While you've probably heard of GSB, you may be wondering what exactly the Government of the Student Body does. GSB is composed of three branches, much like our federal government. The executive branch leads the organization by establishing policies and giving direction to GSB initiatives. The President, Vice President, and Executive Cabinet all collaborate on issues affecting students by working directly with university administration. The legislative branch is composed of representatives from each college and residency area. Every student at Iowa State is represented by at least two members of GSB Senate. Senate is responsible for approving major expenditures by GSB as well as representing the student body through legislation. The judicial branch is composed of nine justices appointed by the executive branch and confirmed by the legislative branch. It is charged with settling disputes between and ruling on cases involving student organizations.
The biggest, most visible role of GSB is the allocation of over one and a half million dollars each year to student organizations around campus. GSB directly funds student resources such as CyRide and the Iowa State Daily, as well as many clubs and organizations students participate in around campus. GSB funds are also used for large-scale projects benefiting the student body, such as the replacement of Memorial Union bowling equipment or assisting in the purchase of the Memorial Union display sign.
Behind the scenes, GSB spends a considerable amount of time focusing on issues affecting the student body. GSB officials work directly with university administration to improve the educational experience for Iowa State students. GSB is involved in revising many student policies, such as the university's dead week policy. GSB directly expresses the support of the student body for beneficial projects and voices concerns that students have about their experience. GSB is also the student body's direct link to state legislators and the Ames City Council.
The roles of GSB are many and diverse. However, the Roling/Dobbels campaign sees many opportunities for immediate improvement through enhanced cooperation between GSB and other student organizations. Stay tuned for specific plans regarding these partnerships at the end of this week.
Coming tomorrow: The GSB Election Process
Bit of a sidenote, but I noticed that you mentioned Dead Week in the post above.. Is it possible for your team to try to make Dead Week more effective by revising the policies behind it? Maybe work with Faculty Senate to deliver a few small, basic guaranteed rights of students? I'm really interested in this because, right now, it's all a bunch of nice recommendations that professors can choose to adopt, or to not adopt.
ReplyDeleteI would love for a new effort to make DW more effective, but I'm concerned as ever that students need university administration support to convince Faculty Senate, and that administration won't provide that support because they have been beating up faculty for several years, first with the budget model and now with months of dreaded anticipation of department closures and faculty layoffs. In fact, I'm worried that ISU admin. would relish the opportunity to side with the faculty for once in the midst of so much doom and gloom..
It's certainly an item we can revisit. Excellent point, as I'm always hearing horror stories from a few individuals each year with regard to Dead Week projects/exams. If students have a definitive rule they can fall back upon for support, it'll greatly help avoid such situations. Good thinking :)
ReplyDelete