Ball State University students interested in applying for a position on a University Senate council or committee might find the process quicker and easier because of an amendment Student Government Association passed Wednesday.
SGA President Betsy Mills said the amendment eliminated the rule requiring 50 signatures on students' applications before they can be appointed to a council or committee.
Applications for Student Senate will still require signatures, Mills said. Only applications for council and committee positions no longer require the signatures, she said.
Matt Lacy, SGA secretary of governance and the amendment's author, said the signatures are intended to represent approval from a senator's constituency. Students on University Senate represent the campus at large, so they do not have a defined constituency, he said.
"What's the point of 50 signatures if you don't have a defined constituency?" he said.
Eliminating the signatures will also speed up the application process, Lacy said. SGA officers must check applications to certify they have all 50 necessary signatures, he said.
"We've always talked about what would make the application process faster," he said. "It was very time consuming in the past."
University Senate Chairperson Bruce Hozeski said it is important for students to join the councils and committees because they can represent students' concerns. The councils and committees include members who are faculty, administrators, personnel and students, he said.
"At [the University Senate] level we need input from various groups," he said. "The idea is to cast the net for the wider perspective."
Mills said the amendment's supporters also thought eliminating the signatures would increase student membership in University Senate. About 80 seats are open to students, many of which go unfilled every year, she said.
"It's almost impossible to fill them," she said. "The minute the legislation is passed, I would expect a jump in applications. We're getting rid of this roadblock that's plagued applications since I've been here."
Lacy said the goal of the amendment is to help fill all council and committee positions by September.
About five positions are filled, which is normal, Lacy said. There is usually an influx of applicants at the beginning of the Fall Semester, he said.
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