Senate advisory councils planned

Someday, Student Senate hopes, advisory councils will help run Oberlin. Student Senate just has to figure out how to run advisory councils first.

The newly-formulated advisory councils would give members of the student body a chance to voice their concerns and work with senators to make decisions. Some senators felt the advisory councils should each cover a broad range of campus concerns, while others wanted more task-specific committees.

"The whole point of the advisory councils in the attraction of students is to change Oberlin, and to do this, they need to be small to direct the goals of a definite agenda," senator sophomore Amy Marquardt said. Marquardt lobbied for an Off-Campus Students' Concerns council independent of the Housing and Dining council under which it was eventually placed.

Senator senior Joshua Kaye and senator junior Yvonne Doble asserted that more broadly-focused councils are advantageous in their safeguarding against a total internal collapse because an entire list of functions would be covered.

The Senate maintained its original proposal of creating councils which will cover a broad array of "agendas coming directly from the student body, who have as yet not found a way to have an impact on those issues," Senate Internal Secretary Sarah Stein Greenberg, sophomore, said.

Senate hoped the advisory councils will allow for more focused student input into Oberlin's government. The finalized advisory councils include Retention and Support, which concerns such topics as religious life, fair financial aid and retention support, student/faculty relations, low-income students and students of color, as well as Housing and Dining, in which off-campus students can discuss residential concerns.

The Academic Issues advisory council will focus on the topics of advising and diversity in curriculum, support of studies, community service and relations, and study abroad and internship credit. A Health Plan advisory council was created to work in conjunction with the present Health Plan Board while serving as an additional outlet to student concerns.

Senate also elected to create an Initiatives council, in which senators would handle emergency concerns and those topics which fall outside the jurisdiction of the advisory councils.

"Initiatives guarantees that students will always have someone to go to," Education Coordinator senator senior Dan Persky said.

A tentative list of suggestions regarding the advisory councils' topics of concern has been made and is subject to change following student input.

Senators also revised two by-laws pertaining directly to membership within their student committees.

Senate decided committee members would be exempt from serving on advisory councils if their committee did not pertain to the function of any advisory council. Senate Membership Coordinator senator sophomore Aaron Sloudonik would handle exemption. Previously the constitution had required all Senate committee members to sit on an advisory council.

The internal organization of the student committees was also revised within the by-law infrastructure. Now, senators do not necessarily have to chair their committee as they did in the past, but rather can act as a co-chair with a non-senator.

Other changes to by-laws included the amendment that Student Finance Committee (SFC) appeals would be done on a section by section basis and that senators may be removed from his or her Senate seat on a two-thirds majority vote by secret ballot within the Senate.