Students who want to be a part of any academic governance committee might have to go through ASMSU, if a proposal referred to the University Committee on Academic Governance is passed.
Vinay Prasad, chairman of the University Committee on Student Affairs, introduced the change to the Executive Committee of Academic Council during its Tuesday meeting.
"The process of having a representative chosen is crucial," Prasad said. "This would not only legitimize the student chosen, but also strengthen ASMSU."
If approved, the proposal would ensure that students on any academic governance committees - including ad hoc committees - would be selected by ASMSU after an application and interview process. The change would only affect ad hoc committees.
Currently standing committees - preformed groups in which members are elected by faculty members or students - already have representation from ASMSU.
The other type of committees on academic governance are called ad hoc committees, and are temporary committees usually formed by administrators to discuss a specific issue that arises throughout the year.
But recently, ad hoc committees, such as the group working on the curriculum for the new residential college program, have been formed within the governance system.
Stephen Esquith, chairman of the residential college curriculum team, said ASMSU members should be involved in the ad hoc selection process, but there also should be room for others.
"For our committee, there was a need for students from all the residential programs and that might not have happened if only ASMSU was involved in the appointment process," said Esquith, chairman of the Philosophy Department. "The first step should be that ASMSU is involved in the appointment or selection process, but there should be some provision made for additional student membership if expertise is necessary."
ASMSU should decide which students should be selected to various committees, even if those students are not a part of ASMSU, said Dan Weber, ASMSU Academic Assembly chairperson.
"We represent students and therefore we should be able to decide which students would most adequately represent the undergraduate student body on various issues that come up," Weber said.
Sticklen said he agrees with the spirit of the proposal and that representation should be decided by ASMSU.
"ASMSU by definition represents all students just as Faculty Council represents all faculty," he said.
