Student Assembly

Dear Adam,

Thank you for formally communicating Student Assembly Resolution 34, “Amendment to Appendix A of the Student Assembly Charter.” I consulted with Student and Academic Services Vice President Susan Murphy and Office of Assemblies Assistant Director Ari Epstein on this matter and upon their recommendations, I am returning the Resolution to you seeking some clarification. I applaud your goals for increasing the communication between the organizations and the Appropriations Committee, but it seems as if much of what you hope to accomplish already is provided:

1. The Student Assembly provides for extensive off-year reporting by organizations, including meeting in person with the Appropriations Committee (Appendix B, III. 7–8), and obliges the committee to file minutes of all its meetings with the Office of the Assemblies (Appendix A, IV. C. 7) to provide a public record of the context in which allocations were made or should be assessed.
2. Procedures pertinent to funded organizations should be incorporated into Appendix B, not Appendix A
3. Off-year assessments of organizations’ structure and operations ought to be rooted in the performance criteria already articulated in Appendix B.

Rather than establishing additional reporting requirements, I recommend that you highlight the existing, unimplemented mechanisms that the Student Assembly already has established. If, after taking a thorough look at the existing guidelines, you still think you need more process, please make sure the language in the Resolution is consistent with that of the Charter and the Appendices. Also as you think about structuring any additional communication or obligation, I encourage you to find the right balance between sharing information gathered to help inform the fee setting process with potentially biasing the process in the subsequent fall based on information gathered the previous spring.

I suggest that you work with the Office of Assemblies and Assistant Director Ari Epstein as you review the implementation of existing policies and/or drafting new procedures.

Thank you for your consideration in these matters.

Regards,

David Skorton