UA endorses changes in NEC selection policy

The Undergraduate Assembly's Executive Board has released recommendations that are intended to increase the transparency of the Nominations and Elections Committee's University council appointment process. This past year the NEC -- the branch of student government responsible for the administration of elections and the nomination of representatives to University committees -- drew criticism from several student groups for not being public enough in its student appointments to the University Council, an advisory group composed of administrators, students, faculty and staff. In an e-mail to the UA Steering Committee, the Executive Board outlined three main points regarding the NEC's appointment policy. While the e-mail supported the application and formal-interview process required by the NEC for student groups applying for UC seats, it stressed the need to have the UA vice chair of external affairs present during the NEC's entire decision-making process. The board also called for the UA to have veto power over the NEC's decisions, against the possibility that the process should be "undermined" in any way. "The NEC has a lot of power in placing students in key positions," UA Chairwoman and rising College senior Rachel Fersh said. "We realized that a lot of the NEC's activities do take place behind closed doors, and we wanted to make sure that these decisions best represented student interests," she added. While none of the board's suggestions is an official proposal, the e-mail is "a reflection of the majority opinion of the UA Executive Board. It's really a starting-off point for discussion -- the e-mail is not a solid recommendation," Fersh said. NEC Chairman and College senior David Diesenhouse said that the majority of the UA's suggestions are "not change[s] in policy" due to the fact that the UA vice chair of external affairs is already permitted to attend the NEC's closed-door meetings. Rather, the suggestions are a step to "lend legitimacy to our decisions and the process," Diesenhouse "Having this dialogue and making everyone aware of where the NEC is coming from is doing a great deal of good," he added. The UA reserves five of its 16 seats on the UC for NEC appointees, which are supposed to come from "undergraduate organizations who can benefit from a representative voice." In early April, the NEC faced criticism for its choices for next year's UC appointments. Out of the 11 groups vying for the five seats, the NEC chose Hillel, the Panhellenic Council, the Latino Coalition, the Queer Student Alliance and Civic House. Despite vocal opposition from the groups that were not chosen, UA members approved all of the NEC's recommendations because they "did not feel it was [their] responsibility to step on the NEC's toes," Fersh said. When four groups -- Allies, Umoja, the Asian Pacific Student Coalition and the United Minorities Council -- boycotted the UA meeting on April 12, the UA decided to create an ad hoc committee to address the challenges facing the NEC. The committee met twice near the end of the semester, the first time to discuss the process that the NEC uses to make appointments to the UC and the second time to discuss logistics, such as the breakdown of seats allotted to the NEC.