The Undergraduate Council of Students is looking to recruit applicants to fill eight open undergraduate positions on four councils and boards: two on the Brown University Community Council, one on the Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Board, three on the Student Advisory Board on Equity and Diversity and two first-year spots on the Financial Aid Advisory Board, according to UCS Appointments Chair Jason Carroll ’21.
Serving as a student representative “is one of the most direct ways to have an impact on the administration and have your voice heard and to just make change,” Carroll said.
The BUCC is a forum for University-wide issues, and its members include President Christina Paxson P ’19 and Provost Richard Locke P ’18.
Student representatives on the council, including undergraduates, graduate students and medical students, “broaden and enrich the discussion of issues brought to the Council,” Senior Associate Secretary of the Corporation Catherine Pincince wrote in an email to The Herald. “Their perspectives have contributed to an informed consideration of issues important to the Brown community,” including diversity and equity, mental health and sustainability, Pincince added.
The DIOB works to evaluate the University’s progress toward the objectives outlined in the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, which include increasing representation of historically underrepresented groups on campus and promoting research and teaching on diversity and inclusion issues.
Having student representatives on the DIOB “builds upon the inclusive process the University engaged in when the initial (DIAP) was developed by having all constituent groups have a voice in the process,” Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Shontay Delalue, who co-chairs the DIOB, wrote in an email to The Herald.
The Student Advisory Board on Equity and Diversity aims to identify methods for community education on diversity and cultivate effective communication about issues regarding diversity, among other work.
Members of the Financial Aid Advisory Board, which advises the Office of Financial Aid, will have the opportunity to examine “Brown’s financial aid policies (and) how that affects students,” Carroll said.
Applications are available on the UCS website and will be open until Oct. 7 at 11:59 p.m.
Those interested may apply for up to three committees, must be in good academic standing and will be asked to submit a 500-word response explaining their interest in serving as a student representative and why they would be a good choice, Carroll said. Applicants will be interviewed from Oct. 8 to Oct. 15. After interviews, nominations approved by UCS President Shanzé Tahir ’19 and Chief of Staff William Zhou ’20 will be sent to the relevant council or board.
“The application’s open to everyone. I would hope that we can get a range of voices and experiences heard and represented on these different councils,” Carroll said. “I would love to have a diverse and representative group of students representing us.”
