At the September 20th board meeting, the Students United Board of Directors adopted a new set of standing and ad-hoc committees for the 2020-2021 year. These committees will convene virtually for the duration of the year and may convene at different dates/times than in previous years to allow for accessibility during the pandemic. The full list of committees of the board are as follows:

Standing Committees

Delegates Assembly Committee

Purpose: Delegates Assembly shall take the following actions:

Make recommendations regarding the Students’ Platform and mission statement.
Make recommendations regarding proposed amendments to the Students United Bylaws, Policies and Procedures Manual, and Financial Policies.
Make recommendations regarding the next fiscal year’s budget.

FY21 Timeline: At the request of the board, Delegates Assembly shall convene virtually in November, February, and April. The dates/times will be determined based on the availability of appointed students. Board members shall appoint their representatives by Monday, October 26th 2020.

Participation: Each campus is allotted the following number of seats, to be appointed by each campus’s board member:

Bemidji: 3
Metro: 6
Mankato: 10
Moorhead: 4
St. Cloud: 8
Southwest: 4
Winona: 6

Internal Affairs Advisory Committee

Purpose: The IAAC shall be responsible for:

Reviewing the Board of Director’s governing documents.
Providing guidance, ideas, and recommendations on issues being discussed by the board and/or requested by the board.
Annually reviewing progress on the strategic plan and providing relevant input and ideas.

FY21 Timeline: At the request of the board, the committee shall convene virtually in November, February, and April. The dates/times will be determined based on the availability of appointed students. Board members shall appoint their representatives by Monday, October 26th 2020.

Participation: The committee shall be composed of two (2) students from each of the seven Minnesota State universities appointed by the campus’s board member.

Legislative Priorities Advisory Committee

Purpose: The LPAC shall be responsible for:

Providing guidance, ideas, and recommendations on Students United’s state and federal legislative advocacy.
Providing space for committee members to discuss shared legislative topics of interest.
Reviewing Students United’s state and federal legislative advocacy progress and providing input.
Recommending state and federal legislative advocacy annual program outcomes for the following year.
Discussing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access issues at the legislative level.
Discussing environmental and sustainability issues at the legislative level.

Participation: The committee shall be composed of two (2) students from each of the seven Minnesota State universities appointed by the campus’s board member.

System Priorities Advisory Committee

Purpose: The SPAC shall be responsible for:

Providing guidance, ideas, and recommendations on Students United’s system-level advocacy.
Providing space for committee members to discuss shared system-level topics of interest.
Reviewing Students United’s system-level advocacy progress and providing input.
Recommending system-level advocacy annual program outcomes for the following year.
Discussing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access issues at the system level
Discussing environmental and sustainability issues at the system level.

Participation: The committee shall be composed of two (2) students from each of the seven Minnesota State universities appointed by the campus’s board member.

Ad-Hoc Committees

Campus Engagement Advisory Committee

Charge: The Campus Engagement Advisory Committee shall provide student input, ideas, and recommendations in the process of determining the need—if any—and scope of Students United’s presence on each individual campuses over the next several years.

Scope: While the process of employment, including student employment on the campuses, is owned and operated by the Executive Director, the questions surrounding previous iterations of on-campus Students United programming, such as the campus staff/committees program, are strongly connected to the broader vision, mission, and goals of the organization, the purpose of the organization, and the strategic planning process. As Students United adopts a new strategic plan before the end of FY21 and aligns the FY22 (and beyond) budget/programming with it, Students United will seek student input to help align Students United’s mission/vision for the next five years with Students United’s programming goals related to the campuses.

FY21 Timeline: The Campus Engagement Advisory Committee shall meet at least once in November and once in March, unless otherwise determined by the co-Chairs and/or Board.

Participation: The Campus Engagement Advisory Committee shall be composed of a maximum of two (2) students per campus. One of these students—per campus—may be a Students United on-campus staff/campus committee program alum. Each member is appointed by the board member from their respective campus. Board members may choose to appoint themselves or officers of the board, in addition to their student/alumni representatives, if they are interested in being more active in the process.

Strategic Planning Advisory Committee

Charge: The Strategic Planning Advisory Committee shall provide current and former students’ input on the strategic planning process with the goal of ensuring comprehensive student ideas and experiences are reflected in the setting of the organization’s goals and direction for the next five years.

Scope: Current and former students (alumni) will provide ideas, insights, and feedback regarding the vision, mission, and strategy work of Students United as it relates to the Strategic Planning process for FY21-FY26. Staff and board officers will also have internal meetings to provide ideas, insights, and feedback. These meetings will be reported out to the committee. Alumni and current students may meet separately to focus on mission and program work specific to those areas. They may also convene together when work is more collective.

FY21 Timeline: The committee may meet in late 2020 and shall meet in the Spring of 2021 unless otherwise determined by the Chairs and/or Board of Directors. Meeting dates and time shall be determined based on the availability of appointed members. This work will be completed by May 2021. The Students United Governing Board of Directors will approve the final draft of the strategic plan. Plan implementation will begin in fiscal year FY22

Participation: The committee shall be composed of a maximum of two (2) current students per campus appointed by the campus’s governing board member and two (2) former students/alumni per campus appointed by the Scholarship & Alumni Board. Governing board members may choose to appoint themselves, in addition to their student representatives, if they are interested in being more active in the strategic planning work.

Get Involved

Interested in participating in a committee? If you are an alum interested in the Strategic Planning Advisory Ad-Hoc Committee’s alumni seats, please email Director of Development Christina DeVries.

If you are a current student enrolled in any of the seven Minnesota State universities, you can email your board member to express interest in a committee or multiple committees.

BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY

Gabe Spinks | he/him
Email Gabe

METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Hamisha Alkamooneh | she/her
Email Hamisha

MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD

Nico Arias | he/him
Email Nico

MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, MANKATO

Andrew Trenne | he/him
Email Andrew

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

Esther Oluborode | she/her
Email Esther

ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY

Surkhel Yousafzai | he/him
Email Surkhel

WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Clara Kuerschner | she/her
Email Clara

If you have questions regarding committees of the board, please email State Chair Jonathan McNicholes.