On Sunday, May 5, the Student Government held a special session of the General Assembly to address the proposed election cycle amendment. The amendment would change the term of Student Government from a calendar year to an academic year.

Active members of the General Assembly will vote on the amendment next Sunday, May 12. Along with the amendment to change the election cycle, GA members will also vote on the transition process; that is, whether the current Student Government Executive Officers will complete their term, and if so, whether a newly elected Executive Board will take place in Fall 2013.

The amendment was first proposed at the GA on Sunday, April 28. According to the minutes, the reasoning behind the proposed amendment is to facilitate cooperation within the community. The Student Government would be able to “bond over the summer and start as a cohesive group at the beginning of the year” and, furthermore, make plans with school administration over the summer. As other university student governments in the UAE run on the academic year cycle, cooperation with these universities would be easier as well.

"I support amending the election cycle process for our school for several reasons," said Vice President Corey Meyer. "First and foremost is my own experience serving on Student Government."

According to Meyer, the amendment would address the transition complications that he experienced.

"Forming a government several weeks into the semester was quite onerous and led to a severe delay in issuing financial requests to SIGs and in developing our objectives and vision as a government," said Meyer.

Institution-level budgeting at NYUAD is currently organized according to the academic year, not the calendar year. As a result, the previous Student Government had already set the budget when Meyer's team came into office.

President Leah Reynolds explained that the idea for a proposed election cycle amendment came from informal conversation between members on the Executive Board. Reynolds then instigated a more structured conversation, bringing the topic to the GA.

Reynolds also saw the potential transition between Student Governments as a problem.

"Right now, a great deal of time is consumed by the catching up and having to build [interdepartmental] relationships," said Reynolds.

Two different votes were taken at the May 5 GA over the course of the meeting to change the draft of the amendment. The first vote determined that class representatives would continue to run according to the calendar year. The amendment would only affect the Executive Board officers: president, vice president, senator, alternate senator, secretary and treasurer.

If the amendment passes, freshmen would not be able to hold positions on Student Government because they would not have arrived in time for the elections taking part in May. This first vote ensured that the freshmen class representative would be on the Student Government from their first semester at NYUAD, taking the only freshmen seat.

Freshman Morgante Pell was concerned that the amendment would cause a lack of freshmen representation in Student Government.

"Most officers of the [Executive Board] will represent only three-quarters of the school," Pell said.

Sophomore Lex Peel agreed that freshmen should have more representation on the Student Government.

"NYUAD is democratic," said Peel. "I don't think it's very democratic to create a system where an incoming class can have a maximum of one voice in the Student Government, and that would be the Class Representative."

Freshman Class Representative Lingliang Zhang was concerned that a small segment of the student body—the active members of the GA—controls the outcome.

"I don't think it's fair that [approximately] 25 people in a room could change the Student Government, especially a Student Government and Constitution that were voted in by the school," said Zhang.

According to Student Government secretary Veronica Houk, there are currently 21 voting members on the GA. Depending on how they vote this Sunday, the current Student Government under Reynolds' leadership would either resign or stay on for one more semester. If the GA votes to end the current Student Government this semester, Zhang suggested that the decision would undermine the student body's election. Although Meyer supported the change in election cycle, he believed that the current Student Government should finish its term.

"I strongly believe that we made a commitment to one year of service when we ran for office and that we have a duty to voters to fulfill this commitment," said Meyer.

Once the proposed amendment was posted to the Facebook group Student Life, several students expressed concern that they do not have voting power on the proposed amendment. A referendum, involving the entire student body, was suggested as a more appropriate way to address this change to the Constitution.

"There should be a referendum," Zhang agreed.

While students in Abu Dhabi can gain voting power in the GA by attending the meetings, students studying abroad do not have this option. Peel, who is currently studying in NYU Florence, believed that he did not have adequate channels to participate in NYUAD student politics. Peel questioned the democracy of changing the election cycle.

"I don't see how you can honestly believe that it's an 'open discussion' when there's no publicized or, moreover, remotely convenient way for the international community to participate," said Peel. "We aren't just one campus anymore, we're everywhere."

Reynolds agreed that there is a need to include students studying abroad in NYUAD politics. Reynolds and her team were exploring long-term electronic forums to give students studying abroad greater opportunity to participate in NYUAD politics. Reynolds considered possibilities such as live-streaming GAs.

"[We are also] rethinking what sorts of issues need to be considered by the whole student body, rather than just the GA, and how to make those referendums happen," said Reynolds.

Active members of the GA will decide on the proposed election cycle amendment this Sunday.