While the role of student body vice president has historically involved working behind the scenes to execute the student body president's external agenda, the position is extremely malleable and can include added duties ranging from presiding over the presidential impeachment process to reorganizing the Student Assembly committee structure. This year's student body vice presidential candidates Amrita Sankar '12 and Brian Holekamp '12, who will vie for the position in today's election both emphasized the goal of increasing student involvement in the Assembly in interviews with The Dartmouth.
From leading the General Assembly meeting to recruiting new members, the vice president's primary goal is to streamline communication among all Assembly members, current Student Body Vice President Brandon Aiono '11 said.
As chair of the Assembly's Membership and Internal Affairs committee, the vice president is in charge of planning social events and overseeing the selection process for students in the College's administrative committees, according to Aiono.
The 2009-2010 Student Body Vice President Cory Cunningham '10 analogized the president to the Chief Executive Officer and the vice president to the Chief Operating Officer of a company.
Cunningham is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.
Jacqueline Loeb '08, student body vice president from 2006-2007, said the vice president organizes the majority of the Assembly's internal affairs.
"The president would come up with the external platform, and I would cultivate the platform in the Assembly," Loeb said.
The vice presidential position also typically involves performing "logistical" work for the Assembly, such as organizing meetings, reserving rooms and buying food for committee meetings, Aiono said.
Current Student Body President Eric Tanner '11 said that as vice president, Aiono managed the inner working of Assembly projects.
"[Aiono] was the go-to person for [Assembly] matters, while I took care of student body issues," Tanner said.
Aiono said that although performing the logistical work was "taxing" at times, the role was valuable in that it "kept him aware on all internal workings." Despite the presence of certain fixed responsibilities, the vice president's job often differs from year to year, Aiono said.
In addition to his stated responsibilities, Aiono said he helped create the new Assembly committee structure initiated last spring and moderated the Ivy Council Policy Conference at the end of Winter term.
Loeb also emphasized the variable nature of the position, as she had in several other responsibilities like chairing the Undergraduate Finance Committee, which allocates funds for student organizations.
Jeffrey Coleman '08, student body vice president in 2005-2006, said the difference between the presidency and vice presidency is that the president gets "more attention" and often must operate in the campus spotlight.
If elected student body vice president, Sankar said she plans to increase Assembly membership by encouraging representatives from different constituencies including Greek houses, clubs and organizations to attend Assembly meetings and discuss administrative issues.
"This will increase transparency and communication on what's happening on the administrative side," Sankar said.
She said she also plans to host a "general forum" to facilitate discussion of students' concerns rather than allowing administrators to rely on "general murmurs on how the students think from [The Dartmouth]."
Holekamp said that if elected, he wants to act as an "intermediary" between the students and the College and serve as a voice for the student body.
"There's not a lot of people who care about the Assembly I want to do what I can to keep up membership and keep students involved," he said. "I would try to make it a very painless process for any students to bring their ideas [to the Assembly]."
While Sankar said the position of vice president has two main responsibilities managing the General Assembly meetings and chairing the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee. Holekamp said the student body vice president is responsible for most of the less-visible tasks, many of which students do not directly witness.
"Right now I personally haven't heard much about the vice president of the school I've never been told what they do," he said. "Everyone looks at the president more than they do the vice president."
Past student body vice presidents interviewed by The Dartmouth said their role in the Assembly gave them the opportunity to address issues that were important to them.
"It's something I really value in the context of my Dartmouth experience," Aiono said.
