UNC Association of Student Governments President Andrew Payne says he plans to send delegates to future United States Students Association conferences, but it is still unclear when or how USSA delegates will be chosen.
The ASG is an annual dues-paying USSA member, which entitles the association to send five delegates from UNC-system schools to attend the two conferences USSA holds each year.
USSA is a Washington, D.C.-based student lobbying organization. At conferences, delegates from each constituent organization vote to determine USSA's stance on student-related issues.
Although the ASG has been a member of USSA for years, there was no codified system by which the association chose its delegates until April. The failure last spring of a controversial referendum that would have made UNC-Chapel Hill a USSA member separate from the ASG drew attention to the lack of procedure for appointing USSA delegates. Several ASG members expressed concern that the ASG was not fully utilizing its USSA membership.
The concern prompted UNC-CH ASG delegate Lee Conner to propose an amendment to the ASG's constitution requiring that the ASG vote annually on its five USSA delegates. But it is unclear what, if any, effect the amendment has had. Former ASG President Cliff Webster sent UNC-CH students Sandi Chapman and Erica Smiley to represent and vote for the ASG at the USSA summer conference in Pittsburgh. Webster said the ASG did not vote on the two delegates because summer break made doing so logistically impossible. The amendment allows for presidential discretion under such circumstances.
The weeklong conference focused on racial profiling, juvenile justice and hate crimes. Chapman said she was disappointed that only two students represented the ASG at the conference. "ASG should be responsible to make sure all five of their votes go," she said. "If not, ASG really isn't doing its job at all."
Payne said he was aware of the representational problems that occurred before he became president in September and that he is planning to send ASG representatives to USSA conferences if the funds are available. He said the ASG's annual budget has not yet been approved, making it impossible to tell if funds would be available.
But Chapman said the USSA should be an important issue to ASG members. "There really needs to be a commitment to make sure enough delegates go."
