Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Student’s Council’s Appointments board has filled all open committee spots for this semester. Appointments Committee chair Nate Erskine ’10 says he was “very happy with the turnout”: the board received close to thirty applications for a total of sixteen vacancies. Overall, sophomores made up the majority of the applicant pool followed by freshman and a smattering of upperclassmen.
More than third of all applicants vied for 8 open spots on the committee’s new Student Health Advisory Council, which now forms a vital link between StuCo and Worth. Erskine believes the concentration of SHAC applications is truly telling of “how interested the student body is in health concerns on campus.”
Erskine believes that the Appointment Committee’s main aim is “to keep communication lines between the College and students open at all points,” allowing more of a student voice in improving day-to-day campus operations. The Appointments Board, made up of Erskine and 4 other members, reviewed submissions and interviewed candidates last week. They were looking in particular for representative students who were comfortable working in close alliance with staff and faculty.
Currently, there are no plans for the creation of any additional committees, but the Appointments Committee is looking to revamp its website in order to “provide more expansive info about the committees just so that [applicants] have a better idea of what committee they would like to serve on.” The upgrade is scheduled to occur before regular appointments in April.
