A Proposal for Comprehensive ABC Reform

The Activities Board at Columbia is the largest undergraduate governing board at Columbia University created in 1998. We represent cultural, academic, pre-professional, publication, science, engineering, dance, vocal, theater, and special-interest groups on campus. The primary mission of the ABC is to serve and represent the interests of our constituent groups. Since our inception, the ABC has realized the importance of a strong policy arm and agenda, and has established a committee dedicated to identifying and solving the problems facing our student groups. However, as the institutional scope of the ABC has increased year after year, this policy arm has been gradually deemphasized. The ABC now represents roughly 160 student groups, with a board composed of four executive board members, thirteen representatives-at-large, and three council liaisons. We receive an average of ten new group applications per semester, with that number continuing to increase annually. With such growth in the operating duties of the ABC, we have lacked the necessary manpower, resources, and time to properly address pressing policy agenda items. We now realize that a transformation must occur for any meaningful changes to take place. Given the current climate of student government in which ABC exists, we believe that this year is the proper time to enact a comprehensive overhaul of ABC structure, policy, and process. We have had excellent relationships with the undergraduate student councils and our peer governing boards, as they have demonstrated their willingness to work with us and support us in fulfilling our mission of promoting student life at Columbia. We are eager to continue our relationships with them to enact these proposed reforms. The Spring 2013 semester will be devoted to researching and proposing a comprehensive reform platform that will focus on three core areas: 1. A Group Evaluation Process 2. The Electronic Approval Form (EAF) 3. A Direct Representative Democracy Furthermore, our standard committees will be reorganized into three policy-oriented teams to pursue additional reforms that have been suggested by our groups over several years. These teams, respectively managed by the ABC Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary, will be solely focused on reassessing internal ABC Policy. Within these teams, ABC representatives will take personal ownership of projects and propose resolutions to be added to the reform package. The ABC will choose projects that can be reasonably completed within the proposed reform period. ABC representatives will continue their regular function of approving student group EAFs.

Because of the demands on manpower and the redirection of priorities, the ABC will be suspending Appeals and New Group Recognition for the Spring of 2013. Groups wishing to appeal for more funds should contact sources such as the Joint Council Co-Sponsorships Committee (JCCC). Groups planning on applying for recognition should take advantage of the ABCs Unrecognized Group Support (UGS) Policy, which allows potential ABC groups to book space through our board. This allows them to demonstrate successful programming that will strengthen their potential for recognition in the future. The ABC strongly believes that this moratorium will allow us to enact reforms that are in the best interests of our board and member groups. Below are details on the three core areas that ABC will be reforming. The ABC will collect feedback from all relevant stakeholders, including group leaders, administrators, and student council members prior to the passing of any resolution that is a part of this reform package.

Core Reforms
Core Reform I: A Group Evaluation Process The ABC will find a way to ensure that funds are more efficiently and fairly distributed to our groups. As the number of our member groups has exponentially increased, it has become progressively difficult to review the activities of each club to determine overall health. The ABC will implement a process for formal and regular group evaluations, which will take a detailed look at a groups spending, programming, and potential. Based on these evaluations, we will determine allocations and recommend defunct groups for de-recognition. Unlike prior years, we will not be placing as strong an emphasis on precedent when deciding allocations. Every year, the ABC is given the responsibility of distributing roughly $400,000 of student life fees from CCSC, ESC, and GSSC to our groups. We take this responsibility very seriously and are committed to improving our processes to ensure efficient use of communal funds. Core Reform II: The Electronic Approval Form (EAF) Every few years, a technological change will warrant the ABC to reexamine our own procedures of event oversight. In the past, groups would need to come to ABC office hours to get approval for expenses. Several years ago, we established an internal online system for event approvals through cuactivitiesboard.org. At a time when all other Columbia forms were on paper, our system allowed groups to keep track of their funds online, with the convenience of getting ABC approval through email. This semester, LionLink has been fully implemented, replacing paper E-Forms with online Financial Transaction Forms (FTFs) that can be used to purchase goods from vendors. We now realize that there is significant overlap and redundancy between the EAF and the FTF. As a part of this reform package, the ABC will scrutinize the relevancy of the EAF in these changing times. If necessary, we are open to eliminating or altering the scope of the EAF. Core Reform III: Transition to a Direct Representative Democracy Currently, groups elect ABC representatives at the annual spring town hall. All 160 organizations collectively vote for all thirteen representatives, who are then assigned to specific groups by the ABC President based on avoiding conflicts of interest. This means that those elected have not traditionally represented the clubs with which they are most familiar. The ABC will consider a transition to a direct representative democracy, where each category of groups will elect their own

representative. This restructuring will ensure that representatives have a definitive understanding of their groups priorities and needs based on their own personal experiences. This will strengthen the relationship between the ABC and its member organizations, ensuring that the ABC board is truly representative of its constituency.

