Board of Trustees to review student government plan
By LAURA ROMPF
Assistant News Editor
After weeks of research and interviews, student government will call for increased student involvement in University decision-making in its spring Board of Trustees report, presented this week by John Osborne and Mark Donahey.
"This semester's report discusses the role of the students in University decision-making," said Osborn. "We were motivated by what we perceived to be discontent among the student body about the way several recent decisions were made by the University — non-discrimination, sweatshops, sophomore siblings, etc."
The report calls for enhanced student involvement in governance at both the collegiate and university levels, Osborn said.
"I think [student involvement is] a very feasible idea. We're not proposing major, radical changes, but a few easy and logical improvements to the existing system," Osborn said.
He added, however, that in order for the plan to succeeded, it must have cooperation from all levels.
"It is, of course, a matter of attitudes as much as it is one of structures, so it will need the commitment of the students, faculty and administration equally to be successful, but we see it as being beneficial to all parties involved," Osborn said.
Although some committees currently have student members, no rules exist regarding how these students are elected or if students must be included on these committees.
"[The report] increases student membership on college councils and provides for their direct election. It also increases student membership on the Academic Council and university committees and provides for a centrally coordinated application and appointment process," Osborn said.
All the information for the proposal was gathered through interviews with the deans of all the colleges and many senior administrators. Osborn said he believes this research proves the issue is feasible and thus hopes the Trustees will respond favorably to the report.
"I'm hoping that they'll be receptive to the whole thing," he said. "I don't want to go into the meeting assuming that some points are hopeless. My attitude is that our report is very reasonable and the changes we propose have the best interests of the University at heart."
Furthermore, Osborn said he hopes he and Donahey will successfully present their proposal and argue their position persuasively, because the Trustees may find some of the issues disputable.
"We have the support of many senior faculty and administrators on many of our points," Osborn said. "But the report will be controversial, simply because it challenges the status quo. The issue of student representation on the Board of Trustees will also be contentious."
If the board approves the report, Osborn and Donahey will concentrate on implementation during the summer and throughout next year.
"The next step if the plan is approved is making the institutional changes that will be necessary," Osborn said. "It won't be possible to get everything accomplished before the end of the year, but we hope to get work done over the summer and be ready to hit the ground running next fall. I'm projecting that the earliest it would all be in place would be next spring. We're targeting the next student election cycle as the goal."
Overall, Osborn stressed that students themselves must initiate efforts to increase their involvement in decision-making. Also, student support for that increase is essential.
"An important point is that we, as students, must demonstrate that we are interested in greater involvement and will take our new responsibilities and influence seriously," he said. "I have faith that we will be able to rise to the occasion, but there is significant concern in the administration that students are uninterested in being and unable to be worthwhile participants in the governance process."
All News Stories for Monday, May 1, 2000
