Student on Board of Trustees Resolution

Just so the incoming Freshman Senators have something to run their campaigns on, I thought I'd post the resolution I intend to introduce in some form or another about gaining student representation on the Board of Trustees. For now I'm calling the position a 'Student Trustee', though this may change in the near future. No clever name for this act; people will have to come up with their own pet name for it, I suppose.

Without further adieu, the text:

Student Representation on the Board of Trustees Act

WHEREAS the mission of Whitman College encourages "creativity, character and responsibility" and intends to foster "intellectual vitality, confidence, leadership and the flexibility to succeed in a changing technological, multicultural world";

WHEREAS the Twelfth President of Whitman College Thomas Cronin has emphasized that a "liberal arts college is an ideal place to explore what it means to be a human being, to debate the obligations of citizenship, to learn about democracy", and 'that a liberal education is a training ground for citizenship, a means to acquire discernment, judgment, and tolerance and learn the arts of civility and self-governance";

WHEREAS the Associated Students of Whitman College did ordain and establish a constitution committed, in part, "to foster student involvement in the governing of the College and to promote students’ contributions to their greater communities";

WHEREAS Chapter Five, Section Four of the Whitman College Faculty Code declares that "all regular students in the College are required to become members of the Associated Students of Whitman College";

WHEREAS the Whitman College Board of Trustees ('Board of Trustees') is the highest and utmost authority for general policy and management of the College and its concurrent and consequent objectives in serving the greater Whitman Community;

WHEREAS zero of the seventeen members of the Board of Trustees is currently enrolled as a student at Whitman College;

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate of the Associated Students of Whitman College that:

(1) The Senate reaffirms its constitutional commitment to foster student involvement in the governing of the College;

(2) The Senate of the Associated Students of Whitman College ('Senate') recognizes the absence of a student presence, and thus, student representation on the College's highest governing authority, the Board of Trustees;

(3) The Senate calls upon the Board of Trustees to formally and officially invite and accept a member of the Associated Students of Whitman College chosen as representative by such organization to serve as an ex-officio 'Student Trustee' at all regular meetings of the Board of Trustees;

(4) The office of 'Student Trustee' is hereby established as a recognized and legitimate position within the Associated Students of Whitman College as the official liaison between the Associated Students of Whitman College and the Board of Trustees;

(5) The Executive Council of the Associated Students of Whitman College shall appoint a member of the Associated Students of Whitman College as 'Student Trustee' and representative of the student body to the Board of Trustees with the advising and supermajority (2/3) consent of the Senate;

(6) The 'Student Trustee' member, as personnel of the Associated Students of Whitman College, shall be charged with the duty to adequately and fairly convey the sense of the student body in consultation with the Congress of the Associated Students of Whitman College to the Board of Trustees, and, consistent with the provisions outlined in Article II, Section Seven of the By-Laws of the Associated Students of Whitman College, shall be eligible for impeachment proceedings as outlined in Article II, Section Seven of the By-Laws of the Associated Students of Whitman College;

(7) As a corollary to the responsibility of the 'Student Trustee' provided in Section Six of this resolution, the 'Student Trustee' shall make a report to the Associated Students of Whitman College Congress detailing the general agenda of meetings of the Board of Trustees and the success of fulfilling the duty charged to her or him as outlined in Section Six at all regular meetings of the Joint Congress of the Associated Students of Whitman College;

(8) The Joint Congress of the Associated Students of Whitman College shall provide the confirmed 'Student Trustee' with a stipend salary of not more than $50 per semester to be withdrawn from the Non-Emergency Contingency Fund during Fiscal Year 2006 and directs the Finance Committee to provide for this or a proportionately similar amount in the Preliminary Budget Recommendations of future fiscal years consistent with Article III, Section Six, Subsection B of the By-Laws of the Associated Students of Whitman College;

(9) The 'Student Trustee' is required to attend all meetings of the Senate and is strongly encouraged to attend meetings of the Executive Council;

(10) The 'Student Trustee' shall serve a term that commences upon confirmation of the candidate by the Senate and ends on the day of Convocation of the succeeding academic year;

(11) The Senate strongly urges the Dean of Faculty and the Senate of the Faculty at Whitman College to amend the Faculty Code to formally recognize the role of the 'Student Trustee' as a non-voting, ex-officio student delegate to the Board of Trustees.

My hope is that this resolution will create sufficient pressure for both the College and its governing boards to notice how Whitman distinguishes itself on professing good citizenship to its students but at the same time affords students no opportunity to 'self-govern' at the highest level of the college.