ASMSU's Academic Assembly has grown sizably in the last two weeks - 10 out of 11 student group spots have been filled and the total number of college representatives has doubled.
Although the group had to add more tables to fit all the new members during its Tuesday meeting, about half of its college representative seats remain empty.
Despite the open seats, Academic Assembly Chairperson Robert Murphy said he is happy with the group's progress.
"I'm really pleased with what we've done so far," Murphy said. "We've got many more voices on assembly.
"I'd expect we'd be at full strength very quickly."
The assembly appointed seven new college representatives on Tuesday.
Groups that are part of the Council of Progressive Students, Council of Racial and Ethnic Students and major governing groups have seats available on the assembly.
The Black Student Alliance is the only group that has not filled its seat, said Karthik Prasad, internal vice chairperson for the assembly.
The groups elect which of their members sit on Academic Assembly, so it usually takes a few weeks after the beginning of school for the seats to fill up, Murphy said.
Seven people applied for college representative spots in the past couple weeks, most likely due to recruiting efforts at Party at the Aud, media coverage and a working Web site, Murphy said. Members also distributed fliers at residence halls advertising the opportunities.
It's more difficult to get students from some colleges to participate because their programs are typically time-consuming, Murphy said, adding that he would still like to see these seats filled.
"There (are) a lot of demands in those colleges," he said. "We completely understand that (nursing and veterinary medicine) students haven't participated in ASMSU as much as other colleges have."
Academic Assembly members also are looking to fill seats on the Academic Governance system. Students who are not a part of ASMSU are eligible for these seats.
Assembly members have taken seats on all available Academic Governance committees, said Kyle Martin, external vice chairperson for Academic Assembly.
Martin said he is still looking to fill more than a dozen seats on the general assembly of Academic Governance, and would like to have them full by Friday.
Decisions such as allowing for academic minors are decided in Academic Governance, so it is important to have students' representation, Martin said.
Assembly members plan to continue recruiting until every Academic Assembly seat is full, said Jason Ardanowski, director of University and Governmental Budgetary Affairs for the assembly.
"We'd like to be able to have an influx of applications overnight, but that doesn't happen," Ardanowski said. "These things do take time and a lot of commitment."
