Coming off a tumultuous spring semester during which it was bombarded with demands to reform, the Associated Students of Madison is poised to begin discussions concerning internal change.
ASM vice chair and UW-Madison junior Gestina Sewell said the organization's main focus this year will be on transparency, both in its plans to reform and in its preparation for the fall's upcoming elections. According to Sewell, specific plans have been stalled by the absence of ASM Student Council members, who will try to work closely with each other's committees over the course of the year.
""We're trying to do this more transparently, so it's through student council where things are supposed to be created and hopefully approved,"" Sewell said. ""We talked a lot about making sure the student body knows what we're doing. That seemed to be what people felt was needed before.""
ASM's Student Council, consisting of 33 elected representatives, first met in late August and will convene again Wednesday. According to Sewell, many individuals from Student Council have brought forth suggestions for ASM reform, and reform agendas will hopefully democratically emerge and be implemented throughout the year.
""There may be a committee formed to look at our constitution and by-laws,"" ASM chair and UW-Madison senior Dylan Rath said. ""There are no plans totally set in stone, but I think it's going to be something we work on.""
Joining ASM this fall is former Student Services Finance Committee faculty advisor Jena Olson. Olson, who was hired last week, will replace Alison Rice. Rice resigned from the ASM faculty staff director position in July. According to Rath, Olson will be working with UW-Madison administration to make sure ASM is in line with all university guidelines.
Olson will try to aid other aspects that were flawed last year, such as the elections, which according to Sewell concerned a ""structure issue with ASM and who had the authority to make what decisions.""
""Jena knows a lot about how ASM has worked in the past and I think that she definitely has goals in mind as to ways that we can progress,"" Sewell said. ""For staff as well as students, I think she'll be very helpful.""
