Personally, I'd like to see an expansion/variation on the UAC theme - i feel that, realistically, the UAC provides a very narrow scope in the way of an undergraduate perspective for the SEC, and while I'll offer that the SEC will generally act with the best intentions for our active undergraduate brothers, I'm sure this is one of the more difficult parts of the job, and this becomes exacerbated if the SEC becomes out of touch with the undergraduates.
Perhaps there is some sort of way that a much more inclusive system can be set up. We had our district conclave (dubbed the "colonial conclave" - which i actually like, although slightly cheesy) shortly before the end of the spring semester, which provided a great opportunity for the chapters in our district to share ideas and opinions. At this meeting, I felt that this would provide an ideal opportunity to open up the entire system through which the undergraduate viewpoint could expand.
As a preliminary way to begin, I would have each chapter provide one representative for a sort of committee dedicated to simply providing the undergrad view on issues affecting the fraternity. From here, all the delegates in a district would get together weekly, bimonthly, monthly, whatever makes sense for the most people. The opinions gleaned from these meetings would then go on to the UAC representative in that Area, whether at another, larger-reaching meeting, or simply in one-on-one conversation with the representative.
The actual role of the UAC would be similar, but perhaps expanded - the UAC should be able to present a case, from the true 'undergrad' perspective, to the SEC in any decision-making environment, and perhaps even participate in a mock vote, giving the SEC how they would rule over disciplinary events, new fraternity policy, and etc. The SEC would then have a definite perspective, taken from actual interaction (albeit a few times removed) with active brothers, with which to temper their collective action.
I guess the point is this - the UAC system could be far more expansive, on many levels. It would be difficult to implement and keep up, but would seem worth it to me to ensure that each undergraduate brother knows that, in some small way, his feelings can get to the very top. This also would give a more personal feel to the SEC, which at times can become a faceless "national" to the actives, which makes it considerably easy to 'blame' the entity for problems, etc. Finally, this would add go-betweens to the process of making suggestions or criticisms, allowing for an undergraduate brother to offer these without having to face a potentially imposing situation with a national officer, where other issues may come up and make the situation easier on both those making suggestions, and those receiving them.
I think the feelings of our undergraduate brothers are certainly taken into consideration when the SEC makes any sort of decisions; we offer our trust to these gentlemen that they will make the moves they feel will benefit the whole of the fraternity. However, we can make their jobs considerably easier, and make them more effective as a governing body, by implementing an enhanced system with which to provide them with a broader image of the feelings of the brothers they represent. As it is, we have a system to provide undergrad opinions, but i feel it can be significantly expanded and enhanced in operation and scope.
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