Student Union President Daniel Acheampong ’11 announced Tuesday the creation of a student committee and a student advisory position that will solicit student opinion and report to university officials concerning administrative structure following the flight of many top members and in the search for a new director of The Rose Art Museum, respectively.
The committee will “present student opinion to the Administration Structure Advisory Committee” and future president Fredrick Lawrence, according to Acheampong’s campus-wide e-mail.
The administration structure committee was created earlier this month following the resignations of Provost Marty Krauss, who will step down in May, and Senior Vice President for Students for Enrollment Jean Eddy, who will leave next week. It consists of remaining senior administrators who will assist in filling the two top posts.
“The purpose of this [administrative] advisory committee will be to research student opinion, present it to the structure committee and participate in the search process for the candidates” for provost and enrollment Senior Vice President, Acheampong said in an interview with The Hoot.
“[Lawrence] acknowledged the importance of having student involvement,” he said. “He and I decided to create a student advisory committee that I will supervise.”
The committee, as immediately created, consists of Acheampong, his appointed Director of Academic Affairs Marla Merchut ’12 and graduate student association president and vice president Jane Harries and Joby DeCoster. The remaining three spots will be filled by application to the Student Union office.
“We want to open it up to the student body to get different students with different perspectives,” Acheampong said, “to make them feel involved with this recommendation process. I was really sure of wanting to get a chance to meet these candidates, really similar to the presidential search process.”
The search committee for a new director of The Rose seeks to fill a position that has been vacant for more than a year, since the university neglected to renew the contract of former museum Director Michael Rush in June 2009.
Acheampong said that “every person has a vested interest [in the museum].”
“I think [President Jehuda Reinharz] did a fantastic job in getting students involved” with the issue. “The university realizes the importance of student involvement.”
“The Rose is not just an art building,” he said, “but it’s a place of learning, and it’s important to those who use it to have input.”
On the criticism and public discussion of the proper use of The Rose art, Acheampong said only that “the best thing for us to do is move forward.”
