In theory, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and the advisory board committees for each of UNL’s 14 colleges should have “a very close relationship,” said Katie Madsen, ASUN’s external vice president and senator for the College of Business Administration.
Like ASUN, advisory boards can facilitate communication, advocate for different groups’ interests and provide information to students.
“It’s like having more ears and eyes out there to identify student concerns,” said Madsen, a senior business administration major.
Last fall, though, it appeared there was a problem with those ears and eyes.
ASUN bylaws say senators must attend their college’s advisory board meetings at least once a month.
When Madsen polled senators’ attendance habits last fall, a quarter of them couldn’t even tell her when meetings were held.
Madsen, who regularly meets with the heads of advisory boards as part of her duties as external vice president, expressed a goal of ensuring senators attended meetings more frequently.
It appears she’s succeeding.
“As far as I know, people are going,” said Jen Weiss, a senior education major and senator in the College of Education and Human Sciences.
“Students really have the same sort of issues and frustrations,” Weiss said. “Different groups have different ideas of how to solve them.”
Hannah German, a senior English major and senator for the College of Arts and Sciences, said she attended every advisory board meeting this semester and “the majority” of meetings last fall.
Regular attendance meant German watched board members take actions such as scratching Library 110 off the list of required courses.
In turn, German could share issues ASUN was working on, such as the survey on building a new University Health Center and East Campus Recreation Center, and she received feedback from the committee.
“It’s a greater pool of people to talk to about issues,” German said.
Beyond ASUN, some senators described personal benefits. Corinne Wardian, a junior art and art history major and senator for the College of Fine and Performing Arts, said “(I planned) events that I hadn’t even heard of freshman year.” She also observed how her college handles study abroad applications.
Wardian said she enjoyed her experience on the advisory board.
“It’s good,” she added. “Definitely gets your name and face out to other people in your college.”
renaeblum@dailynebraskan.com
