Changes Made to Clubs and ASB Positions
The town hall at the end of January addressed changes to ASB positions and the organization and structure of clubs. There are a few changes to the executive positions on ASB that will begin with elections in a few weeks: the Presidential candidates will be interviewed by the President’s Council (all of the Vice Presidents in administration along with Dr. Sauder) and by the Student Senate. This is the only job on ASB where being a Seventh-day Adventist is required because the President is invited to the North America Division meetings in the fall, and you’re not able to attend if you aren’t a member of the Adventist church.
Another substantial change on the ASB executive team will be the addition of a Public Relations Vice President. This person will supervise the social media coordinator, Golden Cords, Clocktower and advertisement manager. They’ll work alongside the Financial Vice President to coordinate the budget and allocate it to the different publication managers.
Another new position will be an assistant to the Executive Vice President. This person will oversee the Student Support Services team, which will be made up of a group of students who represent different departments on campus, such as the Student Life Office and Union Market. These students will act as a liaison to the Student Senate when they decide to create a bill that affects that certain area on campus.
The Social Vice President has a big role on ASB because they plan and execute events for every Saturday night. A change to this role next year is that they will have the help of a group of students named the Campus Activities Board. These students, along with the Social Vice President, will assure there are enough events to fill up the calendar for the school year. Once the Saturday night events are allocated throughout the year, the remaining Saturday nights will be available to club leaders.
Clubs will be able to host an event to the entire campus to promote their club. There are some incentives to take on this challenge: the Student Life Office will put money in the accounts of clubs that take a Saturday night in the calendar. Clubs will also receive rewards for hosting a campus-wide worship at any time.
If you think that you should be able to be a part of more than two clubs on campus, there’s a new system in place to change that. Starting next year at the club rush, you’ll receive a certain amount of money you can budget to join as many clubs as you want. Clubs next year will have the opportunity to charge you as much as they think you will need to use during the year. For example, if a group of people want to start a frisbee golf team and they believe you only need $5 to join, you will only need to use $5 out of your club rush budget to join the club. This will create an opportunity for you to connect with students around campus with the same interests as you. This system will not disband academic clubs, though. You’re still encouraged to bond with people in your same field of study as well as relate to people who enjoy the same activities you like to do.
If you have any ideas for clubs, find Kim Canine or Kim Daniel in the Student Life Office and they will assist you in finding a mentor. They also encourage you to think about running for an ASB position next year. Now that you’re aware of all of the changes taking place, they hope you will consider being a leader on this campus and help Union grow.
Yeimy Rodriguez is a sophomore studying business administration.