Editor’s note: This is the third article in a three-part series concerning student representation on University Council. The first article explained that students are not receiving their full entitled representation on University Council through low representative attendance. The second article discussed problems with attendance from Student Advisory Committee representatives.

Students are not receiving their full entitled representation on University Council from the Student Association.

According to the UC Constitution, it is the SA’s responsibility to supply seven representatives and the Student Association President as University Council representatives by Sept. 10.

Donna Mathesius, administrative assistant for UC, said her records as of Oct. 10 indicated that the SA president and five members of the SA are listed as members of UC for the 2007-2008 academic year.

Student Association President Jarvis Purnell said he is aware of the two open spots for SA members as representatives and is looking for people to fill the spots. Purnell sent out information about the open spots on University Council to SA senators and is working on spreading the word to fill the spots, he said.

“It’s quite hard to try to find students who want to actually sit on those committees and who would be willing to stay dedicated and go,” Purnell said.

In 2006-2007, the SA had nine representatives, including the SA president, listed on UC records. According to the UC agenda records for 2006-2007, the student representatives had an average attendance at meetings of 3.625. Mathesius’ records show that only 10 student members were named as representatives for the 2006-2007 academic year, she said.

Seven members attended the first UC meeting of the 2006-2007 academic year, while only three attended the last meeting of the year, according to the attendance records. On two occasions, only two members attended.

University Council meets 3 to 5 p.m. once every four weeks. The meetings run at an inconvenient time for students, as many have class at the time, Purnell said.

In addition, last year’s SA president, Adam Novotney, was the only student representative to demonstrate perfect attendance at UC.

“There are a lot of students interested in different committees and I’m not sure why they aren’t interested in [University Council],” Purnell said. “It’s one of the most important committees because it deals with a lot that directly affects students.”