Stony Brook University’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Vice President of Student Life Tanisa Rahman presented a new amendment to the USG Constitution at the Senate meeting on Thursday, Nov. 21 regarding the election process for her current role.
The discussion focused on refining the requirements to ensure that candidates are adequately prepared for the role, emphasizing experience, training and a rigorous vetting process.
The key points of the proposed changes were that candidates must have prior involvement in the Office of Student Life, served on the Student Activities Board (SAB) or completed a shadowing period of 20 hours, approved by the current vice president of Student Life. Applicants must also receive a two-tiered approval, which involves at least a three-fourths majority of the USG Executive Council and two-thirds of the SAB.
However, the 20-hour shadowing mandate caused a division within the Senate.
Rahman highlighted its importance in helping candidates understand the day-to-day demands of the position.
“There is a significant learning curve and people do not realize just how much back-end organizational skills are needed, how many people you are interacting with on an everyday basis, how much you are doing all the time,” Rahman said.
However, at-large Senator Uzair Mahmud and others raised concerns about the feasibility of the requirement, especially for students juggling multiple commitments.
“I’m just wondering if there’s any kind of historical precedent or incident that shows that someone who does not have all or one of these conditions has done something otherwise harmful in the position,” Mahmud said.
Rahman explained her experience working with those who are unprepared for such an involved role.
“In the past, we have seen a [vice president] who was absent from their role and their assistants did a whole lot of the work,” Rahman said. “Quite frankly, they were elected out of popular vote, not because they were exactly passionate about the work.”
Nonetheless, Senators still worried about the feasibility of such a rigorous training process with the chance of not being elected.
Suggestions were made to reduce the shadowing requirement to 15 hours and mandate a reflection paper or report that would complement the hands-on experience. Rahman supported the compromise and addressed the need for understanding while accommodating time constraints that also existed within the office, such as a candidate not being able to shadow the vice president.
New suggestions ranged from further reducing the requirement to 10 hours to implementing variable hours based on prior experience. Some proposed tailoring the hours to a candidate’s familiarity with the role — a compromise welcomed by many Senators.
The dual-vetting process was another point of contention. While many argued it ensures only the most qualified candidates appear on the ballot, others questioned its necessity.
Many Senators suggested that in the future, this vetting process would allow for a candidate to be purposefully blocked from being elected if both the SAB and the Executive Council disapproved of them.
“Is it possible to just change the position to an appointed position as opposed to a vote? Because I feel like the popular vote does not get fully reflected,” at-large Senator Aman Mistry suggested.
USG President Nistha Boghra also commented that the intensity of the vetting process may closely resemble an appointment rather than a voted-in position. She raised concerns that excessive requirements could undermine the organization’s democracy, comparing it to selectively determining candidacies.
Ultimately, a document outlining the election process was drafted but tabled due to unresolved debates and time constraints of the Senate meeting. Executive Vice President Ray Chen moved to postpone the vote, allowing for further discussion that will refine the proposals and ensure a consensus.
The meeting concluded with plans to revisit the legislation, highlighting the importance of finding a balance between rigorous preparation and equitable access for all candidates.
