The Mayor's Commission for Ball State Student Relations is working to combat low attendance at this semester's meetings with stricter guidelines for membership, which will go into full force next year.
The permanent meeting time is now 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, starting April 5, with meetings taking place every first and third Wednesday of the month.
"We are really re-working this thing to make it better, make it much more effective," said Adam Link, secretary of community relations for the Student Government Association.
Only two members showed up to last month's Mayor's Commission meeting, while three members attended Wednesday. The commission ideally should have 10 members present at meetings - two from each class and two graduate students - who serve as a line of communication between Ball State and Muncie.
In addition to establishing a meeting time, commission members also discussed with Mayor Dan Canan, Vice President-Elect Rodney Blount and Secretary-Elect Michele Faroh requirements for joining the commission.
Applications will include questions regarding why a candidate is interested in joining the commission and what he or she hopes to do, potential issues that should be addressed and ways to address them and major strengths and weaknesses in the relationship between the student body and city of Muncie. The applications will help Mayor's Commission members to draw new ideas and determine which students are really interested in getting involved, Link said.
Link also suggested having student senators provide applications to members of their organizations so "we can get out of the scope of student government thinking and the student government realm (and try) to get into the halls."
Just as student senators who miss more than two meetings without an excuse are automatically removed from the student government board, commission members who miss a month of meetings will also be replaced following a search, Link said.
"Obviously this year wasn't perfect and next year won't be perfect," he said, "but hopefully two or three years down the road, this organization will be permanent."
Canan said emphasizing the two-year commitment required of commission members would also establish continuity so that "some of the issues we are talking about will continue forward."
Issues discussed Wednesday include bringing a University Program Board Late Nite event downtown for both students and local residents to attend. Link and Canan plan to invite Cheryl Crowder and Ken Hughes of Muncie Downtown Development, as well as UPB advisor Brian Dietz, to the next commission meeting.
"Getting students involved downtown is good, but we also want to get the community involved downtown," Link said. "I think by moving this downtown and telling Muncie residents about it, we can hopefully get more people involved."
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