The BOT, the UC Senate, and the ISS: Just who makes the decisions here on campus that affects you, the student? Taking notice of who runs the show at the University can help students have their concerns addressed and even bring real change to how things are done on campus.

The Illinois Student Senate is the main body of student government on campus and speaks, represents and advocates for the student body in an official capacity to the University administration. The student senators are elected every year by students in each of their respective colleges and have a total of 50 members. Larger colleges have more representative members.

The ISS is also part of the Urbana-Champaign Senate, a larger University legislative body that has another additional 200 faculty members, also from representative colleges.

The UC Senate votes on things that directly affect the student body, such as admission requirements to University colleges, student discipline and educational policy.

“Students should follow the UC Senate as much as they would the U.S. Senate,” said Amanda Palazzo, outreach committee chair for ISS. “When students are active and knowledgeable, it’s harder for people to make decisions without them.”

Palazzo said that a vocal student body cannot be ignored and student issues have come up in the past with the UC Senate, including Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day and the merger of Theoretical Applied Mechanics with the Mechanical Engineering program.

Also, the UC Senate can propose amendments to the University of Illinois Statues to the Board of Trustees. The BOT has 13 members, three of them students. Each University of Illinois campus – Springfield, Urbana-Champaign and Chicago – has a student trustee elected by the students every year. Of these three, one of them is selected to have an official vote on the Board by the Governor, who also serves an ex-officio member.

The remaining nine trustees are all nominated by the Governor to serve six-year terms and each of them has a vote. The Board is responsible for overseeing the money given to the University by the state and has the final decision making power on all three campuses.

Among the most highlighted issues are the eventual fate of the Urbana-Champaign symbol Chief Illiniwek and any tuition and fees increases.

Students looking to get involved with University government can start by taking on a staffer position with ISS, which allows students to be involved in campus committees.