Engineering clubs gain SAC seats

Whether they wanted it or not, all School of Engineering and Applied Science clubs are now officially recognized by the Student Activities Council. The mass registration came as a result of SAC's late September decision to grant each club a seat on the council. Previously, the Engineering Student Activities Council served as the "umbrella body" representing all the Engineering clubs at SAC meetings and the ESAC treasurer presented a combined budget. As a result of the change, however, all Engineering clubs were required to register for SAC recognition and must now send their own representatives to SAC meetings, ESAC President Margaret Jones said. Beginning next year, these clubs will be able to request their own budgets, the Wharton and Engineering junior added. At the time of the SAC decision, several Engineering clubs said they did not plan to register with SAC out of fears of not qualifying for the SAC funding. Wharton and Engineering junior Jeremiah Kalan said his club, the Society of Systems Engineers, did not plan to register because they receive funds from the Systems Engineering Department. "I don't know how much it would benefit us to have a SAC representative go to all of the meetings," Kalan said. But Engineering Assistant Director of Student Activities Katherine Becht stressed that she had always expected all Engineering clubs to register. Indeed, they must register to continue to receive money from the school. The clubs' presence on SAC serves a purpose beyond the individual budget requests, increasing the Engineering School presence on the body, Becht said. "The buzz word around here is synergy," she added. "We want to make Engineering's voice as strong as possible." Assistant Director of Student Life Beth Hagovsky agreed that the clubs would benefit from SAC membership. "There will be an Engineering block that is more powerful providing for more voting power within SAC," she said. Becht consulted with school's Undergraduate Curriculum chairs, who agreed that student groups currently funded by the departments will only remain eligible for that funding if they register with SAC and send representatives to their meetings. She then informed the Engineering clubs of the mandate over e-mail. "When students think about the big picture, they will end up doing what is most constructive," she said. And all Engineering clubs, including the Society of Systems Engineers, did in fact register for SAC. "The Engineering School is doing what it has to do," Kalan said.