Members of ASMSU's Academic Assembly failed to pass a bill Tuesday to recommend a delay of the new residential college set to reside in Snyder and Phillips halls.

After an hour and a half of debate and several revisions to the bill, some members questioned the assembly's effectiveness.

"This was our problem last year," said Brian Forest, representative for the College of Arts & Letters. "We kept delaying and delaying - that's why we never got anything done."

The bill would have been sent to the Provost and President-designate Lou Anna Simon and the New Residential College Program Planning Group to question the target date and funding for the college. MSU's undergraduate student government also was concerned why the planning group was formed in the summer when students were mostly unavailable.

Forest said the bill would have listed questions and concerns ASMSU has about the new residential college to have them answered before Academic Assembly endorsed the plan.

Marcellette Williams, chairwoman of the New Residential College Program Planning Group, gave a presentation to the assembly about two weeks ago with information about the college.

The college, tentatively named the Nelson Mandela College, would begin in 2005 and incorporate a liberal arts and international curriculum.

"I was really excited about the college at first, but is now the right time?" he said. "Dr. Williams seemed pretty evasive, and I'd like to have these questions answered, then we can make decisions on what we think."

Williams challenged ASMSU's concern that students weren't present for summer planning groups.

"There were always students with the planning group in the summer," Williams said. "We also used an ANGEL site that allowed everyone the project all the time - a great deal went on at the Web site."

Other assembly members said the bill was unclearly worded and not fit to send to university officials.

"If (the bill) passed, we'd be formally opposed to the residential college," said Kyle Martin, a representative for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. "We don't know about it, but we're opposed to it?"

He added that the assembly should contact Simon with their questions before they present a bill that basically calls for an opposition to the college.

But Jordan Catrine, a representative for the College of Business, said ASMSU needs to act quickly if it expects to have a voice in the college.

"We need to get the ball rolling," he said. "They're moving along, so we need to, too."