New caucus enables students to compare ideas with peers

A new student caucus implemented by ASMSU —MSU’s undergraduate student government — will allow students to discuss campuswide issues with their peers before taking their concerns into Academic Governance.

ASMSU Provost Zach Taylor said although most of the student seats in Academic Governance are filled — by both ASMSU representatives and at-large students — not all at-large students have regularly attended meetings, and some were removed from their positions. Those who did attend were not always familiar with the material discussed, he said.

The student caucus, which will have a total of 33 members and hold its first meeting on Feb. 21., was created to solve this problem by having students discuss issues before they come up in University Council, Taylor said. The group will meet the week before University Council meetings.

“Our goal is … that it will formally connect (these) students to ASMSU as an organization,” he said.

Taylor said ASMSU representatives fill most committee seats in Academic Governance, but at-large students hold 25 seats on the University Council compared to ASMSU’s eight representatives.

Steering Committee chairman John Powell said in an email the level of participation from students is something he will be observing at the end of the year, and it is important for students to be actively involved in policy-making decisions.

Clinical laboratory sciences junior Joan Milius, who has served as an at-large student representative to University Council since November 2011, said she knows enough about most of the issues brought up at the meetings to discuss them, but not all issues are familiar to her.

“(The caucus) will give us the confidence to speak up about issues,” she said. “Not only will we be more informed, but we will have a greater sense of student community and support.”