Student Association members elected Christopher Jennison to the position of student representative to the Syracuse University Board of Trustees on Monday.

SA assemblymembers said they hope Jennison, a junior public relations and policy studies major, will bring a different perspective to the table in dealing with the board.

Monday’s meeting also served as the appeals meeting for SA, after funds were allocated to student organizations at last week’s meeting. SA voted in favor of all of the Finance Board’s suggestions on the appeals presented to them.

SA voted to allocate $108,881.06 to student organizations for programming that originally had been rejected, according to the SA minutes. Organizations requested $141,889.70, but only about $119,000 was available.

Many of the original rejections were either for clerical reasons or because student organizations that requested funding for an event did not have confirmation that artists or speakers had finalized plans to visit campus, said SA Comptroller Jeff Rickert. He said the organizations that fixed these errors and complied with the financial vision received funding through appeals.

CitrusTV’s budget spurred the most debate during the first round of the budget process, but CitrusTV did not appeal for any additional funding.

Representatives from the Class of 2014 Class Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Mandarins — all of which had programming SA voted to fully fund — thanked SA and the Finance Board after the funds were allocated. There were no complaints or debates by either SA or onlookers.

After the fund allocations were finished, Jennison was chosen out of six candidates for the position of student representative to the Board of Trustees. Following the first round of votes, the election came down to Jennison and Amy Snider, SA chief of staff. There were an additional three rounds of voting before SA ultimately elected Jennison.

The Board of Trustees ‘is legally responsible for protecting and managing the university’s physical and financial assets,’ according to the SU website. It also has the authority to oversee academic programs and administrative operations.

There are 63 board members who vote on issues, according to the website. Two undergraduates and one graduate student sit on the board as student representatives, SA President Neal Casey said. He said his position automatically accounts for one representative, and the graduate representative is the head of the Graduate Student Association. Former SA President Jon Barnhart was the third representative — the ‘at-large’ representative — which is open to any undergraduate student who wishes to apply for it, Casey said. Jennison will replace Barnhart.

Members of the assembly were impressed by Jennison’s public speaking skills and connections with the Department of Public Safety and Health Services. Jennison is a field supervisor of SU Ambulance and told the assembly the one issue he would try to address if elected was campus health and safety, which he views as the biggest campus issue.

Casey said he planned on raising concerns to the board about the health center and public safety, and Jennison would be a valuable asset in raising those issues.

But other members were concerned about Jennison’s narrow range of expertise. Assemblymember Caleb Brewer said Jennison represents a similar demographic as Casey, who is the other undergraduate student representative. He said the representatives for the undergraduates should more accurately mirror the student body.

Rickert spoke against criticism of Jennison. The purpose of the position of student representative is to break down barriers, Rickert said, and Jennison’s range of contacts and experience could do that.

Jennison also said he wanted to try to address the issue of self-segregation at SU. He said he wants to see more interaction among schools, majors and ethnicities than currently exists.

After he was elected, Jennison said he realized it is a very important position. He also said he will take it seriously, as the position deserves.

‘It’s the voice of the students to the very top of the administration,’ Jennison said.

The meeting lasted more than three hours, the majority of which was spent debating between the candidates.

‘This is one of the most important elections we’re going to do,’ said Student Life Committee chair Taylor Carr. ‘It’s something we’ve got to spend a lot of time on.’

Other business discussed:

• SA elected Assemblymember PJ Alampi as chair of the Board of Elections and Membership.

spcotter@syr.edu

Published on April 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm