Mabida and Raab Restructure Cabinet

During last week's inauguration, Micaela Mabida, president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) and CSOM '11, swore in the 2010-11 cabinet of 70 members. The cabinet selection process, which differed from previous years, drew criticism from some within the campus community.

In selecting the cabinet for the next academic year, Mabida and Patrick Raab, vice president of the UGBC and A&S '11, chose from among 197 applications.

"It was a two-tier system," Mabida said. "First, we took applications for executive directors, and executive managers – we call that our senior leadership team."

During the second tier of the process, directors conducted their own interviews for cabinet members. The final cabinet was approved by Mabida and Raab during an April 13 UGBC meeting, Mabida said.

Three new cabinet positions were added to the roster this year – directorships in international relations, campus awareness, and fine arts.

The directorship of fine arts was temporarily in jeopardy this year. The directorship was previously occupied by Kathie Chang, A&S '11, whose position was taken off the UGBC cabinet roster earlier in the process.

Mabida said that, during the initial review, it was determined that it would be more effective for student organizations to hold their events through the Art Club.

"There were legitimate concerns over the effectiveness of the directorship and whether the student body could benefit more from a structure in which all departments would be held accountable to their own arts programming in cooperation with the Art Club," Mabida said.

But two weeks later, and following further discussion with executive directors and managers, Mabida and Raab reinstated the directorship.

"Throughout our review, a renewed directorship was proposed, including a more integrated role within the cabinet," Mabida said. "It was decided this renewed role could potentially be most effective in ensuring that the tremendously talented students at our school were represented."

Mabida and Raab's decision has drawn criticism from within the arts community.
"The position was reinstated two weeks after it was cut, and they didn't even call me back for an interview," Chang said. She said that she felt the recognition of her efforts led to her reinstatement. "I love the arts, and I love BC. These programs deserve to be featured, and I want it to be long term."

Moira Notarstefano, treasurer of the Art Club and A&S '11, said that, given the Art Club's budget, there would be "no way" the organization could have supported Chang's UGBC programs, which include Slam Fashionation and shuttle buses to the Museum of Fine Arts.

"There would be no way we could help with that," Notarstefano said. "With all the events we have, our budget is spent throughout the year."

Currently, $1,600 of the Art Club's $3,300 budget goes toward funding and maintaining student art exhibitions in Bapst Library.

Notarstefano said that, even if the Art Club were to request additional funding, it would be a difficult endeavor. "SOFC tries hard to make sure all the money it allocates to each club is appropriate to each club," she said. "It's not clear that we would get the extra funding to help with these events."

Chang's new directorship will be under the department of community relations, not student life. "It's not going to change," Mabida said. "But if you've been in the position for a year already, we'd like to see [the position] grow. We'd like to, essentially, see some improvement."

In addition to adding three new directorships, Mabida and Raab have also restructured the UGBC "teams" that assist with duties in various committees. While the duo has maintained some teams, such as the Women's Issues Team and the Academic Advising Team, it has cut the Street Team.

Mabida said that she hopes that the marketing component, previously provided by the Street Team, will be adopted by each individual team.

Mabida and Raab also added the Health and Safety and Campus Awareness Teams to the list this year, making for a total of 15 teams.