Jennifer Tuttle will be named UB's new delegate to the University Council on Monday - however, students will not have a chance to vote for her. She is the only student who completed a petition for candidacy in the race.
The elections were scheduled to take place Monday, Oct. 7, but the administration appeared to be confused on how to handle the election with a single applicant.
On Monday, instead of a regular election, "one student government secretary will cast one vote, officially electing the representative," stated Dennis Black, vice president of Student Affairs via e-mail.
This is not the first time the University Council Elections Committee has run into trouble. The committee was forced to rewrite the election rules and regulations after complications with last year's UC elections, due to complaints and confusion regarding the date of the elections. However, the revised rules neglected to address the possibility of an uncontested race.
The University Council is an advisory board made up of businessmen and women appointed by the governor. In addition to the governor's appointments, one student is elected every year to sit on the council, which must meet with President William R. Greiner at least two times each semester.
According to Black, the first University Council meeting of this semester is scheduled to take place Wednesday.
Issues discussed within the Council have the potential to be put before the SUNY Board of Trustees or Gov. George Pataki, said Tuttle, a junior philosophy major minoring in political science.
Tuttle is also running for speaker of the undergraduate Student Association Assembly, a position she held last year. She is also the vice president of the Faculty Student Association and a member of the Alcohol Review Board.
Tuttle said she realizes that many students are not aware of the University Council's existence or purpose, but if a qualified student took office, there would be a greater potential of influencing decisions made by Greiner on university matters.
"There is not a lot of information circulating about the University Council," she said.
She said she wants to see cohesion restored to the election process, so that "(the students) can represent a more united front to the (University Council), and generally speak with more authority for students."
