In accordance with a recent rule change, the Undergraduate Council of Students will hold open elections later this month to fill six vacant positions.
Four of five representative positions for the class of 2007 and two of five for the class of 2009 are currently empty. The council previously used internal elections to fill such spots, but the executive board voted unanimously to do away with this policy over the summer.
UCS President John Gillis '07 called the change an attempt "to make sure the people that are representing (the student body) are chosen by students."
Vice President Tristan Freeman '07 said the council is "hoping to take advantage of the beginning of the year and have positive momentum." He added that he expects the elections to "reach people who hadn't thought about UCS in the past."
The council will also hold elections for five representatives for the class of 2010. Representatives for the first-year class have traditionally been elected by popular vote.
UCS held an informational meeting yesterday exclusively for prospective first-year candidates. A similar meeting will be held Thursday, and information sessions for all candidates interested in running will also take place throughout the week. All undergraduate students will be able to vote for candidates on WebCT between Sept. 20 and 22.
Both Gillis and Freeman said the council previously used internal elections because they allowed empty positions to be filled quickly. They cited a lack of will on behalf of council members to change the system as a reason for why the reform did not occur sooner.
In the past, UCS "hasn't had someone dedicated to improving this," Freeman said. He went on to describe the recent reform as evidence of a larger change in how the council will operate in the future.
"This year in UCS if we see a change we can make, we're going to make this change," Freeman said.
Freeman, who introduced the proposal to the executive board, said he wanted to avoid a situation like the one that occurred at the beginning of last semester, when Sarah Saxton-Frump '07 was elected president through an internal election after Brian Bidadi '07 resigned.
"A lot of students were really disappointed by that and I was too," Freeman said.
Despite the recent change, Gillis said the council will continue to hold internal elections during the spring semester to fill spots vacated by members who study abroad or take time off.
"Students are interested in UCS but don't want to spend half their year voting for people," Gillis said.
Freeman, however, said he plans to submit a resolution later this semester to ban internal elections altogether.
Gillis expressed confidence students will react positively to the new system. "Everybody who hears about it likes it," he said, though he added the success of the policy change is partially contingent on "if we can get enough publicity."
Freeman said he received about five e-mails from students interested in running shortly after the policy change was announced.
Several students interviewed by The Herald, however, were apathetic about the change.
"Either (type of) election isn't very representative of the student population," said Rye-Ji Kim '09.
