On March 19, the members of the Pan Student Government Association voted to pass a resolution to President George Hanbury that would allow two representatives from the Pan SGA to be on NSU’s Board of Trustees.
President of the Undergraduate Student Government Association Daniel Brookins, senior legal studies and philosophy major, said, “If this were to happen, it would change the landscape of the school.”
The Board of Trustees is a group of 28 people who oversee the overall direction and management of NSU. If Hanbury agrees to the proposition, the current Board of Trustees will then make the final decision.
PanSGA is made up of the 18 presidents and vice presidents of the student government associations at NSU. During their meeting on Wednesday night regarding the resolution, 14 members of PanSGA were present to vote on the passing of the document. There were 13 votes in favor and one against.
Brookins said, “In the four years I’ve been on SGA, I believe that this is the biggest and potentially most impactful resolution I’ve seen.”
Resolutions are documents that outline issues students are concerned about and members of PanSGA said that when they present them to campus administration, the documents are not votes in favor of the respective change on campus, but a suggestion.
The majority of the university’s incoming revenue and operating expenses are paid for by student tuition, and according to Brookins, Pan SGA members feel that, for that reason, students should be included in the formal decision-making processes.
“The student input is valued, and we appreciate that, but as the main financial supporters of this institution, we believe that students should be included in the decision-making process,” Brookins said.
The idea for the resolution was presented to PanSGA by Brookins and President of NSU’s Student Bar Association Rahysa Vargas, third-year law student.
After agreeing to move forward with the idea, PanSGA wrote into the resolution that their reasoning for the proposition is their belief that “the lack of a student trustee representative adversely affects our institution and student experience.”
Daniella McCalla, junior communication studies major, said, “I’ve heard this and I’ve felt it. You don’t feel like a student anymore, you feel like a walking dollar sign, and that goes with how they treat you and with some of the policies that are in place.”
Brookins and Brad Williams, vice president of student affairs and dean of the college of undergraduate studies, will meet with Hanbury to suggest that one undergraduate and one graduate student who are on PanSGA be placed on the Board of Trustees as full voting members for one-year academic terms.
The President of the Undergraduate SGA will be one of the members put onto the Board of Trustees and the other member will come from one of the 17 other PanSGA members. The remaining 17 students will be able to nominate themselves for the position before the beginning of next semester, after hearing the calendar of events and meetings they would have to attend to make sure they will be available at all of those times.
Assistant Dean of Student Development and Co-advisor of PanSGA William Faulkner called the resolution “ the logical next step in terms of how we will create a strong student government.”
The State University System of Florida has mandated that every public university in Florida includes the Student Body President on the Board of Trustees for their respective school. Several other private institutions, including the University of Miami, Duke University and Southern Methodist University, have also included student representatives on their boards.
“I think [having members of PanSGA on the Board of Trustees] will put us on par with schools that are aspirational to NSU. It kind of sets us apart from [other private schools in the area],” Faulkner said.
Williams, Vargas and Brookins are in the process of setting up a meeting with Hanbury. For more information, email Brookins at db1369@nova.edu.
