Student Government Association is trying to add more student voices to university policy decisions.
SGA President Beth Cahill said her slate is working to fill the many vacant student positions in the University Senate system.
The University Senate is made up of faculty, staff, students and community members. The SGA president is responsible for appointing people to most of the student positions.
Cahill said SGA is considering a change to its bylaws that would require members of SGA to serve on councils and committees of University Senate.
University Senate has 10 senator positions reserved for students. Three of those are for members of SGA. Six undergraduate senators are supposed to be elected by the undergraduate student body and one graduate senator is supposed to be elected by the graduate student body.
The SGA president also fills these seats if they are left vacant.
University Senate Undersecretary Melanie Turner said it has been awhile since all of the positions have been filled.
There are also three subordinate councils on University Senate - Faculty Council, Campus Council and University Council - that each have their own committees. There are more than 80 student positions, which can be filled with people who are not university senators, on these councils and committees.
Cahill said no other slate has filled all of the seats.
The committees with vacant student seats are responsible for evaluating policy of some of the things students complain about most. The Parking Subcommittee is responsible for parking on campus and the Student Financial Assistance Committee is responsible for financial aid policies.
Professor Brien Smith, chair of University Senate, said it is important to have the student seats filled.
"The Senate really wants the student input and really craves their ideas and thoughts," Smith said.
Students miss out on policy decisions by not having representation on all the committees for which they are eligible, he said, and then don't even hear about initiatives they might care about until they are passed by the senators.
The Teaching Evaluation Committee was criticized last Spring for rejecting -- without student input -- an SGA initiative that would have made teaching evaluations mandatory for all classes. There are two positions, one undergraduate and one graduate, on that committee reserved for students. The graduate student position was filled with a graduate student who is also a faculty member, but the undergraduate seat was left unfilled.
The University Senate asked the Teaching Evaluation Committee to reconsider the measure.
Cahill said there will be a student on that committee this year, but, because they have never been able to fill all the seats, she is prioritizing some of the seats.
The Teaching Evaluation Committee is on a list of six priorities for student positions that the Senate undersecretary provided to Cahill.
Cahill said she has already found students willing to serve on this committee and three others on the list -- the Academic Freedom and Ethics, Undergraduate Education, and Information Technology committees. She said she has people in mind for the two others on the list -- Admissions and Credits Committee and the Instructional Media Support Committee.
Cahill also said she is making the Parking Subcommittee a priority because transportation is a major part of her agenda.
While the SGA president is responsible for appointments to most of the seats, a handful are appointed by deans, the Residence Hall Association or the committees themselves.
Cahill said students interested in positions in the University Senate system should contact SGA at sga@bsu.edu.
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