A reorganization of the undergraduate student government could make its two assemblies work closer and more efficiently, ASMSU representatives said this week.
The organization’s Steering Committee - the agenda-setting committee for ASMSU - is being revamped.
“It provides a greater voice for organization wide decision making,” said Matt Clayson, Academic Assembly chairperson. “What I like about it is that it unifies the organization - it forces both assemblies to communicate.
“It makes representatives on both assemblies know each other’s issues.”
The committee’s new system will link college representatives, representatives from the Council of Racial and Ethnic Students and the Council of Progressive Students from each assembly, allowing the government to be more efficient. If the proposal passes in ASMSU’s March 12-14 election, the undergraduate student government will put its reorganization plan into action.
Under the old system, each assembly had its own goal-setting executive committees which were supposed to come together as the Steering Committee. The combined executive committees met twice last year, despite being scheduled to meet once per week.
“In the past, ASMSU has been plagued with personal power struggles,” Clayson said.
“A desire to eliminate those power struggles led to the creation of an expanded, more inclusive Steering Committee.”
Steve Lovelace, Academic Assembly internal vice chairperson, said the old system was similar to running into a brick wall - business wasn’t getting done.
After missed meetings, the Steering Committee put an item on the agenda last March which said “Jay ate a spoon full of pepper,” Lovelace said.
“This is called drifting in the ocean without a helm,” Lovelace said. “That’s what we want to avoid.”
Lovelace said the new system will keep the organization goal-oriented, and at the same time strengthen the bridge between the two assemblies while keeping ASMSU’s decentralized structure.
“We don’t have a president who gets elected by his friends - Mr. Popular,” Lovelace said. “This gives us a good combination of directly elected representatives and leaders appointed by assemblies.
“These are people who are doing it because they love it, not because they want to be popular.”
Matt Weingarden, Student Assembly vice chairperson for internal affairs, said the new system will create a collective group of individuals that will lead the organization into the future.
“What this does is takes the beauty that is MSU student government, which is based on land-grant values, and adapts the leadership so as to make ASMSU concepts be amongst the major student governments of the Big Ten,” Weingarden said.
