The Observer, March 30, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 22
Class Officer Collective to become Student Executive Council member organization
Letter to the Editor
To the editor:
In a meeting on March 24, the Class Officer Collective and representatives from the Student Executive Council (SEC) member organizations met in order to discuss a permanent structural and funding agreement for the Class Officer Collective. For a more complete description of why this decision was made, go to the SEC website at http://studentaffairs.case.edu/groups/executivecouncil.
From a very productive and efficient discussion, the following agreements were established:
The Class Officers will become an SEC member organization, providing representatives, a constitution, and all other requirements of an SEC member organization.
Funding for the Class Officers will come through the Student Activities Fund (SAF) like other SEC member organizations, eliminating the "off the top" distribution to Class Officers. The exact percentages have not been determined at this time, but the percentage will be established to grant a very similar allocation as was received this past year.
The Class Officers will be removed from the USG and function as an independent student group, electing officers on a yearly basis in some way separate from the current USG election process.
In order to officially establish this structure, several things must happen: 1. Constitutional and bylaw changes in USG must be made in order to remove the Class Officer Collective. 2. A formal vote of the SEC members to include the Class Officer Collective as a member board and alter the SAF allocation percentages (requiring a 3/4 majority vote and must be completed by April 15). 3. A student referendum must be completed, requiring a 2/3 majority approval of the inclusion of the Class Officer Collective. This also must be completed by April 15.
Inclusion of the Class Officer Collective in the SEC will help improve communication between the represented student groups. Budget oversight will become more consistent and allow for the Class Officers to monitor their budget internally as well as disclose this information to other SEC member organizations. Also, the structure of student organizations will become more consistent, eliminating a lot of the confusion seen in past arrangements.
SEC will make every effort to keep the campus informed on the process that is taking place. If you have questions about the process, please e-mail Vincent Ledezma, (mediaboard-chairman@case.edu), the current SEC Chairman, Doug Bentley (RHA, rha-president@case.edu), or David Gasser (USG, dag21@case.edu).
SEC and the Class Officer Collective are very pleased with the decision that was made and look forward to establishing this permanent solution.
The Student Executive Council
