Many of us have names that don’t lend themselves well to the rhymes or puns often employed in some of the more effective student government campaign posters. Others of us don’t have the time to gather hundreds of petition signatures and compete in the demanding elections process year after year.
Fortunately, running for the Undergraduate Assembly or Class Boards isn’t the only way to have a tangible impact on Penn during our time here. For students who want to make changes but want to pursue a different avenue than running for elected office, the Nominations and Elections Committee provides them the opportunity to serve on an array of committees that affect students’ lives in a very real way each and every day.
Through these many committees this year alone, we’ve seen students raise concerns over issues ranging from the College of Arts and Sciences’ general-education requirements to graduation speakers to protests by hate groups like the Westboro Baptist Church. Many of us have felt powerless to address these topics, but students on committees like the School of Arts and Sciences’ Natural Sciences and Mathematics Panel, the University Council Committee on Honorary Degrees and the University Council Committee on Open Expression work on issues like these on a regular basis.
We’ve heard students complain about lack of access to the administration, but students on the President’s Social Responsibility Advisory Committee and the Provost’s Academic Planning and Budget Committee work constantly with administrators throughout their time at Penn. It is through opportunities like these that students get to address specific and concrete issues, while also interacting directly with the University’s key administrators.
At the end of the day, these committees wouldn’t serve much of a function if they simply listened to the same student government leaders and shut out the rest of the student body. That’s why the NEC is inviting students from all schools, classes and majors to apply to serve on any of the 25 committees to which we appoint student representatives. These committees advise the president, provost, trustees and other University leaders on policies that have a direct impact on the Penn community — from students to faculty and staff to our neighbors in West Philadelphia.
The University-wide committees are your chance to enact specific change and provide the undergraduate perspective on a multitude of issues that face our campus. They address a wide range of concerns relating to academics, budget and finance, facilities, Greek life, the library system, student and faculty awards, curriculum requirements and student health insurance. Moreover, students serve as voting members on many of these committees, which means their voices carry substantial weight when the most important decisions are made. For complete committee descriptions, please visit the NEC’s website at penn-nec.org and follow the link on the home page to learn more.
So how does the application process work? The first step is to go to the NEC’s website and find the committees that interest you and identify those for which you think you are most qualified. The next step is to download an application from the site and submit it by April 5. Selected applicants will be contacted for interviews which will take place during the weekend of April 10 and 11.
In exchange for 15 minutes of your time to fill out an application, you could have the opportunity to effect real change that will last for years to come. Please take a moment to look over some of the committees for which the Penn administration specifically allocates slots to students. If we expect the University to listen to us, we must be prepared to step up when they give us the opportunity to speak. We at the NEC hope that you get involved and apply for at least one of these committees.
Ben Moskowitz and Shomik Sarkar are college sophomores and the vice chairmen of nominations for the NEC. Their e-mail addresses are benm@sas.upenn.edu and shomik@sas.upenn.edu, respectively.
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