In 2007, the Yale College Council did an unofficial survey and found that the average Yale student worked more than the recommended 10 hours a week to earn extra income. In response, Yale redesigned its financial aid policies. In 2008, when Cornell announced its revamped financial aid policy, the Student Assembly wrote a document praising the initiative.

In an age of heightened activism and grassroots-level confrontations with authority, average people are becoming increasingly interested in influencing policy. On college campuses, student government provides a forum for student debate and discussion regarding the University and its policies. But is the S.A. living up to its role?

Many would agree that the S.A. has been under scrutiny for the past few years. Its members have been accused of lacking initiative, holding unaccomplished meetings and becoming involved in student government only as a way to build their resumes.

A Look at Cornell…

“We serve as an official liaison to the Cornell administration and the Board of Trustees — reporting directly to the President with passed resolutions and actions,” said S.A. president Ryan Lavin ’09.

The S.A.’s primary function is to allocate the student activities fee — the $102 that each students pays at the beginning of each semester. It may not seem like much, but multiplied by 13,500 undergraduates, that figure grows to over $2.6 million per year.

“It’s on a two-year cycle. We deal with about $5.5 million every two years,” said current S.A. president Ryan Lavin ’09.

The Student Assembly Finance Commission (SAFC), an auton­omous organization, handles half of that money.

“We allocate about half to 23 or so large groups, and the SAFC allocates the other half to the hundreds of smaller organizations. It’s a very formal process,” said Lavin.

With such a large amount of money at the S.A.’s discretion, many people on campus are quick to raise concerns.

For example, just two weeks into the fall semester, former S.A. president CJ Slicklen ’09 wrote a Sun op-ed piece that accused his own organization of letting bureaucracy and complacency smother any helpful action it could take on behalf the student body.

He blamed both the people in the assembly and the system in which they operate.

“I don’t know what the solution is, but something definitely has to change,” said Slicklen. “Read the minutes. People last year didn’t say anything at one meeting, they didn’t do anything, they would just sit there, and they did it for their resume. Good for them but they wasted everyone’s time.”

Lavin, aware of the problems of previous years, is ready to start anew.

“I would have agreed with [Slicklen] a year ago; agreed, in the past-tense. These were problems,” said Lavin. “But this year is special because a majority of us are not incumbants; it is a brand-new assembly, literally.”

“The [S.A.] should be making the issues, they need to be proactive,” said Slicklen. “They wait until the administration says, ‘we’re going to fix this’ and then the S.A. says ‘oh, that’s a good idea.’”

That’s exactly what happened when Cornell Provost Biddy Martin announced the new financial aid initiative last year, which increased aid and capped loans for many students. The S.A. played no role in creating the new policy other than thanking Provost Martin and praising her actions after the fact.

Yale University had a different story.

… and at Yale

While many Ivy League schools make similar changes to their financial aid policies, some credit the work of Yale University’s student government for getting the whole process started when they actively placed pressure on their own financial aid office.

The Yale College Council took the initiative to draft a survey asking students the number of hours they worked in paid jobs each week. They reported to the financial aid office that the average Yale student was working more than the suggested 10 hours for a full time student, likely in order to earn more money to pay their tuition and expenses.

The administration took note of this finding and asked the YCC to develop another survey that would determine which aspects of the financial aid package should be changed. During the winter break of 2007, the YCC put together a 27-page report prioritizing the changes. The YCC’s recommended changes were made to Yale’s financial policy, and many students enjoyed the benefits of the increased aid. The YCC has even been invited to Subcommittee on Admissions and Financial Aid meetings — meetings that were previously attended by faculty and staff only.

YCC President Richard Tao ’10 was one of the pioneers leading the charge to enlighten the administration.

“We impressed the administration when we brought it to their attention that the average Yale student was working more than the nationally recommended standard of ten hours per week,” said Tao, who hopes to continue the YCC’s involvement with the administration.

“We are trying to get a permanent seat on the monthly SCAF meetings. We also put together a seminar for incoming freshmen about financial aid. We play a role in helping to track financial aid for incoming students.”

Peter Salovey, the Dean of Yale College, called the attention given by student leaders “commendable” in a public press release.

A Comparative Look

But every student government has its own priorities.

At Dartmouth, in addition to representing students’ opinions to Dartmouth administrators and trustees, the student assembly operates a task force that investigates various facets of the university. A 2007 report investigated the recruitment of minority faculty members. The Dartmouth S.A. also runs a textbook exchange website for students, publishes a guide to on-campus housing and advertises a telephone wakeup service.

Harvard’s Undergraduate Council provides grants to both official and unofficial student groups. Any student groups are able to apply for funding from the U.C. The U.C. also maintains a database of courses offered and their sections, which provides more detailed information about course offerings to students.

The Columbia College Student Council runs Columbia College Days each spring, which includes picnics, alumni networking events and the traditional King’s Ball. Additionally, the CCSC has passed resolutions in recent years regarding such varied topics as climate neutrality, student financial aid the purchase of cage-free eggs by campus dining services.

University of Pennsylvania’s University Assembly, their overarching student government, distributes transit maps to all students. It, too, passes resolutions on topics such as blood donation policies and University housing.

A Chance for Progress

This may be the year for Cornell’s student leaders to create permanent changes on behalf of its student body.

“This is a group of brand-new, fresh-faced people with no history of political alliances. That’s why this year the expectations are very high. I feel the pressure personally. Already, we’ve overcome these hurdles,” said Lavin.

Several initiatives are in the works right now.

Locally, Lavin is working with the Ithaca police to find a compromise over the noise ordinance which has cost Cornell students hundreds of dollars in fines. The S.A. is working on a new carpooling software for students, a women’s issues committee and a newe SafeRide program. S.A. members themselves are working on charter changes regarding how they operate both internally and externally.

“[We’re going to] roll up our sleeves, get to work and also enjoy ourselves,” Lavin said.

Lavin’s enthusiasm, however, will have to overcome the wounded reputation of the S.A. that Slicklen continues to point out.

Lavin and Slicklen do agree on one thing: they are both calling on the Cornell student body to utilize the S.A. as a means of communication between themselves and the administration to help initiate positive changes.

As this academic year gets underway, students will find out which direction the Student Assembly will go from here: the Cornell way of the past, or Yale’s way of influence and change.