DeAnthony Nelson, vice president of internal affairs, said Union Board wants to seek general interest in the board and lay out its new membership plan.
“They’ll rank their top committees,” he said.
In the past, Nelson said, students used to simply sign up for certain committees and get involved.
Now, there is an application process.
“We just want to get a little more information on the people that join Union Board, why they were interested in joining and things of that nature,” he said.
Nelson said the application is a matter of obtaining pertinent information from the potential member and for the organization as a whole to see which committees are being more ?populated.
“Everyone will get into Union Board, basically,” he said.
This semester, Union Board is offering multiple sessions to give students more options.
“Last year the call-out was packed,” Nelson said.
He said he hopes to have a similar turnout this semester and said they are revamping the layout of the meeting to make it more ?efficient.
Potential members will attend an informational session in the Whittenberger Auditorium to learn a brief history of Union Board.
“And by history, I do not mean, like, boring history,” Nelson said.
They are also introduced to all of the committee ?directors.
Afterward, they will move to Union Board’s office on the second floor of the Student Activities Tower in the IMU to mingle with the directors one-on-one.
“Always the goal with any organization, any department, anything like that is to definitely increase,” Nelson said. “I definitely want it to grow.”
Two committees Nelson said he hoped would attract more members are the Current Topics Committee and the Gaming and Electronic Entertainment Committee.
According to Union Board’s website, the Current Topics Committee plans events, such as lectures and panels, to inform students about events on and off campus.
GEEC works on game and technology-related events, such as game nights or a comic con.
“I think those are the two committees that I think are awesome, but not too many people know what they do,” Nelson said.
Other committees include Live Entertainment, Late Night, Live from Bloomington, IU traditions, Campus Unity, Fun and Adventure, Body and Mind, Films, Canvas Creative Arts and Music.
Students do not have to attend the call-out to work with Union Board ?committees.
“We’re working on constant recruitment,” Nelson said.
He encouraged students interested in participating at any time to email him at ubvpia@indiana.edu and set up a meeting. That way, if students are interested later in the semester, they can still get involved.
Union Board is not only working toward greater student involvement this semester, but wants to expand their external affairs and partner with other student organizations.
“Many directors and exec members have sought interest in building bridges between different student organizations, and basically the entire campus, and Union Board,” Nelson said.
He said they would contact student organizations and see how they could work together this semester, even if it is just to promote the student organization itself.
Nelson said they might not be able to reach out to all 850 student organizations in the beginning.
“My goal right now is to hit at least 15 this semester,” he said.
