The Student Council of the American University in Cairo (AUC) is forming three new permanent committees to help the council operate more effectively.
A monitoring committee will monitor the activities of the SU and analyze its budget; a legislative committee will be responsible for assessing and amending the constitution of the General Assembly and the by-laws and rules of the Student Council, the SU and the Student Judicial Board (SJB) and a public opinion committee will analyze and implement the needs of the student body, said Ingy El Atrash, journalism and mass communication representative on the Council.
But according to Mohamed Ramadan, a chemistry junior and a council representative, the committees are still “on hold” until the Council can select members to serve on each one. It is still unclear when they will begin operating.
Once operating, the committees can meet whenever necessary, without forcing the entire council meet on a weekly basis, said Ramadan.
Composed of representatives from each constituency of the student body—undergraduates, graduates, study-abroad students, ELI students and freshmen---the Student Council is the legislative branch of the SU. It is responsible for making and amending the laws, rules and guidelines that govern the SU, said El Atrash.
“The intention [of the monitoring committee] is to see if [the SU] is fulfilling the goals [outlined] in their plans,” said Ramadan. The committee will have up to seven elected members from the student council, he added.
“The previous student council came up with the idea [of forming] a monitoring committee,” said Mohamed El Taweel, head of the Student Council.
“The committee will be dedicated to monitoring the SU activities and expenditures. They will decide when to meet to discuss anything they want and then present it to the [entire] council,” said Ramadan.
For example, any student wishing to run for SU president must submit a plan to the Student Council. Following the election, the monitoring committee will oversee the implementation of the plan throughout the school year, said Ramadan.
The SU is required to submit several reports to the Student Council throughout the year. The first report, submitted during the summer, gives an overview of the activities and plans for the school year ahead. Two progress reports are submitted during the fall semester, including a plan for the spring. Finally, towards the end of the spring semester, the SU submits its final report, said SU president Mohamed Yussr.
“We give four reports to the Student Council to [show] what we are doing. They mainly focus on how we are doing with the budget and the financial statement we have,” he said.
Once the monitoring committee is formed, it will be responsible for handling these reports.
“The reports that we will receive [will show] how the SU activities are going and to see how the money is being spent,” added Ramadan
“I think that forming such a committee will be a great benefit to everyone participating. The SU will know that there is someone monitoring them, which will make them do their best,” said Mostafa El Menshawy, apolitical science junior.
“The public opinion [committee] is [responsible for] knowing the students’ opinion about what’s going on at AUC,” said El Atrash, adding that the Council has not yet decided on how the committee will work, but that it will probably conduct surveys among the student body.
“Each organization has certain tasks that they have to stick to. [The student council’s] role is different than that of the SU and the SJB, but in the end we all work for the same purpose, which is the benefit of AUC students,” she added.
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