By a vote of 17 to three, Student Assembly's General Assembly passed constitutional bylaw changes that allow for the establishment of six issue-based committees to replace the current committee system. The changes were a crucial part of the campaign platform of Student Body President Eric Tanner '11.
Similar constitutional changes were voted down at last week's meeting, leading Tanner and Vice President Brandon Aiono '11 to rewrite the proposed changes to clarify widespread confusion among Assembly members, Tanner said.
Topics for the issue-based committees will be selected at General Assembly next Tuesday, Tanner said. At this week's meeting, members proposed topics including sustainability, alcohol harm reduction, academic advising and financial reform.
The new system will give committees a uniform way of making policy recommendations to the administration, Tanner said.
"I think it's going to give Student Assembly an air of legitimacy that it hasn't had for quite some time," he said of the changes.
Under the new committee organization, the six committees will each have two chairs, one appointed by the student body president and vice president and another elected by Assembly members. Each committee will be capped at 10 members, in addition to the two chairs, with the chairs appointing six students to serve on the committee, and an additional four elected by Assembly members.
"It's going to bring a real sense of responsibility and accountability to Student Assembly," Tanner said. "It's going to allow our members to feel like they have a personal stake in the issues that they're discussing and debating."
Several Assembly members raised concerns that the new closed committee system will further limit membership if new members cannot participate in committees, but Tanner said that the changes could increase the number of students participating in the Assembly.
"If we do it right, membership will be higher than it's ever been since I've been here," Tanner said. "There are still many different avenues through which students can get involved."
Committee chairs will be able to form subcommittees without membership limits.
"Committee meetings may be open to the public, but only active members may vote or propose legislation on behalf of the committee," the bylaws state.
The Student Services Committee will continue to exist separately from the six issue-based committees and will be open to all members of the Assembly, according to Tanner. The Student Services Committee focuses on programming and events, he said.
With the changes, the Assembly created a legislative branch in addition to the existing executive branch. The executive branch and the legislative branch will oversee the Assembly as a whole.
Both the Diversity and Community Affairs and Academic Affairs Committees will likely continue to exist as issue-based committees.
Assembly member Will Hix '12 proposed a constitutional amendment to be discussed next week that would restructure the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee as well as the executive branch.
