for an hour-and-a-half and deferred debate until next week's Assembly meeting. There is no meeting tomorrow.
Sichitiu said her proposal's most important features were the committee's external and objective aspects, a chair not on the assembly and Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia's advisory role.
Her proposal tentatively calls for three Paleopitus members and three organizational specialists from the Tuck School of Business to serve on the committee as objective members.
Paleopitus is a senior honor society that advises Dean of the College Lee Pelton and Acting College President James Wright.
The committee will also include three members of the Assembly but not Sichitiu or Honovich.
Sichitiu said the committee would be closed but would welcome suggestions from any assembly member or student.
"The best way to present this proposal is to set up the review committee and leave the scope of the committee up to the leaders of the committee," Sichitiu said.
Sichitiu said she thinks senior class Vice President Hosea Harvey '95 would be a good reform committee chair.
"He has a wealth of experience on Assembly, but has had a bit of distance from Assembly for the past one-and-a-half years," Sichitiu said.
Harvey said he is willing to consider the position if asked formally by the Assembly but has only discussed the matter informally with Sichitiu so far.
Sichitiu said the committee would present its findings and suggestions to the Assembly before the next elections in early April and the Assembly will then vote on the reform proposal.
Depending on the solutions proposed by the committee, the changes will either be implemented for this coming year or the following year, she said.
Honovich stressed the need for consensus among the Assembly's leadership on this issue.
"We are attempting to build a consensus over how the future of the Assembly should be examined," Honovich said.
He said the Assembly's leadership shares the belief that a review committee is needed, but they need to work out the details.
"We all agree on the idea of restructuring and are trying to find the best way of going about doing it," Honovich said.
Former Assembly member Kenji Sugahara '95 also advanced a proposal for the restructuring of the Assembly late last week.
He said he is waiting to hear from Sichitiu so he can discuss his proposal with her.
Sugahara, who ran for Assembly president last year, said he wants to "keep concrete issues like projects separate from student positions on certain issues" and to have a closed membership for the voting body of the Assembly.
