Council Elections Expand Their Scope

For two years now, being the lone student representative on the UB Council was the most important position nobody knew about.

This year, officials expect a competitive race could let the cat out of the bag.

After two consecutive years of one-candidate elections, this April's UB Council vote is expected to be a tight contest, according to Jennifer Tuttle, who currently is serving her second term as the council's student member.

This year's vote, which takes place April 5-7, will mark several firsts for a UB Council election, including the first time the election is being run by Student Life and the first time elections will be held online.

Already several candidates have handed in petitions to vie for the position, but the official list of candidates cannot be published until the deadline is passed, according to Jennifer Wantz, student government liaison.

The UB Council-which serves as the primary oversight and advisory body to UB, its president, and its senior administrators-is required to exist under New York state education law and consists of 10 members. Nine of the Council members are appointed to seven-year terms by the governor, while the 10th is a student representative who is elected to an annual term by the student body.

Although it is a relatively unknown group to much of the student body, the UB Council works in many areas that directly affect everyone on campus. Often the Council's regular duties include reviewing major UB plans and activities involving academics, student life, finances, and buildings and grounds, as well as making recommendations and regulations in matters of community and alumni relations.

This past year, however, the council had one responsibility above all others: to participate in the search for a new school president.

"The first year it was almost all meetings and doing routine work, but the second year I participated is when our work got really intense," said Tuttle. "Now that we have a new president in place, though, the council can focus on working in other areas."

The other areas in which the Council works, however, can often be vague, Tuttle said.

"The hardest thing about it is that there are no set rules. You can easily take this position and turn the focus to whatever you want," she said. "Also, this is not a situation you'd normally find yourself in. You attend meetings and social events with business people, lawyers, and other prominent community members."

Tuttle said that being "a liaison to the outside community" and having to "focus on social rules" was a learning experience in itself, but being the only student on the council made it even more unique.

Nothing on the council is accomplished alone, she added.

"It's not an individual thing. You must work cooperatively with the other council members," said Tuttle. "The work that you get done really depends on how willing you are to communicate and collaborate with the other members."

Any UB student in good academic standing is eligible to run for council student representative. Petitions are due March 22 at 4 p.m. and can be both picked up and dropped off in any student government office or in 150 Student Union.

The decision to hold the election online this year was made for various reasons, most of which are related to scheduling conflicts surrounding the elections for the six student governments-the Dental Student Association, the Graduate Student Association, the Graduate Management Association, the Medical School Polity, and the Undergraduate Student Association.

Before Student Life took over the UB Council election, a council of the six student governments' presidents ran it.

According to Wantz, despite new online voting, it was still impossible to have the council election at the same time as the government elections.

"It's very difficult to run these elections at the same time. It's next to impossible to have polling places in more than one spot on campus," she said. "It's also very expensive. By holding the elections online, we'll be saving a lot of money as well as making the process easier. Most importantly, though, we'll be able to reach more students."

Wantz added that there will be more advertisements for the elections this year in an attempt to get out the vote.

"We really just want to get the word out to the student body," she said. "We want as many students to vote as possible, which is why these elections are being held online for multiple days. More students will have the chance to vote."