VSA creates internal committees

Brian Farkas Assistant News Editor

On Sunday, Nov. 12 the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council unanimously passed an amendment to its bylaws that created a committee (composed of various Council members) for each of the five members of the VSA Executive Board. The new committees are Academic, Activities, Administration and Communications, Finance, and Student Life. Each committee has a series of subcommittees that will report to it.

When the VSA Executive Board first proposed the amendment at the Nov. 5 Council meeting, Council members disputed the number of committees on which they would be required to serve.

The original proposal stated each Council member must serve on at least two committees, but some house presidents felt this commitment was too much to add to their schedules in the middle of the first semester. Council members cited concerns about the additional strain on their time and suggested that the committees be formed next semester or for the next academic year.

As a compromise, each Council member will now be required to serve on only one executive-headed committee. The proposed addition to the bylaws was passed unanimously by the VSA Council.

The Academic Committee, which will be chaired by the VSA Academic Executive, will “consider issues pertaining to academics and the academic life of students,” according to the proposal. It will hear regular reports from the Library Committee, the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid, and the Committee on Curricular Policies.

The Activities Committee will be chaired by the VSA Organization Executive and will “oversee all student organizations,” consider new applications for membership, and work on revising membership policies. The Committee will also give recommendations to the Council regarding disciplinary action related to VSA organizations.

Chaired by the VSA Vice President, the Administration and Communications Committee will be primarily responsible for publicizing Council affairs to the Vassar student body.

The Finance Committee, chaired by the VSA Financial Executive, will review all budget and fund proposals and make recommendations to the Council. Its primary function will be to monitor the monetary activities of the VSA.

Lastly, the Student Life Committee, led by the VSA President, will “consider issues pertaining to the quality of student life and relevant administrative offices.” This body will hear regular reports from the Committee on College Life, the Residential Life Advisory Committee, and Bookstore Committee, among others.

“I’m very excited that Council unanimously voted to approve this bylaw amendment and create this committees,” said VSA Academic Executive Rachel Zoghlin ’07. “I’m hoping that [the Academic Committee] can deal predominately with the growing issue of student access to professor evaluations.”

“There used to be an internal server called Ask Students where students could…post about professors they’ve had and classes they’ve taken,” continued Zoghlin. “That site has since been taken down and deemed inappropriate. We’d like to revisit this issue, hear from students and administrators about the possibility of bringing it back, or creating a replacement to effectively allow students to communicate with one another about their academic experiences.”

VSA President Abel McDonnell ’07 believed that the newly-established committees will “help to VSA to do more.”

VSA Organization Executive Sam Charner ’08 said that the bylaw change was the result of much consideration. “We wanted to enact these councils immediately rather than waiting until after spring elections so that the VSA could become more effective right away,” said Charner.