The A.S. Council unanimously approved the creation of the Task Force on Associated Students Fee and Student Government Autonomy Inquiry on May 30. The task force will research the feasibility of A.S. Council organizational and fee autonomy, which could make it independent from the Office of Student Affairs.

According to its charter, which was submitted by Thurgood Marshall College Junior Senator Billy Ikosipentarhos and co-sponsored by Eleanor Roosevelt College Sophomore Senator Max Harrington, the task force will “”serve to evaluate the current funding situation of the [A.S. Council] and research the viability of student fee autonomy and autonomy of UCSD student government.””

Upon completion of its research, the task force will recommend the desirability of autonomy and, if autonomy is found to be desirable, recommend a timeline for the A.S. Council to follow. The recommendation will be made no later than the first week of Spring Quarter 2004.

Specifically, the task force is to concentrate on gauging the institutional costs and benefits of autonomy compared to the current system, and to investigate potential alternate sources of income for Associated Students. The task force will also research forms of autonomy at other universities, legal matters, methods of implementing autonomy at UCSD, the degree of student support for autonomy and potential effects on the student population and relations with administrators.

The A.S. Council currently falls under the jurisdiction of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and relies on the administration’s collection of student activity fees for the bulk of its funding.

Although debate over student representation and control over the Price Center and Student Center expansion was an impetus for the task force charter, the Internal Committee near-unanimously decided that the task force should not directly address this issue due to its highly politicized nature, Harrington said.

Phone calls placed to Vice President Internal and Internal Committee Chair Jennifer Pae were not returned by press time.

However, Harrington said that he is considering drafting a charter for a task force to investigate student control of the university centers.

“”If I do end up submitting this additional charter and [the A.S.] Council approves it, my goal would be for these task forces to work side by side,”” Harrington said. “”While separate issues, I still do believe that both are strongly interrelated.””

The task force on autonomy will be composed of 14 standing members, all of whom will have voting rights except the chair, who will be elected at the first task force meeting. Standing members will include one representative from the A.S. Council and each college, three representatives from the Graduate Student Association, and four at-large undergraduate or graduate students to be appointed by the task force and approved by the A.S. Council.

The Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Life, the Director of the University Centers, a representative from the University Centers Advisory Board and all members of A.S. Council and GSA are invited to sit on the task force as ex-officios.

The task force charter came to the council floor on May 21 but was tabled to allow for more discussion and to make amendments. As a result, the task force will not meet before next year, according to Harrington.

“”It will be impossible for most colleges to appoint a representative … prior to summer,”” Harrington said. “”Billy and I had hoped to convene the task force [before summer] to elect the chair and vice chair and to assign research projects in the summer. Instead, we’re going to make sure that colleges are on top of their appointments in the fall and we hope to get the task force going as soon as possible next year.””

The task force will meet weekly and report its progress to the A.S. Council and the GSA twice per quarter.