Four proposals, three constituencies, two senates and hundreds of opinions have composed what could be considered the most important decision currently in the university.
A vote that could potentially alter the University Senate structure is scheduled for Dec. 5.
But at this point, faculty, students and professional personnel are having a difficult time seeing eye to eye within and between constituencies.
And after a two years of introducing potential candidates to replace the current Senate, the decision is still up for grabs.
Technically, senators will choose to adopt one of three alternative senate models or keep the current system.
Two of the models -- the faculty-senate proposal and the revised-senate model -- were created last school year by a 12-member task force.
The third, and most recent, alternative -- the compromise model -- combines aspects of the task force's two earlier models.
At the October meeting, university senators voted to focus on only the current system and the compromise model, reducing the chances of the other two models being accepted.
The vote was close, 22-21, and alienated student members of senate.
The heart of the debate centers on representation: students say the compromise model waters down their opinions. But several faculty members who have been prominent in the two-year debate, say the students aren't seeing things clearly.
Student Government Association senators initially supported the revised senate model, but they switched tactics after University Senate decided to focus on only the two models.
If the compromise model is approved, students will most likely lose representation both in the Senate and its committees, though how much won't be decided for quite some time.
But Professor Mark Popovich, a member of the original task force and the principal creator of the compromise model, said student representation will only decrease in the Senate from about 14 percent to 12 percent.
Students, however, would have more access to committees, Popovich said.
Also, Popovich said, faculty could also lose seats.
Though university senators can still vote for the revised model or the faculty senate model, neither alternatives will probably resurface, said Joe Losco, department of political science chairman.
"There are two models up for grabs," Losco said. "This is the second time we are having a straw vote. We are not having a third."
Losco said returning to the revised model will strap faculty into a model they twice rejected.
"The compromise model is not my first choice," Losco said. "We are willing to compromise for sake of unity. Apparently the students aren't."
If the first two options are gone for good, student senators say the current system would serve students better than the compromise model.
"There is so much that is arbitrary with the compromise model and that leaves too much leeway," said Student Government Association president Tolu Olowomeye. "I am leaning towards keeping the current structure and bringing the revised model back to the forefront. It is the best model to serve the students.
"We are trying to increase not only our influence but our powers in Senate, which are currently nonexistent. Influence is one thing. Power is another."
In an informal vote taken last semester, a majority of faculty preferred the faculty-senate model, but the majority was not enough to carry the faculty-senate proposal through the ratification process. Another informal vote to measure faculty support for the compromise model is pending.
Until then, faculty and students continue to debate the qualities of each model.
One of the largest issues seems to be an understanding of the needs of each group represented, Losco said.
Under the current system, faculty do not have a single forum, as students have through SGA. Losco said the reason some faculty supported the faculty senate model is because they wanted a clear, pure faculty voice in University Senate.
"There is an element of fairness in the faculty asking for a room of their own, similar to SGA, without disenfranchising students or professional staff," Losco said.
For this reason, Losco said he sees the compromise model as a benefit for both students and faculty. It creates a clear voice for faculty issues and preserves the pure voice student senate offers students, he said.
"This model gives students what they said in Senate they wanted all along," Losco said.
Political science professor and task force member Ray Scheele said the compromise model offers new powers to the student senate. Traditionally, SGA legislation has gone to the University Senate's Student and Campus Life Council, but neither senate has a formal connection to the other.
The compromise model clarifies the relationship between both bodies, political science professor Ray Scheele said. He added that it gives students direct access to the University Senate's agenda committee, which decides what legislation will go to the Senate.
Losco said this model also offers SGA a third access point. Student senators could approach University Senate, the agenda committee or faculty council meetings to present their view.
The revised senate model also offered a direct link to the agenda committee, but it did not lean toward faculty interest, Olowomeye said.
"Student senate voted unanimously for the revised model where faculty, professional staff and students are interdependent in the system.
"This model claims to combine the best of the revised and faculty senate models and it does not completely do that," Olowomeye said. "This is not fully a compromise. There are key aspects of both, but (there is) more influence on faculty."
Olowomeye said the revised model also helped streamline the high number of committee members and committees.
"The (current) system is too bulky, and too many committees are not functioning to their full potential," Olowomeye said.
Although others may argue the compromise model will benefit students more than the revised model, Olowomeye has reservations -- especially because the compromise model was drafted over the summer, less than half the time it took to draft the first two models.
"The compromise model is a little suspicious," Olowomeye said. "It took 11 months for the Governance Task Force propositions to come forward the first time."
Still, faculty said they believe their voice has not been heard by the students. Popovich said SGA should have invited faculty to give their input before student senators voted on the models.
"If students want to hear the faculty side of the argument, they should invite faculty to their meetings," Popovich said. "Students never asked faculty to come in and discuss this with them."
Student senator Chris Borkowski was not present at SGA's Nov. 13 vote, but he said student senators would have benefited from the faculty perspective.
"I am very opposed to the way SGA handled the discussion," Borkowski said. "A faculty member would have been a great resource (for the senators)."
For Scheele, the need to adopt a new senate structure means more than making sure each party is satisfied.
"There are flaws in each of the models, but it is very clear that the current system is broken," Scheele said. "That was reflected in the straw votes."
Scheele said he believes returning to the current system would be a missed opportunity for the entire university.
"It will be a major setback to the progress of this institution if we end up not changing and staying with what we've got," Scheele said. "Change is different. There is always a lot of fear about the future when it is uncertain."
Even if a majority of senators support a proposal, the battle would be far from over. The proposals are models -- empty shells that need to be filled. If one of the alternative proposals are selected, a task force would be assembled to hammer out the details. They would first need to determine the size, representation and committees of the new Senate, and once they do that, they need to garner two-thirds of the entire faculty's vote to ratify the new system.
Once this decision is made, a whole news series of debates is likely to begin.
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