Student Affairs Committee
The Student Affairs Committee of the University Senate is the committee that represents student interests. It comprises the 24 voting Senators from the schools of Columbia University (including Barnard and Teachers College) and one non-voting observer from the Union Theological Seminary.
It is also coterminous with and functions as the student caucus or student voting bloc of the University Senate, as all student Senators are automatically members of the Student Affairs Committee. The Student Affairs Committee does not function as a "super-student council". However, it is primus inter pares and first in the order of precedence of student governance, as it is both the senior body, and the only body at Columbia University representing students across all the schools. Student members, therefore, are subject to very high standards and expectations.[1]
Contents
Name
According to the Senate's founding documents, the "Student Affairs Committee" once comprised a limited number of students along with faculty and administrators, while the "student caucus" comprised all twenty-four. However, the pre-1995 Student Affairs Committee's mandate was limited strictly to student issues, while the all-encompassing student caucus was able to weigh in on all Senate issues.
In 1995, a merger was effected, faculty and administrators left the Student Affairs Committee, and the entire twenty-four member body was (incorrectly, and somewhat nonsensically) known as the "Student Affairs Caucus" until 2010. In 2010, it was definitively rebranded as the "Student Affairs Committee" to emphasize its open, deliberative nature, as opposed to identifying it strictly as a voting bloc.
As a vehicle and organ for representing the students of all schools at the University, it is in a sense the successor to the Columbia University Student Council. Unlike the Council, however, which was a toothless advisory organ, SAC members are full voting members of the University Senate, with equal voting power to faculty and administrator members.
Leadership
Due to the requirement and responsibility of the SAC leadership to work across different schools, departments, and campuses, many of SAC's leaders tend to have multiple Columbia degrees. Columbia College and Columbia Business School appear to be the most common, although General Studies and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are also in there.
| Year | Chair/Co-Chairs | Annual Report |
| 2014-2015 | Will Zvara, Business '15 Zila Acosta, Law School '15 |
|
| 2013-2014 | Matthew Chou, CC '14 Akshay Shah, SEAS '14 |
|
| 2012-2013 | Eduardo Santana, CC '13 (until January 2013) Richard Sun, CC '13 Anjelica Kelly, Business '13 |
|
| 2011-2012 | Alex Frouman, CC '12 Adil Ahamed, Business '12 |
|
| 2010-2011 | Tao Tan, CC '07, Business '11 | Link to Report |
| 2009-2010 | Andreas Svedin, PhD (Astronomy) '12 | Link to Report |
| 2008-2009 | Genevieve Thornton, CC '02, Business '09 Amena Cheema, Arts '09 |
Link to Report |
| 2007-2008 | Andrea Hauge, CC '02, Business '08 John Johnson, Law '08 |
Link to Report |
| 2006-2007 | Chris Riano, GS '07 Marcus Johnson, CC '07 |
Link to Report |
| 2005-2006 | Adam Michaels, Business '06 Holly Snow, Barnard '06 |
Link to Report |
| 2004-2005 | Matan Ariel, GS '06, Business '11 Nathan Walker, MA (TC) '02, MDiv (UTS) '05, EdM (TC) '08, EdD (TC) '13 |
Link to Report |
| 2003-2004 | Matan Ariel, GS '06, Business '11 Brian Tobin, MPH '05 Nathan Walker, MA (TC) '02, MDiv (UTS) '05, EdM (TC) '08, EdD (TC) '13 |
Link to Report |
| 2002-2003 | Roosevelt Montás, CC '95, MA '96, MPhil '99, PhD (English) '04 Jerald Boak, CC '95, Arts '04 Marni Hall, MA '01, MPH '05, PhD (Public Health) '07 |
Link to Report |
| 2001-2002 | Rohit Aggarwala, CC '93, MPhil '98, Business '00, PhD (History) '02 Roosevelt Montás, CC '95, MA '96, MPhil '99, PhD (English) '04 |
Link to Report |
| 2000-2001 | Rohit Aggarwala, CC '93, MPhil '98, Business '00, PhD (History) '02 | Link to Report |
| 1999-2000 | Rohit Aggarwala, CC '93, MPhil '98, Business '00, PhD (History) '02 | Link to Report |
| 1998-1999 | Records missing | |
| 1997-1998 | Corby Dale, MPH '95, MA '98, MPhil '00, PhD (Psychology) '00 | |
| 1996-1997 | Montimer "Monty" Mason, GS '97 Joshua Ratner, CC '98, Law '02 |
|
| 1995-1996 | Frank David, MA '96, MPhil '96, PhD (Pathobiology) '00, MD '01 | |
| 1994-1995 | Records missing. | |
| 1993-1994 | R. Shary Crossfield-Peguero, CC '91, Law '94 (Student Affairs Committee) Mitchell Wong, CC '94 (Student Caucus) |
|
| 1992-1993 | Eric Finseth, Law '94 Sean Gaffney, Arts '93 |
|
| 1991-1992 | Records missing. | |
| 1990-1991 | Records missing. | |
| 1989-1990 | Matthew Kohl, GS '90 | |
| 1988-1989 | Tom Kamber, CC '89 | |
| 1987-1988 | Ellen Ostrick Knight, CC '88, Law '91 | |
| 1986-1987 | Records missing. | |
| 1985-1986 | Steve Cancian, CC '86 |
Board of Visitors
The Board of Visitors of the Student Affairs Committee was established in 2010 by SAC Chair Tao Tan and SAC Chair Emeritus Chris Riano. The Board of Visitors is charged with serving as an "advisory body to the Student Affairs Committee, and will be composed of those alumni who ... exemplified the highest ideals of leadership while at Columbia University, and who continue to achieve the highest levels of success within their chosen profession."
The Board possesses a tripartite mandate:
- To support and assist the current members of the Student Affairs Committee on a non-executive advisory basis.
- To pass on institutional knowledge and, when necessary, facilitate introductions and relationships that have served student Senators well in the past.
- To serve as a development vehicle to support the activities of the Student Affairs Committee.
Membership and Election
The Board of Visitors consists of nine members, with one class of three elected every year. The Board is self-perpetuating and elects by its own processes two of the three seats. The third is elected from a list of nominees provided by the current Student Affairs Committee in consultation with the Alumni Affairs Committee of the University Senate.[2]
Each Visitor serves for a three-year term, renewable once. Emeritus status can be conferred upon the end of service by a majority vote of the seated board.
Honorary Visitors are appointed in extraordinary circumstances by unanimous consent for individual alumni "of particular merit and accomplishment, and who have a long and successful record of encouraging and fostering student involvement in University governance."
Alumni of the Student Affairs Committee who have served for at least one year are eligible for membership one year following graduation from the Columbia University degree program wherein the University Senate service took place. Visitors may not concurrently serve as student or alumni Senators.
Current Board
The seated Board of Visitors is as follows.
| Name | Senate Service | Board Term |
| Chris Riano, GS '07, Chair | 2005-2007 | 2010-2013 |
| Adam Michaels, Business '06, Vice Chair | 2004-2006 | 2010-2013 |
| Roosevelt Montás, CC '95, MA '96, MPhil '99, PhD (English) '04 | 1999-2003 | 2010-2013 |
| Matan Ariel, GS '06, Business '11 | 2003-2005 | 2011-2014 |
| Justin White, GS '05, Business '07 | 2001-2003 | 2011-2014 |
| Rebecca Baldwin Fuller, Nursing '04, Nursing '07 | 2004-2006 | 2011-2014 |
| TBD | 2012-2015 | |
| TBD | 2012-2015 | |
| TBD | 2012-2015 |
