by Adam Williams
**Due to a current investigation conducted by The Office of Student Leadership, Activities and Service, this article was edited on February 22, 2015 to remove the link to the mentioned survey and screenshots of the questions contained within it. BYUHSA has now made it clear that only a small, but “statistically relevant” sample of students would be emailed a link to take the survey, going back on their promise to survey the entire student body and asked that we remove the link to not skew the results. We encourage you to continue reading and get involved on campus by using this feedback form provided by the Student Advisory Committee (SAC)**
In the next couple of weeks, the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) will be administering a survey to a select number of BYU–Hawaii students regarding the upcoming election of the Student Body President. All BSA (BYUH Service Association) presidents have already been asked to submit the survey and several general education classes are currently in the process of taking the survey. SAC originally intended to get the input of every student on campus and design an election process using the feedback from these surveys, however, in the President's Q&A forum, Marc Gardner took ownership of the delay in getting surveys out and expressed regret that every student would not be able to participate.
**Due to a current investigation conducted by The Office of Student Leadership, Activities and Service, this article was edited on February 22, 2015 to remove the link to the mentioned survey and screenshots of the questions contained within it. BYUHSA has now made it clear that only a small, but “statistically relevant” sample of students would be emailed a link to take the survey, going back on their promise to survey the entire student body and asked that we remove the link to not skew the results. We encourage you to continue reading and get involved on campus by using this feedback form provided by the Student Advisory Committee (SAC)**
In the next couple of weeks, the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) will be administering a survey to a select number of BYU–Hawaii students regarding the upcoming election of the Student Body President. All BSA (BYUH Service Association) presidents have already been asked to submit the survey and several general education classes are currently in the process of taking the survey. SAC originally intended to get the input of every student on campus and design an election process using the feedback from these surveys, however, in the President's Q&A forum, Marc Gardner took ownership of the delay in getting surveys out and expressed regret that every student would not be able to participate.
Back in February 2014, BYUHSA reformatted the election process only to receive serious backlash from the student body; they moved away from a student body election to a merit based system. According to the February edition of the Ke Alakai, the requirements included “a letter of recommendation, be cleared by the Registrar and Office of Honor, and have a 3.0 grade point average or higher.” Students as a body were not given the chance to vote for who would represent them in the BYUHSA organization but “would have their voices heard through representatives who will attend a student forum”. Those representatives were presidents of chapters and academic clubs, representatives from the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and other department representatives. These individuals made up the voting panel and it was the responsibility of all students to contact their representative to ensure their voice would be heard.
True to BYU–Hawaii form, there was little communication to students about these changes, and zero direction on how to find out who exactly was a student’s “representative” at the forum. What if a student was a member of more than one chapter, or academic club? What if a student wasn’t a member of any chapter or club? How were the departmental representatives chosen, etc? The forum was held just two weeks after the Ke Alakai article was published, which was the first time students heard about the change in the election process. It has still never been made clear by the administration how the current leadership was selected, only this tidbit from that article: “Candidates’ applications, interviews with the current BYUHSA presidency, and their forum performance will be the criteria to determine the selected candidate.”
Hopefully, we will see a change this semester and students will be given back their right to select who they think will best represent their interests. The ability to vote not just for the BYUHSA President and Vice President, but for all positions within the BYUHSA organization will energize campus life, make student leaders more visible, and get students involved with what is happening on campus and feel encouraged to challenge the status quo. It is exciting to see a glimmer of transparency on the part of SAC now that they are asking for students’ input.
If you get an email in the next couple of days, we ask that you think about what you want to say in this important survey. Insist on having your voice heard when it comes time to select your student representative. We hope that SAC follows through with their promise on releasing the results of the survey and we call on Administration and BYUHSA to give the students a real voice, not the current façade of student government, and let us have a seat at the table when it comes to issues on policy and campus life. #ShapeYourExperience!
True to BYU–Hawaii form, there was little communication to students about these changes, and zero direction on how to find out who exactly was a student’s “representative” at the forum. What if a student was a member of more than one chapter, or academic club? What if a student wasn’t a member of any chapter or club? How were the departmental representatives chosen, etc? The forum was held just two weeks after the Ke Alakai article was published, which was the first time students heard about the change in the election process. It has still never been made clear by the administration how the current leadership was selected, only this tidbit from that article: “Candidates’ applications, interviews with the current BYUHSA presidency, and their forum performance will be the criteria to determine the selected candidate.”
Hopefully, we will see a change this semester and students will be given back their right to select who they think will best represent their interests. The ability to vote not just for the BYUHSA President and Vice President, but for all positions within the BYUHSA organization will energize campus life, make student leaders more visible, and get students involved with what is happening on campus and feel encouraged to challenge the status quo. It is exciting to see a glimmer of transparency on the part of SAC now that they are asking for students’ input.
If you get an email in the next couple of days, we ask that you think about what you want to say in this important survey. Insist on having your voice heard when it comes time to select your student representative. We hope that SAC follows through with their promise on releasing the results of the survey and we call on Administration and BYUHSA to give the students a real voice, not the current façade of student government, and let us have a seat at the table when it comes to issues on policy and campus life. #ShapeYourExperience!
One of the questions asks to choose a preferred election process and explain why. The following is the Student Voice's response to that question. Please think about what you want to say and how you want to word your response, and feel completely free to be as forthright and honest in your response as you feel comfortable being.
"To have a student leader NOT selected by the student body is not a student leader at all, but a glorified student worker, employed by the university. The student body should have a prominent say in who leads all levels in the student association and the candidates ought to be vetted by the student population–not the administration. When students are responsible to select who will represent and lead them they care more about the organization and become invested in their university experience. When a person is selected by the 'powers that be' we, the student body, are without an advocate and feel powerless to enact change in university policy. The BYUHSA organization would not be able to honestly say that the students have a true 'representative' when the students are shut out of the decision making process. Without a legitimate recognition of the student voice, the influence and impact student leaders have is solely dependent on the influence and impact school administrators are willing to give them.”
"To have a student leader NOT selected by the student body is not a student leader at all, but a glorified student worker, employed by the university. The student body should have a prominent say in who leads all levels in the student association and the candidates ought to be vetted by the student population–not the administration. When students are responsible to select who will represent and lead them they care more about the organization and become invested in their university experience. When a person is selected by the 'powers that be' we, the student body, are without an advocate and feel powerless to enact change in university policy. The BYUHSA organization would not be able to honestly say that the students have a true 'representative' when the students are shut out of the decision making process. Without a legitimate recognition of the student voice, the influence and impact student leaders have is solely dependent on the influence and impact school administrators are willing to give them.”