Although many Associated Students of Madison representatives agree more students need to be involved in ASM, they present different opinions about how to engage the student body.
Some representatives said outreach should be the focus of next year, but others said the organization suffers from deeper problems requiring internal reform.
Seeking relevancy
Jeffrey Wright, former ASM representative and former member of the Constitutional Committee, said structural reform is necessary for ASM to become relevant to the average student.
""We can't expect ASM's problems to be solved by reaching out to students,"" Wright said. ""ASM has to do things that will matter for students to care.""
Steven Olikara, ASM diversity chair, said people contact him often because of the work he does. He said he has worked collaboratively with student organizations and spoken at events that reach beyond those organizations.
""If you gain influence and people see that, then that becomes something people want to be part of,"" Olikara said.
Wright said the current structure of ASM relies too much on representatives taking initiative to get things done and allows inactive representatives to slip by unnoticed.
""They just need to be rallied. There's a ton of people power there,"" he said. ""Right now they can just go to their meetings and sit ... There's a culture of do-nothingness.""
Most ASM committees, charged with such duties as lobbying and representing the student voice with administrators, are chaired by ASM representatives and include spots for council members and at-large spots for other students. Committee chairs give reports at Student Council meetings, but Wright said the council is not empowered to hold committees accountable.
""There's sort of this assumption that they're doing everything fine,"" Olikara said.
Internal reform efforts fade
Wright said ASM attempted to create a structure to hold committees more accountable when drafting a new constitution this school year. When the student body voted down the constitution in February, several representatives hoped next year's council would attempt similar changes.
In an electronic survey sent by The Daily Cardinal to representatives of the 16th session, 47 percent said they would support constitutional changes similar to those proposed this year, either fully or with small changes. Twelve percent said they would not support constitutional changes, and 47 percent said they did not know.
ASM Chair Tyler Junger said this year's council lacks the initiative to take on constitutional changes.
""The general view on [constitution changes] is to leave it alone for now,"" Junger said. ""It's not a top priority right now. If we can get student involvement in the current structure, then maybe we can make changes.""
Representative Brian Benford said ASM can reach students through the current structure if it has strong leaders in place to guide members and hold them accountable.
""Leadership has to be there to engage people and be stewards of the process,"" he said. ""Whether it takes pep talk or direct action by the leaders, this can happen.""
Tom Templeton, ASM vice chair and external affairs chair, said he plans to encourage representatives to reach constituents on a ""personal level"" through YouTube videos, radio shows, blogs, office hours and social networking sites. He said he also plans to take on coordinated outreach efforts like town-hall meetings and surveys in the new 17th session.
Compromise
Former ASM Chair Brittany Wiegand said representatives should focus both on outreach and internal reform.
""Given the reality that a complete overhaul isn't a possibility, that's not an excuse to not do anything at all,"" she said.
Kurt Gosselin, secretary of ASM, said the council could make incremental changes internally through bylaws without changing the constitution.
Former Vice Chair Hannah Karns said ASM could still look at internal reform but should guide their actions based on student preferences.
""This year we didn't do much for the students because we focused so much on internal reform,"" Karns said. ""If 17th session has a lot of outreach and students are saying they want to popularly elect the chair of ASM, then all right, there you go. But it has to come from the students.""
