The Smith Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA) has introduced a new point
system for clubs to address a projected room shortage, but the presidents of some clubs
worry that larger groups may benefit more from the program.
New SUSA President Brian Doyle announced the plan this semester, which seeks to
give more active clubs their preferred time slot for meetings. The policy is in response to
the Smith School’s plans to offer more evening classes starting in the fall, which means
fewer rooms will be open for club meetings, according to SUSA advisor David Wilmes.
According to the preliminary document distributed to club presidents, organizations
will receive points for activities ranging from participation in SUSA meetings to hosting an
event. Although the document suggests that clubs with more points will get their
preference of room as well as meeting time, Wilmes says this is a mistake.
“It’s only the time that clubs can have their meetings which will be impacted,”
Wilmes said, stating that the form distributed by the SUSA executive board was incorrect in
stating that room choice would also be affected. He also clarified that the point system
does not affect room or time reservations for special events outside of regular club
meetings.
While the policy seeks to fairly decide which clubs get their first choice of time slot,
leaders of a few smaller clubs have expressed concern that the new system may unevenly
benefit larger organizations.
“Clubs like the [American Marketing Association] collect dues and have more
resources to put on events,” said Kasra Mojtahedi, president of the relatively new Business
Law Society. “They also are older and have more connections to bring in speakers,”
Mojtahedi said, referring to the points awarded to a club if they procure a guest speaker.
Manav Khurana, president of the Global Business Society, shared some of
Mojtahedi’s concerns.
“I think larger clubs will easily get more points, because they can have events more
often than smaller clubs,” Khurana said. “I think they should have arranged for clubs to
hold meetings in other buildings instead of [the point system],” Khurana added.
The presidents of the more sizeable clubs did not return requests for comment.
Doyle says that he has heard and considered such complaints, and feels the point
system will adequately address them.
“We tried to diversify the point system as much as we could, to give the opportunity
to smaller clubs to get more points,” said Doyle. Specifically, Doyle cites things such
as points for partnering with another club to host an event, and for having a club
representative attend a SUSA event. Doyle also said that because he realizes smaller or
newer clubs may not have the connections to bring in guest speakers, SUSA would be
willing to use its own contacts to assist them if they need help.
He also wants to stress the fact that the point system is not yet set in stone. “This is
only a trial period, and we are always open to suggestions and willing to listen to
concerns,” he said. As an example, Doyle said that he was interested in Khurana’s idea of
having meetings in other buildings, saying that while he and his board had considered that
option, they hadn’t thought people would be willing to meet outside of Van Munching Hall.
“If a club wanted to meet somewhere else rather than have a later time slot, SUSA
would be happy to look into that for them,” Doyle said.
Operations Management Society president Joe Tempchin, who openly voiced
concerns about the points plan when it was announced at the first SUSA meeting of the
semester, said he has been satisfied with Doyle’s response to the issues he raised.
“I was just concerned about the small clubs that don’t have the membership to have
as many meetings. I think the concerns have been heard, and I know this is just a trial
stage,” said Tempchin.
SUSA gave club presidents a chance to provide input on the new system at the
semester’s first president’s meeting on Monday. After that, Doyle says the official point
system will be available on SUSA’s website, marylandsusa.com.