USAC tables resolution for senate
Absence of council members leads to deferment of SDS
By Rashmi Nijagal
The undergraduate student government tabled a resolution Tuesday
night to support the Student Departmental Senate after various
council members were unable to attend a meeting to review the
resolution and make the necessary modifications.
Although some council members could not be present at last
week’s meeting, members are scheduled to discuss the resolution
this week and make any changes necessary for its passage at next
week’s student council meeting.
The Student Departmental Senate (SDS) is designed to increase
student involvement in policy-making decisions within their
respective departments, however the senate is not an entirely new
concept.
Already, various departments have undergraduate student groups
involved in making curricular reforms and initiating new
programs.
Now, these pre-established groups such as the Art History
Undergraduate Student Association (AHUSA), are serving as models
for the new Student Departmental Senate.
"What we try to do is promote change within the department,"
said Lyneé Kniss, art history student and chair of the Art
History Undergraduate Student Association.
"For instance, we are trying to get departmental honors
initiated within our department now. We also have programs like
‘Meet the Faculty’ where professors from our department come and
talk to the students," Kniss said.
"AHUSA is a model for SDS, which will be doing many of the same
things throughout all the departments," she added.
Initially, directors of the senate are hoping to implement the
program throughout all the departments in the College of Letters
& Science and then eventually throughout the entire university.
For the departments which have already installed a similar program,
the benefits are clear.
"Students don’t realize how much of an impact they can have at
the departmental level," said Jeff Storey, fourth year
psychological anthropology student and chair of the Undergraduate
Anthropology Association.
"We need to create these undergraduate associations within each
department to allow students and faculty to communicate with each
other. It would provide political representation for students at
the departmental level and also make faculty change the way they
think about undergraduates. Students and professors work together
for change and become colleagues."
The implementation of the senate is a long-term goal and will
not be initiated right away.
"Right now we are just looking for students who are interested
and motivated," said Audrey Tse, fourth year psychology student and
co-director of SDS.
As a program still in its rudimentary stages of development,
there isn’t a set number of senators, and each department will
decide how many senators they want to acquire, Tse said.
For students interested in the senate, the first general meeting
will be held next Wednesday where the details of the program will
be discussed.