About the council
December 2021 to fall 2022 — the working groups, roundtables and letters that turned an idea into the official student council of the College of Arts & Sciences.
01 — Origin
Compiled from the council's own records and from the first generation of SCAS executive members.
Dec 2021
Texas A&M sets out the plan that would bring Liberal Arts, Geosciences and Science together as one college. The beginning ideas of a student council are workshopped that same month.
Spring 2022
The council's mission, purpose and constitution are formed. Bradley Matthews, Associate Director of Career Services, is adopted as Faculty Advisor; his experience on the college working group lets the council form as closely to the administration's own formation as possible. An invitation to apply for Vice President positions goes out by bulk email, and four Vice Presidents are appointed by the end of the semester. Roundtables are held with existing councils and with the student body. A meeting with Provost Tim Scott aligns the marketing of the college merger with student leader input. Founders Alexis King and Olivia Lambert introduce the council to university Deans at SGA's Council and Cookies.
May 2022
The College of Arts & Sciences Working Group writes to the Department of Student Activities backing the creation of SCAS as the official student council for the newly formed college. The letter notes that a charter will follow from college leadership, setting specific charges for each academic year and indicating designated financial support — hosting a semesterly event for A&S students, volunteering for donor days, partnering on college-wide initiatives and serving on academic committees among the examples given.
Fall 2022
SCAS becomes an officially recognised organisation, and its leadership attends the College of Arts & Sciences Launch Party. Vice Presidents are trained and goals become more structured. An officer application is released by bulk email, officers are selected by the executive team, and they receive leadership training from Vice President of Membership Jonathan Hoar. Membership applications open and SCAS admits its first membership class. A De-Stress in the Plaza event is hosted for ArtSci students, complete with campus resources and free goodies.
Spring 2023
SCAS recruits its second member class and holds weekly meetings with guest speakers and professional development workshops. VPM Jonathan Hoar hosts a SCAS Retreat in Aggie Park with team building games and leadership activities. Service Officer Nida Ali plans letters to custodians, a 12th Can drive and SCAS attendance at The Big Event. The Events Committee hosts the first ArtSci Carnival for more than 600 attendees, with free food, student organisation and university resource tabling, and live entertainment. The council convenes an Arts & Sciences Student Organization Roundtable to foster unity among college-affiliated organisations, and elects the 2023–2024 executive team.
02 — Mission
We seek to unify the students, faculty and administration of the College of Arts and Sciences.
What the mission commits us to:
Our pillars: Unify. Lead. Empower.
03 — In practice
Four lines of work, and the programmes the council has actually run under each of them.
Roundtables with the student body and with existing councils, and an Arts & Sciences Student Organization Roundtable convened to foster unity among college-affiliated organisations. Student concerns are carried to college leadership, and the council serves on academic committees.
Weekly meetings hosting guest speakers and professional development workshops, leadership training for incoming officers, and a SCAS Retreat in Aggie Park built around team building and leadership activities.
Letters to campus custodians, a 12th Can drive for the university food pantry, turning out for The Big Event, and volunteering for college donor days.
The ArtSci Carnival, which drew more than 600 attendees with free food, resource tabling and live entertainment, and De-Stress in the Plaza, run for ArtSci students with campus resources and free goodies.
04 — Structure
A cabinet of fifteen — seven executives and eight officers — alongside a general membership admitted by application each semester.
Exec
A President and an Executive Vice President, two Vice Presidents of Outreach, and Vice Presidents of Finance, Events and Membership. They hold the relationships with college leadership, own the budget, and are accountable for whether the council did what it said it would.
Officers
Two officers on each of the four committees. Officers run their committee's work with real autonomy — this is where most of the week-to-week effort visibly happens.
Members
Beyond the cabinet, SCAS admits a membership class each semester — the first in fall 2022. Members attend weekly meetings with guest speakers and professional development workshops, and staff the council's events and service days.
Terms
Intake is by application and interview, twice a year. Cabinet positions are limited; membership opens more widely.
Open
You do not need a cabinet seat to attend anything we run, raise a concern with us, or ask us to take something to the college. Membership is for running the council, not for using it.
Tell us. That is the entire point of us being here, and it takes about ninety seconds.