On May 3, the NYU Student Senators Council voted to ratify the Global Student Council Constitution. This followed ratifications by the General Assembly in Abu Dhabi and the Executive Board in Shanghai in late April, and meant that the Constitution officially came into effect. It was a milestone, more than a year in the making, as part of a joint effort by the governing bodies at the three portal campuses. The process was led by Rachel Law, Global Vice Chair at NYU SSC, Chloe Song, Director of Global Affairs at NYUSH’s Executive Board and myself, the Global Vice President of NYUAD’s Executive Board.

We began this year with a realization that there needed to be an official platform through which we could unite our Global Network University and achieve more equitable representation for the voices of all constituents in policies, initiatives and events that have a global significance or component. A major step in this direction certainly came in 2014 when two seats were created for representatives from Abu Dhabi and Shanghai to sit on the Student Senators Council. Yet it was clear there was still more work to be done. To share just one example, consider the site ambassadors program.

Previously, each portal campus appointed one ambassador for each NYU location besides NYU New York in order to keep students connected and offer unique programming for students studying away. In 2016, the program was abruptly absorbed by the Office of Global Programs in New York, and while Abu Dhabi and Shanghai students could still be appointed as ambassadors, the selection process was executed by that office in consultation with the SSC. The motivation behind this decision to boost efficiency and further unite the network by having one ambassador for all three campuses was positive. However, it could have been done more equitably and effectively if perspectives from Shanghai and Abu Dhabi were considered when making the reforms. This example, along with many others, made it clear that there was a need for more than the status quo of occasional, informal contacts between the governing bodies at our three campuses.

To this end, we spent the fall semester drafting the GSC Constitution and soliciting feedback from our respective constituents across the globe. After hearing from a diverse set of voices, we made numerous changes and began the ratification process. Ultimately, we created a GSC which will be led collaboratively by one representative from each of the portal campuses. The Abu Dhabi and Shanghai Student Senators will also serve as voting members of the GSC, and the Chairperson of the SSC Global Committee will only vote to break ties. All fourteen site ambassadors, student government presidents and global committee chairs from NYUAD and NYUSH will serve as non-voting members. Finally, the Chairperson of the NYU Student Government will represent the SSC on the University Senate.

The focus of the GSC will be on issues of global significance, and it will not be involved in localized issues of significance only at one site. Matters we envision coming before the GSC include policies such as IT’s new multi-factor authentication requirement, initiatives such as the site ambassadors program and events such as the Global Day of Service.

To be clear, we have no illusions that the GSC is a panacea that will put questions of global governance to rest. The GSC is, and always will be, an imperfect work in progress made better by each successive class. In fact, the Constitution requires an annual review to make improvements. As we take a moment to both reflect back and look ahead, however, we believe the creation of the Global Student Council is a major step in further unifying NYU around the world and equitably representing student voices on global policy, initiatives and events.

I wish the inaugural Global Student Council for the 2017-2018 academic year all the best. Their success would be a success for everyone at NYU.