Since June of last year, ASPSU President Jonathan Sanford has worked to put together the Presidential Advisory Committee to help future student body presidents transition into office more smoothly.
When the new president takes office this spring, the committee will serve as an ongoing source of information regarding PSU’s future goals, local immediate issues and political engagements.
Sanford hopes to have between five and 10 people working in the committee, and the group is already beginning to form.
“We need people with life experience, who know how to be good leaders and stay committed,” Sanford said.
It will ideally be a combination of PSU alumni, legislators, government officials and civic leaders. Leaders such as Rudy Soto, who was the 2007–08 ASPSU president and a current candidate for Portland City Council, will aid in the construction of the committee.
Soto and Sanford have gotten to know each other through their involvement with the Student Veterans Association, and Soto has been available to offer Sanford advice.
“The Presidential Advisory Committee will benefit PSU’s entire student body by providing its most recognized elected spokesperson and representative with a structured sounding board from which they can draw wisdom and insight from past failures and successes,” Soto said.
Bridget Burns, senior policy advisor for the Oregon University System, has also been helpful to Sanford’s transition, and the transition of past presidents as well.
To gain the perspectives and ideas of a future committee, Sanford hopes to have a formalized kickoff, where all of the chosen advisors can come together and share their ideas. He hopes to have the group meet once a month to discuss past, present and future issues.
“It is important to know what past ASPSU officials have done wrong, to prevent those things from happening in the future,” said Laura Morency, the new ASPSU communications director who is working with Sanford to construct the committee.
In order to structure and maintain the committee more efficiently it will need funding from the state, according to Sanford, who is currently figuring out how to attain funding.
“We hope to receive funding and sponsorship from the government to help the committee get underway,” Sanford said.
Sanford said that through consultation with current and past PSU leaders, he has come up with a list of nine firm goals he wishes to accomplish by the end of his term.
“We’ve discussed the idea of forming a Presidential Advisory Committee various times throughout the past and I’m impressed by how Jonathan Sanford is moving forward with the kind of determination that will bring it to fruition,” Soto said.