The Undergraduate Council of Students will add two first-year representatives to its Management Board through an election later this month, said Chief of Staff Melissa Lee ’20 at the Council’s first general body meeting of the semester Wednesday evening.
Leadership also discussed ways for students to get involved with UCS and gave an overview of Council activities and responsibilities to prospective members.
The first-year representative positions will allow the Council to “incorporate first-year feedback in every UCS initiative,” Lee said. The nine-person Management Board, which Lee chairs, handles the Council’s internal operations. The representatives will lead “community events and projects for first-years” and “serve as a liaison” between the class of 2023 and UCS, according to a slide presented at the meeting. Prospective candidates attended a mandatory information session, and can campaign from Sept. 15 to Sept. 19. Voting, which is open to all first-years, will take place from 12 p.m. Sept. 17 to 12 p.m. Sept. 19. Results of the election will be announced on Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. on the steps of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center.
All Management Board positions besides chief of staff are currently vacant, and most positions including historian, alumni relations director, parliamentarian and secretary will be filled through an internal appointments process from Sept. 20 to 24.
The Executive Board position of Chair of Student Activities will be filled through an internal election Sept. 25 during the Council’s general body meeting. The position is open as the student elected last spring no longer attends the University.
During the meeting, UCS President William Zhou ’20 said that the Council’s goals for the year include becoming more “proactive, representative and inclusive.”
General body projects this fall include Celebrating Staff at Brown, a Facebook page the Council runs to highlight University staff members, and the Undergraduate Fall Poll, which is a “real opportunity to figure out … the priorities students have on campus,” Zhou said.
Co-Appointments Committee Chair Eamon McKeever ’22 presented on open student representative positions in University committees. The College Curriculum Council, Library Advisory Board and Honorary Degree Committee are some of the committees with open positions.
All new general body and voting members this year will be paired with an upperclassman or member of the Executive Board, who will serve as a mentor both in UCS activities and life at the University more broadly as part of the Council’s Mentorship Program. Students need 20 signatures to become voting members of UCS.
