At its meeting last night, the Student Assembly unanimously supported a motion calling for the creation of an external review committee chaired by Class of 1995 Vice President Hosea Harvey to reform the Assembly.
The committee will analyze the structure of the Assembly to find methods to decrease gridlock, promote leadership, reduce partisanship, and better represent the student body, the motion stated.
The committee will present its findings to the Assembly at the end of Spring term.
"I think it's a great idea," Assembly member Mariam Malik '98 said.
The committee will be made up of three "organizational leaders" unaffiliated with the Assembly and three Assembly members to be chosen by Harvey. The president and vice president of the Assembly can not serve on the committee.
"It's clear from the outside that Dartmouth needs an effective student government to address student concerns," Harvey said. Harvey, a former Assembly member, made an unsuccessful bid for the vice presidency two years ago.
Harvey was chosen as committee chair by Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95 and Vice President John Honovich '97.
Sichitiu said Harvey was selected to chair the committee because he was once a member of the Assembly, but has been unaffiliated for the last year-and-a-half.
She said Harvey's knowledge and experience in the Assembly will combine with his objective viewpoint to make him an excellent chair.
Most members of the Assembly said they are very pleased that Harvey will chair the committee.
Harvey said he plans to meet with the Assembly's Executive Committee by Friday to discuss who should be on the review committee and what topics it needs to address.
"My preference is what they think will work," he said. "I have no set agenda. The only thing expected of [committee members] is that they come in with an open mind."
The motion, sponsored by the entire executive committee, follows weeks of discussion about how the Assembly should be reviewed. Harvey and his committee have until May 14 to compile their findings and present them as a series of proposals to the entire Assembly.
During the final Assembly meeting of Spring term, the general Assembly will vote on the committee's decisions.
The recommendations accepted by the Assembly will go into effect at the beginning of the 1995-1996 fiscal year. The decisions will not affect the 1994-1995 administration or Spring term elections.
The committee will meet regularly with the Assembly's adviser, Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia.
"I think the committee will be highly successful," Honovich said.
Also, the resolution stated the committee may include a non-voting student with experience in organizational sociology from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration.
An amendment by Bill Kartalopoulos '97, which failed to pass by a vote, proposed that the SA elect two members to the committee and include individual representatives from Palaeopitus, the Coalition of Class Officers, the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council and Green Key Honor Society.
Kartalopoulos said he intended the amendment to open the committee to the entire campus community.
