The proposed plan would increase the number of at-large members to eight and they would sit ex officio on the standing committees. Standing committee chairs would no longer sit on the agenda setting body.

According to the proposal, the ex officio member would have full voting rights and would hold a term of three years. The chairperson of the steering committee would also be elected annually by Faculty Council.

Currently, the faculty positions on the executive committee are comprised of seven standing committee chairs, who are elected by those committees. There also are five at-large members who are elected by the faculty.

Jim Potchen, chairman of the executive committee, said he agrees with increasing the number of faculty elected positions to the group but said the standing committee chairs should still be present.

“I would rather have a larger number where you get adequate voice because what is happening now is you are decreasing the number of people who participate in the deliberation of establishing the agenda,” Potchen said.

John Sticklen, an at-large faculty member of the executive committee, said the standing committee chairs may be too vested and emotionally attached to a particular issue in their committee to explain it objectively.

“The whole job of the ex officio members is to integrate and provide linkages between the committees,” Sticklen said. “They will be formal objective observers of what is going on.” Eric Hinojosa, the ASMSU Academic Assembly chairperson, said the chairs of the standing committees know best of what is going on in their committees.

“Having a standing committee chair in the room ensures you are going to have your questions answered — we already have very efficient process,” he said. “It’s like telephone — you are always going to lose some of the detail and some of the important information.”

However, Sticklen said the faculty would have a greater voice because in the proposed committee there will be more positions that are directly elected by the faculty.

“The standing committee chairs do a good job and a great deal of work, but their main focus is still on their committees,” Sticklen said.

Potchen said the ex officio member does not really represent the standing committees.

“I am looking for a representative body to broaden the voice not to narrow the voice,” he said.