Officially, Adam Sherlip's tenure as speaker of the undergraduate Student Association Assembly will begin on Sept. 29, with the legislative body's first meeting of the year. But do not tell him that.
"I've been on the job since May 1," he said.
In the four months since his election, Sherlip, a sophomore management and communications major, has been shaping an agenda for the SA Assembly's year.
He has focused on publicizing the Assembly's work, building relationships within SA and preparing himself for the day-to-day process of running the body.
According to Sherlip, special guest speakers addressing the Assembly will be a hallmark of his time in office. His guest list includes: UB President William R. Greiner; Vice President for Student Affairs Dennis R. Black; and Executive Director of the Faculty Student Association Mitch Green.
"This year, the goals of the Assembly are to create a larger voice for the students," Sherlip said. "It's going to be a way for students to voice their complaints, and it will definitely be more publicized."
Sherlip plans on using all of the resources afforded to his office in order to get the word out on the Assembly, including fliers, kiosks and print media.
"Sometimes I think that students feel that SA doesn't represent the goals of the students," he said. "The Assembly is here to assure them that we're doing the best we can."
"It's only a branch of the government and it's not even the whole legislative branch," Sherlip said, "so everything doesn't necessarily get done, even if we want it to. It's checks and balances."
A believer in the need for divided power in student government, Sherlip is concerned about the constitutional ordering of authority within SA.
"I think the Assembly needs more power as a check," he asserts, "I think the fact that the vice president can take over the Assembly is a problem for the speaker of the assembly."
Despite his qualms, Sherlip remains confident about working with SA's Executive Board, which was elected by students in the spring.
"I don't foresee anything happening," he said. "It's just that when it comes down to something in the constitution that may add power to the Assembly, some people might not feel the same way I do."
To focus the Assembly's agenda further, Sherlip has suggested that he might create an executive committee comprised of the Assembly's committee directors, to better focus on the overall direction of the Assembly.
In addition, new staff positions in SA will require the Assembly to amend the SA constitution, according to Sherlip.
"There's no academic affairs director, yet there's supposed to be someone in charge of an academic affairs committee in the Assembly," he said. "There's going to be a lot of little touch-ups."
To become a member of the Assembly, a student needs to gather 40 signatures from fellow students.
Sherlip said the petition process is a valuable one, because it forces prospective members to consider their motivations for membership and allows students who sign the petition to get to know their representatives.
The Assembly has often been a jumping-off point for many of its past members. Jennifer Tuttle, the current FSA president and University Council representative, served as speaker in 2002.
Sherlip is clear about his future plans within SA.
"Definitely my aspirations are the top," he said. "There are a lot of things I'm finding out about more and more about how you can get involved. Jen Tuttle and George Pape ... have both done combined just about everything a student can do, so my main goal when it comes down to it is to go where both of them have gone."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
