BOT Changes Meeting Format

Following a July retreat, BOT Chairman Tim Burnett established the committees, which will meet once every other month on Wednesdays, the day before the full board meets.

The new committees are Buildings and Grounds, University Affairs and Finance. The 13 board members will each serve on one of the three committees.

A Conflicts of Interest Committee has also been developed but will only meet when necessary.

The formation of new committees allows Student Body President Jen Daum to act as a "floating member," making her vote count where she thinks students need it most.

Daum's position on the committees is different than any other board member's. She will act as a voting member for the committee of her choice each Wednesday that sessions are held.

She said she is pleased about her position as a "floater."

"We, as students, will be able to decide where my vote will have the most impact," she said.

At least five other student government representatives will be at each committee meeting, Daum said.

The new committees are designed to handle routine items Wednesday and report in summary to the full board Thursday, when items will be voted on.

Burnett said that in past years, the full board wasted a lot of time discussing smaller problems and never got to spend time working on bigger issues.

Each committee will be given time during the full board meeting to make presentations of what was discussed, Burnett said. He added that in most cases, the board will accept the committee's decisions and will be able to move on to larger issues.

"The new committees will allow the full board to discuss issues that have more impact on the University or are more controversial," he said.

All issues will receive fair time in committee meetings, allowing business items to be discussed at a higher level. "The point is that things get handled as they should be," Burnett said.

The new format for the Thursday meetings will also allow University officials to bring up issues to the full board, Burnett said.

"It will take some time and reworking before it all gets sorted out," he said. "This is a significant departure from how we have done things in the past."

Burnett said he expects the full board meetings to run more efficiently now. "If we do what we are supposed to do, the board meetings will run faster and smoother," he said.

The new committee meetings begin today followed by a full board meeting Thursday. All are open to the public.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.