Now that the Student Senate has reached a conclusion on how to better represent students, the next step is to assess which Recognized Student Organizations want to be represented.

The new student representation system passed the Student Senate last week, with hopes of senate members reaching more students. Under the new system senate members will represent as many RSOs as necessary to fill the need, while the previous method had each senate member representing just one RSO.

Student Relations Committee chair Donna Fernandez said the new system will work better than the previous two representation methods because it removes expectations placed on students who were unfamiliar with student government.

“You can’t expect them to come to you,” she said on Monday.

Those involved in drafting the new bylaw also looked at problems of previous systems and utilized their research to enable them to reach the most people.

One portion of this representation system will provide for a senate member to attend RSO meetings to give a senate report and hear the RSO members’ concerns and opinions on important issues.

A previous system allowed senate members to choose one RSO to attend, but that system was replaced because it limited the number of people that could be reached. The new system will assign a senate member to every RSO that wants one, for a potential of 150 groups being represented, rather than the 30 chosen by senate members.

A big task in assigning representation to those RSOs that want it, is finding out if they want it. The Student Relations Committee has compiled a list of RSOs and their contact information and will begin calling the groups’ presidents. A committee meeting Tuesday will focus on what to say when calling the RSOs, Fernandez said.

Depending on how many RSOs would like a senate member to go to their meeting and give a report, each senate member will be assigned an equal number of RSOs.

Kevin Leverence, president of the Residence Hall Association, on Monday said the new bylaw was a good idea because attending RSO meetings is a really good way for the senate to represent students.

Kristen Wooden, co-president of PRIDE, also agreed the new system is a good idea and its better than the RSO Council. However, she said her organization probably would not need the representation, because many of the groups members are not students.

PRIDE is a group that provides a place for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people and their allies to meet and discuss issues that affect them, according to their Web site.

“Its not really interesting to them,” she said of her organization.

After this semester, the assignment process can be done prior to the beginning of the semester through RSO renewal systems, Fernandez said.

This new bylaw did not transpire overnight. Fernandez said she has been thinking about it for quite some time, even before she was appointed Student Relations Committee chair.

“I really wanted to tackle this whole problem,” she said.

She and senate members worked together, brainstorming and drafting the bylaw for several hours.

Of course, with any new system, there is a potential for problems, but Fernandez said she and others who were involved in creating the new bylaw tried to take possible problems into account when drafting it.

During debate at a previous senate meeting, members expressed doubts that students would not attend the informational meetings. However, Fernandez said committee members are responsible for publicizing these events.

Another concern brought up by senate members was the potential of all 150 RSOs requesting representation. However, Fernandez said she does not anticipate such a response, because a lot of RSOs do not have regular meetings. If there was such a response, the Student Relations Committee would work to get senate members to all the meetings they can.

“I don’t anticipate that happening at all,” Fernandez said. However, she also said she would be thrilled if that did happen.

The new representation system has two more parts, geared at reaching more than just members of RSOs.

Three to four informational meetings will take place throughout each semester, to focus on a topic important to students. Fernandez said some planning is being done, with a goal of having a meeting within a month. These meetings will be similar to the RSO Council, which was part of the immediate past representation system.

In addition, senate members now post senate reports throughout campus in academic buildings and residence halls on Mondays, Fernandez said. Reports are brief and highlight information concerning students. For example, Fernandez said this week’s report included information about non-senate members serving on senate committees and the library’s pending opening.