The Undergraduate Assembly is one step closer to resolving an issue about student representation on a University governing body.
The student-government organization passed two amendments Sunday night altering a proposal regarding the allocation of University Council seats to various student groups on campus.
The University Council is an organization of administrators, faculty, staff and students that meets monthly to discuss campus issues.
Last spring, several minority groups protested the NEC's selection of UC representatives and its process for selecting the most "mis- or under-represented" student groups to the UC. The groups criticized the NEC's lack of transparency in selecting the groups and the ambiguous nature of the term "mis- or under-represented."
If the proposal -- which was temporarily tabled -- passes, the Nominations and Elections Committee -- a student group that runs student elections and nominates representatives for various University committees -- will select six delegates to the University Council, as opposed to the former five. The Undergraduate Assembly will have nine representatives on the body -- as opposed to the original 10 -- and the United Minorities Council will continue to have one.
Those aspects are covered by the first amendment. The second amendment passed specified that the changes would not go into effect until the 2006-07 school year.
One amendment still up in the air is a five-point initiative about the NEC's process for selecting the mis-or under-represented groups for the slots.
Student leaders plan to discuss the NEC's protocol at an ad hoc Steering Committee meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Bishop White Room in Houston Hall. Depending on the outcome of tonight's meeting, the third amendment and the entire proposal may be brought up for discussion again at this week's UA meeting, which will take place on Sunday.
-- Rachel Feintzeig
