Student Council approved Chantelle Schofield and Executive Vice President of Administration Priya Sarin this week as the chairs for the new Constitutional Reform Committee, which was created last week after Student Council members debated the need of a new constitution. Chantelle Schofield was also approved as the Parliamentarian of Student Council for '01-'02, and Class of 2004 Representative Jackie Chan became a representative on the Committee on Leadership Appointments (COLA).
Student Council created the Constitutional Reform Committee last week after a series of debates on the effectiveness of such committees. The committee's first meeting was last Saturday. Schofield and Sarin acted as chairs of the meeting, although they were not approved until the following Tuesday's meeting.
"We see that the constitution has been working great for the last 10 to 15 years, but it can use a change," said Sarin. "What we want to see is [every student council member's] opinions come together to form [the new constitution]."
"We'd be objective as chairs," said Schofield. Both Schofield and Sarin stressed that the position of chair of the Constitutional Reform Committee must listen to other Student Council member's opinions rather than interjecting their own ideas.
Schofield, who is not an elected member of Student Council, was also approved for her third straight year as Student Council Parliamentarian. Her job responsibilities include knowing the rules of conduct for Student Council and providing procedural clarification to council members when they ask.
"I'm not supposed to talk in these meetings," said Schofield. "I'm not supposed to have any opinions. I'm just supposed to sit by Anuj [Mittal, Executive President of Student Council]."
Schofield's main goal for this year's council is to "stream-line" the council sessions in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order.
"I have a lot that I want to do this year," said Schofield. "The meetings have got progressively shorter since I've gotten here, [and] I think they should get shorter still."
Council also approved 2004 Representative Jackie Chan as a '01-'02 COLA representative. "When I first heard about COLA, I was immediately interested," said Chan. "I know how much has to go into leadership."
As a COLA rep, Chan will be one of four people responsible for the selection of many leadership positions around Homewood, including selecting chairs for CultureFest and the Milton S. Einsenhower Symposium. Sarin chairs COLA and was responsible for introducing Chan as a candidate to the Council.
Also presented at Tuesday's meting was the results of a survey on campus issues put out by Homewood Student Affairs, presented by Class of 2002 Representative and SAC Chair Vivek Iyer.
The survey showed that students felt they weren't satisfied with the amount of time their professors spent on students. Another issue of concern to students identified by the survey was student's dissatisfaction over recent dining hall changes, namely the closure of Wolman Station on Saturdays.
"A lot of students don't like walking over to Terrace," said Iyer.
