Board Members or Representatives?

People (both outside and inside this organization) are occasionally unsure as to whether the students who sit on the Board of Directors are there as Members of the Board, with the duty of acting in the best interest of the organization as a whole, or as Board Representatives, advocating for their individual houses in a central forum.

The answer is, to a degree, both.

First and foremost, they are members of the Board. They are obligated to make decisions in the best interest of the organization, even when those decisions may run counter to the interests of the houses in which they live. This is their primary responsibility, as these students are the highest authority and stewards of our organization. They are not accountable to anyone except each other and the houses that elected them.

In practice however, these students should also serve as the conduit between the individual houses and the BSC central governance. They should represent the Board to their houses, and they should embody the values of their houses at Board. 

It has been debated whether to refer to these students as Board Members or Board Reps. Either choice obscures an aspect of the job, and it is my personal opinion (Daniel Kronovet, President Fall 2010) that it is more important that these members understand their obligation to the BSC above their representational duty to their houses. As such, I refer to these students as Board Members almost exclusively. Other students who would rather emphasize the representational aspect of these roles may refer to them as Board Representatives, or Board Reps.

Elliot Goldstein, ASUC Senator (2010-11) and BSC Member (2009-) has suggested the term "Representative-Director", with the Board being referred to as the "Board of Representative-Directors," or colloquially as "BoRD."

It is important to remember, if you choose to refer to these students as "Representatives" is that they do not represent to another body. The problem I found with Representative, which prompted my shift to Member, is that most students imagined that the Board "Representatives" were advocating to a separate, non-student Board, which is incorrect, and makes it impossible for members to understand our governance and make their voices heard within it. My hope was to clarify the issue and help people to better understand the structures that govern our cooperative.

Whatever words you choose, these students are the ones who set the direction for this organization and are the highest authority within it.