All 15 schools and colleges at MU have a student council or advisory organization that functions as the main governing body for that college. These councils put on events for students that focus on helping them reach goals within their specific programs.
Although unaffiliated with and lesser known than MSA, student councils provide opportunities to students within the same college rather than to the student body as a whole.
“I think my favorite part is seeing the students develop through our various events,” said Chrysa Cousley, president of the Trulaske College of Business Student Council. “We actually get to make a difference in the student experience in Trulaske College of Business, and that is an invaluable experience you can’t find anywhere else.”
Cousley’s presidency began in August. Since then, she has helped plan a variety of events, including the Etiquette Dinner, which teaches business students professional etiquette outside the conference room, and Trulaske Leadership Academy, which brings high school students from St. Louis and Kansas City to the college to learn leadership skills.
The college’s student council, along with student councils in 14 other colleges, receives funding from the Student Activities Fee, Student Fee Review Committee Chairman Bill Vega said. This is a flat fee that is pre-determined every year by the committee and based on each school’s enrollment numbers.
Cousley said that her student council received about $12,000 in funding from the Student Activities Fee last year. This does not include money from corporate sponsorships, she said, but pales in comparison to MSA’s nearly $1.7 million budget.
Funding aside, the Trulaske College of Business Student Council is mostly an autonomous organization, Cousley said.
“We’re pretty independently run,” Cousley said. “We have had people from MSA come and sit in on our meetings, and they do this about once every year, but I wouldn’t say we’re a branch of MSA.”
Other student councils on campus share this sentiment, including Mizzou Engineering Student Council, which was designated “the best in the nation” by the National Association of Engineering Student Councils in 2011, according to its website.
“If we’re overseen by anyone, I’d say it would be Student Services within the College of Engineering and the Dean’s Office,” MESC President Jessica Stromsdorfer said. “We work with them to make sure we’re getting everything organized that’s going back to the students, but we don’t work with any higher up administration.”
MESC organizes several events, including a barbecue at the beginning of the year for all of the college’s student organizations and the Dean’s Forum for open discussion about the direction of the college, Stromsdorfer said.
Both presidents said they enjoyed the human interaction that comes with college-specific student government.
“This semester we’re volunteering at more things rather than saying, ‘Hey, can you be a sponsor?’” Cousley said. “So we’re actually using our manpower where we can.”
Each council has different rules regarding the selection of representatives. According to their respective websites, most councils follow a standard, democratic election procedure while some, such as MESC, accept applications decided on by advisers.
However, money management never goes unmoderated, and for the Trulaske College of Business Student Council, there are two advisers who oversee such activities.
“The assistant dean of the college has been our adviser for seven or eight years,” Cousley said. “We now have a new adviser [from the advising office] so there are actually two co-advisers this year.”
_Edited by Emily Gallion | egallion@themaneater.com_
