Accountability, I believe, is one of the most important facets of maintaining an efficient student government. Without holding student representatives accountable for effectively representing their constituencies, ASOSU can not successfully work towards solving student issues.

 

Maintaining accountability starts by reinforcing the expectations that are already held of representatives. Currently, ASOSU representatives are required to hold one office hour a week, but there is not a system in place to hold representatives accountable for those hours-- and until recently, there hasn’t been a way to communicate with students when and where those hours will be held in a timely manner. Office hours are important because they not only allow representatives to work on house projects and legislation, but they also give students the liberty to meet with their representatives and discuss issues that they would like to be addressed.

 

However, there is a lot more that can be done within the house to improve accountability outside of maintaining office hours. It is within the Speaker of the House’s power to create activities, and events that are conducive to improving the overall structure of the house. This can be done by creating social meet and greet events between students and representatives, increasing the amount of professional development trainings, and having weekly check-ins with all members of the house.