The Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) Senate is deliberating whether to add a new commissioner position, which would be focused on the oversight of clubs on campus.
Senate will be hiring a student to pilot the position, Commissioner of Clubs and Organizations, and determine what the job would entail in order to be effective. The pilot position will be unelected and chosen by a Senate committee. Applications for the position are due March 4. The pilot position’s responsibilities will extend through the spring semester beginning the second week of March.
Assistant Director of the Smith Campus Center and Administrative Advisor for ASPC Ellie Ash-Balá said that the new position will provide support for clubs that Senate currently lacks.
“There’s the position of Commissioner of Clubs and Sports,” Ash-Balá said. “But historically, that’s been someone more interested in the athletic side of things. The Senate has been thinking that it would be good to have a commissioner who’s more interested in clubs.”
“Adding the new commissioner could lead to a lot more involvement in ASPC with clubs and organizations,” ASPC President Sarah Appelbaum PO ’13 said. “It would be good to have a more active liaison with the clubs.”
The position of Commissioner of Clubs and Sports was added to ASPC in the 2008-2009 school year, replacing the Commissioner of Sports. But Commissioner of Clubs and Sports Emma Wolfarth PO ’14 said that structurally, the position is still sports-focused.
“My job for the sports aspect of the position is very clear,” Wolfarth said. “There’s no real infrastructure for the club aspect. There isn’t a set definition of rules for what the commissioner of clubs does.”
Appelbaum said that simply changing the job description for the Commissioner of Clubs and Sports to be more club-focused is not the solution.
“It doesn’t make sense to add responsibilities to a position that already has a lot of responsibilities,” Appelbaum said.
Wolfarth said that while she serves as a liaison between clubs and Senate by pointing them in the right direction if they need help, a more club-focused position could improve clubs on campus.
“I think if we could create a position that was really active, it would ensure that clubs would be more coordinated,” Wolfarth said. “Fewer clubs would go unnoticed, and there would be less overlap between clubs.”
Ash-Balá, Appelbaum, and Wolfarth said that they haven’t heard complaints from clubs about a lack of oversight. The idea to create the new position was initiated by Appelbaum and others at the start of the fall 2012 semester.
“It was definitely something that I talked about, but I know it was on the minds of others too,” Appelbaum said.
If Senate decides to add the new position, the constitution would have to be amended, meaning that the student body would vote in the spring 2013 elections on whether to create the position.
“We are definitely in the information gathering stage,” Appelbaum said. “We would love feedback from anyone about whether they think a club position would be beneficial.”