After weeks of heated debate and revisions, Student Govern-ment passed a bill that will require appointed committee and agency heads to submit timely reports on their activities.
In addition to the new accountability measure, SG also passed a resolution supporting the creation of an interdisciplinary college that would allow students to design their own major.
The accountability bill, AB 23, will require agency and committee heads to file reports, however brief, every month. If a report is not filed at least every four weeks, the committee and agency heads will be given a warning probation. After eight weeks, the assembly can vote to remove the director from his or her position.
The punitive consequences were not originally intended by the author of the bill, representative Laura Gladney-Lemon.
"At first I was hesitant, but then I thought if after eight weeks you have no activity, it would be appropriate to find a replacement," Gladney-Lemon said. "Basically, this is to hold committee heads accountable. But even more than accountability, this is about [compiling] information."
Students Acting Against Sexual Assault agency co-director, Chris Vaughn, said the written reports would ease the transition period between assemblies by building a foundation to ease the yearly change in leadership.
"The problem with agencies is from year to year there isn't a good transition - sure it's about accountability, but it's also about productivity," Vaughn said.
Communications agency director, Abby Livingston, urged the assembly "from a PR standpoint" to pass the bill, but not all of the representatives agreed on requiring more formal structurization of SG affairs.
SG also passed a resolution supporting the creation of an interdisciplinary college at the University. An interdisciplinary school with a program similar to the Plan II Honors program would allow students to create their own majors and take classes at other schools and colleges at the University, SG President Brian Haley said of the bill passed at his last meeting in office.
"We're just trying to get the idea on the table for faculty to throw around," Haley said. "It would be a program similar to Plan II but for the average student."
The creation of such an entity would allow students to graduate with degrees more relevant to their individual career paths, said author of the resolution, Representative Paul Navratil. He and Haley have been speaking with faculty such as James Vick, the vice president for student affairs, and Paul Woodruff, the director of Plan II.
There is a need for students to receive advising and options regarding their majors, Woodruff said, because he said he sees many students who "are not satisfied with their majors." Often, they are unhappy, because they could not get into their first-choice colleges, he said. This is often caused by rigid degree plans, where required courses leave too few elective hours.
"I feel there is an advising gap - people choose their majors without a whole lot of information," Woodruff said. "This has got to be a priority so they will graduate quicker - schools with higher graduation rates have more elective hours."
Navratil stressed that he is not talking about creating "Plan II light," but a collaboration of various disciplines.
Be the first to comment on this article!