Jason Levine: UA making progress in fall, seeking greater student input

As chairman of the Undergraduate Assembly, it is my responsibility to update the undergraduate community on the UA's progress. However, after last Tuesday's Daily Pennsylvanian article, I now find myself in a position to defend the accomplishments of our body. We are an elected, representative body and should be held publicly accountable. However, the DP's perspective offered an incomplete picture of our success, and I hope to fill in the blanks.

The article evaluated the UA on the number of new proposals we have passed, one of many potential metrics. Last year, during the first semester, our body passed a remarkable number of proposals. From coed housing and smoke-free dorms to food truck hours and New Student Orientation, multiple initiatives came to the floor.

But the success of the UA cannot be measured by merely counting the number of proposals presented during Sunday night general body meetings. This year, we have gone above and beyond in our outreach efforts to fellow undergraduates and other constituencies in the University community, as well as in co-sponsorships of events, administrative contact and well-researched, well-developed initiatives. For instance, four extensive surveys on topics such as academic advising and the quality of teaching assistants have recently been e-mailed to every student. Their results will be the foundation of our recommendations.

Contrary to Tuesday's article, the UA has made significant progress on last year's proposals. Next year the college house brochure will be restructured to give matriculating students a more accurate portrayal of the differences in each house's dynamic, a result of last year's College House Resolution. Additionally, the University will now allow gender-neutral housing as determined on a case-by-case basis. Next semester, students will also be able to post their PennCard picture in the online directory, which stems from a UA project last year. As mentioned in the DP, the final exam schedule will be more student-friendly next fall. Finally, UA members worked with UA Steering to re-create a DP Campus Events Section, which will be posted every Monday beginning in January, and will list all undergraduate activities for the week.

Committee work, the heart and soul of the body, mostly occurs outside of general body meetings. Our UA members, along with an unprecedented 25 voting committee members, work hard on individual projects. These include creating a new computer lab in Houston Hall, grocery carts ordered for each college house and business cards for students and student groups. Moreover, there will be many more study locations west of 38th Street during reading days and final exams.

We also have helped undergraduates facilitate their own initiatives. The UA has worked with the Residential Advisory Board and is currently helping to create a new Student Health Advisory Board. We assisted Penn Leads the Vote, providing all our resources for non-partisan efforts in the months leading up to the election. Our hard work paid off with record voter turnout at Penn. This semester, we have followed up with our support of the Emergency Medical Response Team, and have continued to help the group obtain recognition by the University.

Another focus this year has been to put emphasis on gathering undergraduate input before moving forward with projects. Our Internal-External Committee works diligently to bridge the communications gap between student leaders and our constituents. We have held two UA Across Campus meetings, where we moved our meeting location closer to residential houses. We have a new, user-friendly Web site. Over 500 students have signed up for our weekly e-mail updates, and many have also e-mailed their specific concerns. UA members can often be seen posting flyers in dorms and on Locust Walk, as we advertise meetings and specific issues being worked on.

If you want to learn more, this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in room 200 of College Hall, each class board will present what it has done this semester in Penn's State of the School address. I hope each of you will come listen to what your representatives are doing. If you have comments, let us know. We do this work for the benefit of undergraduates, so if you think we are doing a great job or a lousy one, your opinion is not only encouraged, but is a necessary part of our success.

A few weeks after the State of the School address, the UA will release its Midyear Report, which will describe every project that has been worked on and our plans for next semester. We can only be as effective as our constituents allow us to be. Fill out our surveys, visit our Web site at dolphin.upenn.edu/~ua, and send us your comments. Your voice is our voice, and I promise you that each of us is listening. Come to us, and you will be heard!

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.