By Tracy Voncannon
What was once a proposal for an extra vice president for BYUSA turned into a new position of assistant to the president.
BYUSA”s Student Advisory Council originally petitioned in March for an extra vice president to serve as a link between the Provo City Council and the student body. The proposal for an extra vice president changed and was adapted into the position of an assistant to the president.
The new assistant to BYUSA”s president France Nielson will begin in September.
Heather Jacques, vice president of SAC, said the main reason behind the change of positions is to allow Nielson to stay as the main voice of the BYU student body.
“France is the official student representative for the university and we wanted the assistant to be directly associated with France and under his office,” Jacques said.
The new job of the assistant, also called the Provo City liaison, will include attending city council meetings as well as meetings with France Nielson and Heather Jacques.
At the meetings, the liaison will discuss with Nielson and Jacques issues brought up at city council meetings. The liaison will also attend meetings with the Provo City liaison committee.
The decision to turn the idea of an extra vice president into an assistant to the president occurred at the beginning of June.
The original idea of having an extra vice president was directly related to SAC, though the new position will not have as much to do with SAC.
“We felt that it is more appropriate to have this position be directly related to France,” Jacques said. “The person appointed will not be in a position to speak for student views in general but will be a student representative.”
Jacques said the basic idea behind the position is not a new one, yet the approach has been updated to be more effective.
“The new Provo City liaison will address the same issues as were addressed before,” Jacques said. “It”s just that now they can be better addressed being an assistant to the president.”
The actual person who will be chosen as the liaison between BYUSA and Provo City has yet to be released. Nielson is in charge of the application process for the position.
Nielson said the assistant will not be speaking on behalf of BYU, but will rather be an advisory role between Provo City and the student body.
“If the city wants input we”ll get that input and tell them what we found,” Nielson said. “For any city issues that may effect the student body, we want to be able to be an advisory role.”
Lana Raymond, a freshman majoring in ballet from Bozeman, Mont., said the new position is needed.
“Oftentimes I think Provo City doesn”t take into account what BYU students feel and think,” Raymond said. “Hopefully this will increase communication between the two.”