Additional Reforms
Alongside these three areas of core reform, there are several additional initiatives that the ABC will pursue, including but not limited to the following: ABC Programming/Discretionary Budget Because our representatives oversee categories of groups with common goals, we believe that they are ideally positioned to promote inter-group collaboration. We will empower representatives with a discretionary budget to plan events and will determine the appropriate guidelines for these funds. ABC Awards In past years, the ABC has given awards to groups that have shown extraordinary growth, leadership, and potential. This has gradually fallen out of practice. The ABC will reinstate group awards to recognize the hard work and dedication of our most successful clubs, which will then be eligible for ABC grants to promote future growth. Re-Categorization of Groups While many ABC groups fall under natural categories, such as Theater, Dance, etc., there are some that do not fit as well. We will work with SDA and OMA to reexamine the way clubs are categorized, increasing the overlap between ABC representative and advisor categories. This will create a more intelligent and efficient method of grouping. Reexamination of New Group Recognition and Appeal Processes While the one semester moratorium will give the ABC more resources to pursue these reforms, we will develop a long term solution for the continuing increase of new group applications. In addition, we will investigate whether the responsibility of our Appeals Committee could be permanently transferred to the Joint Council Co-Sponsorships Committee (JCCC), with ABC representation. We will work with the student councils to determine the considerations and implications of such a transition. ABC-SGA Dual Recognition Reform Currently, forty-one ABC groups are dually recognized with the Barnard Student Government Association (SGA). Based on feedback from these groups, the ABC believes that significant changes are necessary to revamp the current system. We will continue working with the SGA to develop a plan for comprehensive dual recognition reform. Paperless Publications Every year, our publications spend roughly $30,000 in student life fees printing their issues. We have observed that many groups have struggled to develop strong distribution plans and hundreds of issues have remained unread in storage. Over the past two years, the ABC has promoted distribution by purchasing publication racks and establishing a mailbox-delivery system. We will continue this work

by developing an electronic platform that will allow groups to easily upload their publications and share them via social networks. Adopting this platform will enable publications groups to print fewer physical copies, saving significant funds while expanding readership. Throughout the process, we will ensure open communication with the InterPublications Alliance to fully understand the needs of publications groups.

Concluding Remarks
The ABC is extremely excited to begin working on these promising policy initiatives. We believe that by refocusing our priorities for one semester, the ABC will become a board with more efficient procedures, with representatives more in tune with their groups, and with a more thorough method of allocating student life fees. This is the largest and most ambitious initiative that the ABC has ever undertaken, and it will fundamentally change the way ABC groups interact with their governing board at Columbia.

A Resolution for Comprehensive ABC Reform Unanimously passed on December 5, 2012 by the Activities Board at Columbia

WHEREAS, since its founding in 1998, the Activities Board at Columbia has expanded to represent 160 groups, becoming the largest governing board at Columbia, based on member groups, board size, and net funds controlled; and WHEREAS, the policy agenda of the ABC has been deemphasized as the full attention of all twenty members are needed to fulfill their obligations to existing and new groups; and WHEREAS, applications for New Group Recognition have consistently increased year after year, showing no signs of slowing down, requiring the redirection of valuable time and manpower; and WHEREAS, the ABC recognizes several fundamental structural and procedural problems with the organization of its board, and recognizes the need to refocus efforts and attention on large reforms; and WHEREAS, ABC member groups have urged us to reconsider our allocation process, citing that it relies too much on historical precedent, to reconsider the use of the Electronic Approval Form, citing its redundancy, and to reconsider our representative election process, citing that representatives may not always be experienced in the groups they oversee; and WHEREAS, many policy initiatives have been proposed over the years, but have fallen to the wayside due to lack of manpower and loss of institutional memory as new boards are elected: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the ABC will spend the Spring 2013 semester focused exclusively on comprehensive reform in the following core areas: A Group Evaluation Process, The Electronic Approval Form (EAF), and A Direct Representative Democracy; and RESOLVED, that the ABC board will pursue additional reforms in areas including but not limited to: ABC Programming, ABC Awards, Re-Categorization of Groups, Appeal and New Group Recognition Process Reform, Dual Recognition Reform, and Paperless Publications; and RESOLVED, that in order to have the proper resources and manpower to pursue these initiatives, the ABC will be placing a moratorium on our Appeal and New Group Recognition functions for the Spring 2013 semester; and RESOLVED, that these various initiatives will be combined into one comprehensive reform package to be presented to student group representatives, Columbia administrators, and student council members for feedback prior to implementation; and RESOLVED, that unless this reform package explicitly changes the procedures for Appeals and New Group Recognition, the ABC will resume normal functions at the beginning of the Fall 2013 semester