The Student Council revamps itself, creating smoother transitions for newly-elected members

Student council elections, which traditionally were held at the end of March, took place this year on Feb. 8 to allow for more training. The current council hopes an earlier start for new council positions will lead to more confident leadership come August.

“We want people to know how to lead a meeting and how to talk to our peers without sounding above them,” Student Council President Claire said. “It’s just more transition to
focus on the leadership experience” of student council.

The new council will be mentored for a two to three week period following elections and then will begin gradually taking over leadership starting in March and continuing through the end of the school year, allowing them to get their feet wet before starting the 2012-2013 school year on their own.

“We’re hoping that there will be a greater amount of time for the new council to pick up from the old council and to have a sense of what they’re getting into next year without the long three months in between being elected and starting in office,” Claire said.

Current sophomore Student Relations representative, Allie sees the benefits of the new system. “I think it will be good because the new members of the council will have time to adjust and actually have experience with what they’re doing, so there will be more change
for the better in the next year.”

In prior years, the transition included two meetings that overlapped between councils, giving the new council little time to adjust before taking over.

“It wasn’t really informative about what we were going to be doing,” Claire recalled of her experience with the transitional meetings.

Honor Council President Brianna felt the struggle as well. “It was towards the end of the year, so it was really hectic and we didn’t really get that much time for mentoring,” she
said.

With the new system, new council members will be able to prepare for a greater period of time before taking charge, focusing on “listening skills, collaboration, census building and group think,” Dean of Students Meshea Matthews said.
Though the council members are excited about the new changes, voters see potential downfalls to the new system.

“I think that people should vote at the end of the year so that over the year they can get to know the candidates and what they’re all about,” junior Casey said. “That plays a major role for me if I’m choosing a candidate.”

The benefits, though, go beyond just the timing. This year a lot of emphasis will be put on leadership and understanding the concepts of holding these positions, Claire said. Matthews is even planning on taking the new council to a leadership conference at the Air Force Academy to have a “real training period,” said Claire.

“Spring will become the skills, calendar work and preparing for next year, really walking you through a skills set of how to be a leader,” Matthews said. “The idea is identifying who
you are in the mix of things and helping you establish the type of leader you want to be to your board.”

Claire understands the importance of going into leadership with a sense of confidence and motivation. “A big part of it is, you want to find the inspiration inside ourselves to lead,” Claire said. “It’s more than just having your position; it’s wanting to do your position and to do it well.”

– Caitlin