A Minnesota Student Association selection group has chosen 13 students to serve on the Student Services Fees Committee.
MSA members will vote on the proposed slate of students, which includes both MSA members and nonmembers, today at the group’s meeting. The selection committee’s three members will present their proposal at the forum and will answer MSA members’ questions about their choices.
The fees committee is responsible for making suggestions to the administration about the allocation of money from mandatory tuition fees to campus organizations during the 1997-98 school year. Student groups will receive about $13.5 million in fees this year.
MSA members must either approve or reject the entire slate of candidates.
From a list of 50 applicants, selection committee members chose students they thought would provide a good balance of conservative and liberal views and who also exhibited strong decision-making abilities, said selection committee member Jeannine Pluhar. She said students were also chosen because they understood the different aspects of the University’s student organizations.
“I just wanted to try to put together 13 people that could come to some good decisions as far as how to spend all the student services fees,” said Pluhar, who is a Graduate and Professional Student Association representative.
Carlson School of Management senior Tung Nguyen and College of Liberal Arts student Shenoa Simpson are the other two members of the selection committee. Both were chosen by MSA members Nov. 5 at their last forum.
The selection committee members conducted interviews last week before making their final selections. Pluhar said every applicant was qualified.
“They were worried that we’d stack the committee with liberals, and we didn’t,” said Pluhar, who said she is fiscally moderate.
MSA President Helen Phin said she thought the proposed students would prove to the forum that they are a well-balanced group. “I expect that the forum will find that the fees committee is well-balanced and there are good people on the committee,” Phin said.