While many are aware of student government elections at BYU-Idaho, few students know what actually happens after the votes are counted.
Students vote for three officers on the Student Council: president, executive vice president and administrative vice president. They preside over the Activities Council, formed by 19 unelected student directors appointed by the Activities Director, an administration member.
The Activities Student Council’s role is focused almost solely on directing the social events on campus. Directors cover categories such as fitness, dances, arts, women student activities and sports. The administration gets involved rarely, and most decisions about activities are left entirely to the students.
Attendance at events they plan is not the most important issue. The purpose of the Activities Student Council is to allow as many people as possible the leadership experience and training that comes from service, said Susan Bevan, a member of the Activities Council and a senior from Germantown, Md.
“It’s about building people up and creating leaders,” Bevan said. Bevan currently serves as the Student Alumni Director.
The Student Council is training students for leadership in activities related projects, but they’re missing some common threads that run through most universities’ student governments.
Our three elected officials hold no authority in curriculum review, faculty review or administration. The Student Council does not defend students in legal, academic or school policy issues, nor does it have a method for students to review their work, limiting lines of communication from the average student to the administration.
Some of the differences may stem from the highly religious nature of the school, though BYU’s Student Council has a more dynamic role in shaping student life than BYU-I’s. BYUSA, their student government body, includes an advisory council that meets with the administration acting as “wise counselors and philosophic advisors to the administration,” according to byusa.byu.edu.
BYUSA submits proposals to the administration on subjects ranging from baby changing stations to class size to the construction of new buildings
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