IGB to Fund Student Groups by End of March

The Interschool Governing Board, a new board created to fund student groups outside of the jurisdiction of the Activities Board at Columbia or Student Governing Board, expects to finance its first groups by the end of March. The implementation of the IGB has sparked controversy among some, partly because it will begin with a considerable amount of funds-a starting budget of $130,000-that some say will divert clubs away from the ABC and SGB.

The IGB was proposed after student groups like CUSmile that were not recognized by any of the six governing boards expressed a need for a governing body to oversee student groups that are comprised of populations from multiple schools across the University. The Office of the Provost approved IGB's constitution, drafted by a Senate Observer from the graduate student population at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Mina Chang, and a University Senator, Kimberly Gaston of the School of Social Work.

"We realized, yes, there are student groups that exist, but they're missing a certain population: groups that involve membership in different undergraduate and graduate populations," Gaston said. "Members of interschool groups are paying like Columbia College students and not getting representation."

The need for the IGB did not seem as tangible to some undergraduate leaders. "IGB is an excellent concept: it provides a home for groups that span multiple groups across the University," Dan Okin, SEAS '07 and president of the Engineering Student Council, said. "But from my personal talking to students, I haven't heard anything about this necessity."

According to SGB treasurer Jonathan Siegel, CC '08, IGB will also absorb SGB/ABC-recognized groups with predominantly graduate student populations, such as the Columbia University Chinese Students and Scholars Association. "We were pushing for the implementation of IGB to foster other groups like CUCSSA," Siegel said.

In order to be recognized by IGB, a group must have a minimum of 10 students with membership from at least two schools with a maximum representation of 75 percent from either school. "IGB has no restrictions. It doesn't matter what kind of group it is," Gaston said.

According to the constitution, a group's mission must "be interschool in nature" and foster "a strong academic and personal community for students on campus."

The decision-making board will consist of one undergraduate dean, two graduate professional deans, and five students who will be selected by the University Senate's Student Affairs Committee. The deans will self-select from the Dean of Students Office and the schools' governing associations will select student delegates.

Student delegates will be selected on a rotating basis: one seat shared between Columbia College and General Studies, and another between SEAS and Barnard. The three graduate seats will rotate among three different groups of schools. The IGB's first student delegates include Angie Chin, Dental Medicine '08, Tiffany Davis, CC '08, Gillian DiPietro, BC '07, Saif Mohammed, Law School, and Benjamin Yang, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Nahyla Bahri of the Graduate School of Business , Brian Parquette of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Kevin Shollenberger from Student Development and Activities will be the first deans to sit on IGB.

While some have argued that having deans on the executive board adds to the IGB's "hybrid" character, others aren't as enthusiastic. "I think that deans, as much as they ... think they know everything about students, are just not students," Keith Hernandez, CC '07 and president of ABC, said. "Deans will have the ability to overrule by the inequality of having a student and administrator sitting on the same board."

But University Senator Sumeet Shah, SEAS '08, said IGB would have significant impact. "There will be interschool clubs that will leave ABC or SGB to get funds. That is the biggest risk to having IGB."

Chris Riano, GS and co-chair of the Student Affairs Committee, said he didn't envision any SGB or ABC-funded groups switching to IGB unless they wanted to expand by including other schools.

Hernandez noted that the combination of IGB's access to the student affairs fund combined with what he called vague criteria for recognition is a "potential loophole" that may cause groups that were previously denied funding to recruit graduate students to satisfy IGB requirements.

The implementation coincides with a resolution passed by the General Studies Student Council condemning SGB's move from Earl Hall to the jurisdiction of SDA to be in the interest of CC and SEAS. "People are confusing IGB with SGB's move from Earl Hall and saying that IGB is causing centralization," Gaston said.

According to Riano, although funding comes directly from the entire student body of Columbia, IGB will reside within the structure of CC/SEAS, and use the advisors of SDA.

"When the time comes to walk the walk, at a time like this where we have a moment to really think about critically the divisions that exist between our schools, we have a moment where we can decide to ... make them real by reaffirming them with our structure or to really challenge them by deciding to move towards a more unified model," GS student and GSSC President Susannah Karlsson said at the University Senate's Student Affairs Committee hearing on Friday, Feb. 23.

Hernandez said the implementation of IGB might detract from the discussion of solving problems at an undergraduate level. "The dynamic of an undergraduate education is more cohesive and clear and unified than how it interacts with the J-school which is a 10-month program or the Med school which isn't even on this campus," Hernandez said, citing the disadvantages of centralization.

"I'd like to figure out how ... to deal with the undergrad community first before we deal with the University-wide community," Hernandez said. "It's like throwing more fire into the flames."