In an effort to add more informed votes to their board, the Student Leadership Council will appoint eight student representatives to their council this September. The representatives will become an integral part of the SLC team by gathering student opinion specific to their academic division before the board votes on the issues at hand.

Each pair of representatives will become the specialized voice for one of the four academic divisions, including Business and Technology, Health and Sciences, Learning Resources and Liberal Arts.

“We wanted our votes to be more defined and accurate,” Student Leadership Council President Kiley Pooler explains. “We usually have the same people coming to the meetings, and they represent only one opinion. So the special job of these representatives is to find out the opinions of people within their division.”

The SLC decided to shuffle up their structure because of an overly complicated voting process that lacked representation.

“We looked at the other community colleges in the state and found that none of them did their voting the way we did,” Pooler said. By adding the student representatives, the council’s new structure reflects that of the majority of community colleges in Illinois.

Over the summer, the SLC board revised and edited their operating documents, making minor tweaks throughout. Included in this revision was the creation of the civic engagement officer. The position, held by COD student Emily Owens, will help with voter registration on campus as well as keeping the SLC up to date with voter legislation throughout Illinois. Owens will work with Pooler on staying informed with anything that may affect higher learning throughout the state.

Students wishing to apply for one of the eight representative positions can complete the online application by visiting: https://cod.collegiatelink.net/organization/slc/news/Details/92821. Applications are due Friday, Sept. 2. Applicants will present a brief speech during the SLC meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 6 in addition to answering questions from the board. The council will then review the candidates and choose the eight representatives they wish to move forward with.