This year, six students are finally taking advantage of having an opinion when it comes to Simpson faculty meetings.

The first six to be given floor privileges are senior Kraig Thomas; juniors Stephen Henrich, Addi O’Conner, and Kelly Gray; sophomore Mike Henry and freshman Jessalyn Holdcraft.

Students have had this opportunity for as long as Murphy Waggoner, chair of the department of mathematics and chair of the Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee (EPCC), can remember; however, students have never gone about putting together this panel until this year.

The Simpson College Faculty Constitution allows for up to six members of the student body to sit in and have the opportunity to voice their thoughts; however, they will not be allowed to vote.

“They (students) do not have voting privileges,” Waggoner said. “Not even all people who attend faculty meetings (have) voting privileges. Only faculty who are full-time.”

The constitution says in section 3b:

“Six regularly enrolled, degree-seeking, full or part-time students shall act as all-campus representatives. These students shall be designated in September under the regular procedures of the student senate. Their names shall be transmitted by the president of the student body to the chairperson of the faculty for confirmation by the faculty at the October faculty meeting. Upon confirmation by the faculty, these students shall have floor privileges at all faculty meetings for the balance of the academic year.”

To be considered for one of the six positions, a student must nominate themselves or be nominated by another student. Following this, an application process takes place where hopefuls must answer why they or the person they nominated would make a good candidate for the panel. The members of the Student Government Association (SGA) then choose the six individuals.

“SGA votes on all of the nominations, but we are trying to keep the number of SGA people to a minimum in order to let other students have an opportunity to voice their opinions about academic problems,” said Andrew Dexter, sophomore class senator.

All of the selected student representatives will receive floor privileges and be a part of the EPCC.

“The chair of the meeting can call on the students to speak, without asking the house if the chair can allow them to speak, “said Steve Griffith, academic dean and vice president for academic affairs.

These faculty meetings are open to whoever wishes to attend, but they do not have floor privileges. They are solely observers and cannot place any type of vote.

By being a regular attender to these meetings, the student body can educate themselves on the policies being discussed. They then can voice their opinion to one of the six student representatives.

The six members of the student panel will serve for one year. After their yearlong term comes to an end, SGA will select new members to be the voice of the Simpson College students.