Student body president Liz Brown and vice president Maris Braun called their first Student Senate meeting to order Wednesday and encouraged the new senators and committee chairs to actively engage in their administration.
"I encourage you to always voice your point of view, no matter what. The point of Senate is to create conversation and debate," Braun said. "Senate has the capability to get a lot done, and Liz and I would really like to see that happen this year."
Before the meeting began, the new Senate Oversight committee chair, Ian Secviar, led the senators through the process of introducing, discussing and passing a mock resolution.
The new senators then introduced themselves to each other, and Brown and Braun were sworn into office.
As their first acts in office, the senators passed several items of new business, including the Student Senate bylaws for the 2007-08 term, a list of rules regarding policies and procedures in the Senate.
The senators also unanimously approved Brown's recommendations for committee chairs.
Carol Hendrickson, a junior in Breen-Phillips, will serve as Academic Affairs committee chair.
Hendrickson told senators to expect a resolution from her committee on new locations for the College Readership Program, and said she wants to explore ideas about releasing the results of Teacher Course Evaluations (TCEs) to students so they can see how professors have been rated.
Colin Feehan, a junior currently studying abroad in London, will serve as the Community Relations chair when he returns in the fall. Braun will chair this committee in the interim.
Karen Koski, a sophomore in Walsh, will serve as the Social Concerns committee chair. Koski took over the position from Sheena Plamoottil, who is now the chief executive assistant.
Koski said she wants her committee to take a "multi-faceted approach" to make students aware of social concerns issues and give them the chance to give back to the community.
Patrick Tighe, a freshman in Keough, and Brenna Doyle, a junior in Welsh Hall, will serve as the co-chairs for the Gender Issues committee. Doyle is currently studying abroad in London.
Mariana Montes, a junior in Lyons, will chair the Residence Life committee. Montes has served on the
Residence Life and the Multicultural Affairs committees for the past two years.
Callie Pogge, a junior from Badin, will serve as University Affairs committee chair. Pogge said her committee will "discuss issues that apply directly to the mission of the University."
Secviar, a freshman in Knott, will chair the Oversight committee. Former Oversight chair Chris Hollon told the new senators that while this committee might sound "really dry," it was probably "the committee with the most excitement last year."
Lai-Nin Wan, a junior in McGlinn, will serve as the Multicultural Affairs committee chair. Her committee will work on cultural competency issues and the recruitment and retention of minority faculty members over the coming year.
Senators submitted their committee preference to Plamoottil, and they will be placed on committees at the next Senate meeting.
In other Senate news:
u The Senate unanimously passed three resolutions honoring Lizzi Shappell, Bill Andrichik and Brown by giving them emeritus status for their positions last year as student body president, vice president and chief executive assistant, respectively.
