Committee Meetings

The UA has five regularly standing committees – the basic unit of UA work and the foundation of most of our lobbying and advocacy: Social Justice, Student Life, Dining Sustainability and Facilities, and Academic Initiatives. Every Representative and Associate Member is a member of a committee and may attend meetings of other committees.

Committee Directors chair committee meetings and represent that committee on Cabinet and to high-ranking administrators. They are the official experts on the Committees’ portfolio. They are mentors to their committee members, prominent leaders on campus, and members of the UA’s leadership team.

Committee Meetings occur weekly at a time set by the Committee Director in consultation with the committee’s members. This is a time for members to give updates, discuss their projects, and determine strategy.

Members are assigned to a committee on the basis of their interests. If your interests change at some point in the semester, you may request a transfer from the Speaker, and it will be considered by Exec.

Sometimes, a project will fall outside of your committee’s jurisdiction but your interests still fall under that committee. This is fine! Just be sure to consult with the Speaker, your Director and the Director of the other committee while completing your project. We want to make sure that no one feels pigeon-holed into their committee, and that working in teams is encouraged!

Academic Initiatives -- Mon, 7-8 pm -- JMHH 304 (ai@pennua.org)

Dining, Housing, and Transit -- Monday, 7-8 pm -- ARCH 108 (dht@pennua.org)

Equity and Inclusion -- Wednesday, 7-8 pm -- JMHH F36 (ei@pennua.org)

Community engagement and sustainability -- Wednesday, 8:30-9:30 pm -- Houston Hall 111 (ces@pennua.org)

While each committee's charges seem self-explanatory in nature, it is important to know that UA members should not feel sectioned off by their committee assignments. Working across committees is encouraged and applauded, and will be prioritized more and more!

Committee Director Meeting Checklist

• Establish task for each member for the next week, even if they are absent (email or text them)

• Communicate every member's tasks to Exec liaison

• Fill in Master Project List

Executive Liaison Committee Checklist

• Minutes or record of conversation for committee director to reference in the future

• Take attendance and add to attendance Google Doc [[link]]

• Update Master Project List for each committee member, including the committee director's under the Cabinet Tab [revise]

  • It must be clear what they are to accomplish by the next week

  • This includes all absent members

  • Check to see if every member has completed their task

  • There must be a new task every week, regardless of whether the member completed their previous task

• If you must be absent, you must inform the Speaker at least 4 hours before

• If the committee director will be absent at cabinet, be able to communicate the status of each member's project work to the Speaker

• Edit Master Project List