The Associated Students of Madison evaluated the proposed plan to select nominees for the committee to find the next chancellor for the University of Wisconsin Sept. 31.
While the vote on ASM’s methods to select two students for the committee will be conducted during their next meeting, Shared Governance Chair Nicholas Brigham-Schmuhl laid out the current plan during last Wednesday’s Student Council meeting.
As it stands, the Shared Governance committee will interview candidates after an initial application process. Finalists will then be forwarded to Student Council for the final vote.
Brigham-Schmuhl said the Shared Governance Committee wanted to give Student Council one last level of oversight while also making sure candidates would be able to handle the demands of being on such a committee.
“This puts those students in the position to be asked questions and have to assert themselves in front of others, which is exactly what they will have to do while on the search and screen committee,” Brigham-Schmuhl said.
The nomination process started when UW System
President Kevin Reilly notified ASM of
the call for search and screen committee members, seeking the
council’s help in selecting two student candidates. One of the members
will be an undergraduate, the other a graduate student.
A resolution introduced to endorse a rally supporting campus workers also proved a topic of dissent at the council’s Wednesday meeting. The rally – scheduled to take place on Bascom Hill Sept. 6 – will call for the university to increase employee protections while educating students on the impacts of state budget cuts.
Citing ASM’s obligation to act as a liaison and protect campus workers, Rep. Michael Billeaux said the endorsement would help bring attention to the rally’s message as well as show support for teaching assistants and other graduate workers on campus.
Other members disagreed. Rep. Tom Templeton expressed concern over the lack of literature concerning the event and asked for more information before approving an endorsement. Other concerns included whether or not the event would be relevant to a large portion of the student body.
Rep. Karen Scott said the endorsement would help show support for a group of staff and teaching assistants who often feel neglected by ASM. She also said the event was pertinent to not just students but Wisconsin in general.
“This affects every person in the state of Wisconsin,” Scott said. “It affects every single public employee, not just those working for the university. Money will continue being sucked out of the economy through these cuts.”
The council voted to approve an ASM endorsement of the event.
Other approved measures included renaming the Bus Pass Advisory Board the Student Transportation Board. This board will continue to make decisions relating to all aspects of student transportation and not solely the bus system. The measure passed with unanimous consent.
The governing body also granted final approval to the selection of Sami Ghani as Press Office Assistant Director and Samir Jaber as SSFC Legal Counsel.
