Trimming unneccesary committees would solve problem of cluttered VSA

Katie Aspell Guest Writer

Like most other Vassar students, I was recently bombarded with e-mails advertising the available Vassar Student Association (VSA) positions in the upcoming elections. The sheer number of offices, including such gems as Bookstore Advisory Committee, Committee on Curricular Policies, and the ambiguous Master Planning Committee, overwhelmed one uninitiated to the workings of the VSA. What are these positions? Are they completely necessary to Vassar students? And who on earth receives fulfillment from having a Russian major representative to Vassar curricular policies (other than Russian majors)?

In order to understand the purpose of these committees, one must first have an idea of what the VSA is. I had a vague notion of some student council-type group, an association that expounds on campus problems at great length but in actuality accomplishes very little. A quick survey to find out more about the VSA with my freshmen peers produced such priceless responses as, “Don’t know what it is,” “What do they do?” “They send so much mail but I never open it,” and “I think they have a huge budget…they must do something.”

After realizing that the only way to learn more about the VSA would be to go directly to the source, I set out to interview Abel McDonnell ’07, the president and public face of the VSA, in order to find out once and for all just what the VSA is and what its myriad committees and sub-groups actually accomplish. Among other things, I learned in this interview that the VSA is not just a well-touted front that appeases those students who wish to feel that they are somehow represented by their peers.

The VSA has an annual “internal operating fund” of around $690,000, which is made up of the student activities fee that each Vassar student must pay out of pocket. The VSA is the sponsor of about 115 student organizations on campus, and anyone wishing to create a club must first have their idea sanctioned by the VSA. Once a club is up and running, the VSA is in charge of allocating that club’s annual budget. Organizations such as Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE), WVKR Radio and The Miscellany News are among those with budgets in the thousands. So in essence, Vassar students pay for their own student-run clubs. My advice: Join lots to get your money’s worth.

The VSA is overseen by five executives, of which McDonnell is one, who hold final sway in all VSA Council decisions. The Council is comprised of dorm representatives, joint committees, and other miscellaneous groups. I believe that the VSA could be pared down; surely it is not necessary for every language major to be represented in the alliance. Unfortunately, it is too late to remove extraneous offices, but McDonnell said that “later in the year the VSA executives will be reviewing the various committees and making adjustments when necessary.” One has to ask, couldn’t the importance of these positions have been determined before students were elected to office? Apparently not. I feel that these positions, committees, and sub-committees are not all necessary; just as much could be accomplished by fewer members. One can only hope that the executives will be prudent and objective in their evaluation of VSA positions.

In order to address the problem of ignorance about the VSA—especially within the freshman class—the VSA plans to unveil a new brochure in October that details some of the finer aspects of the inner workings of the VSA, with tentative plans for discussion circles in each dorm. Many students have no idea that the VSA carries substantial responsibility within the “Vassar bubble,” and, like this writer, assume that a few fluffy positions equal an entirely superfluous association.