History of the Senate of College Councils
Senate of College Councils was preceded by Senior Cabinet, first registered as a student organization in 1966. Senior Cabinet was created by a group of students to formalize the relationships between various college councils and provide a student forum dedicated to discussion of academic issues.
During the abolition of Students' Association, 1978 – 1982, the university administration looked to the Senior Cabinet to fill the void, especially for appointing student members to various committees and boards across campus.
In 1985, Senior Cabinet changed its name to Cabinet of College Councils.
In 1987-1988, Cabinet Chair Michael Cohen was a very close friend to Students' Association President Randi Shade. They worked together to create a strong working relationship between the two groups. Shade introduced a new constitution adding Cabinet Chair as ex-officio member of the Students' Association Executive Board.
1989-1990, the Cabinet of College Councils grew from having Presidents of each council choosing a leader for that year to an Executive Board consisting of Chair, Vice Chair, Financial Director and Secretary. In 1989, they created Of Course! A publication with information on instructors' grading systems, objectives and textbooks, and instructors'. Information was gathered from a survey sent to each instructor from the Measurement and Evaluation Center.
Cabinet of College Councils voted in 2002 to change its name to Student Senate but eventually changed that to Senate of College Councils, the name finally approved.
In 2004-2005, the Senate of College Councils under Chair Nick Staha expanded by adding 30 At-Large members and creating five standing committees to address topics of relevance to campus academic life.
The names Chair and Vice Chair changed to President and Vice President in 2008. Both these positions are still chosen from among the Senate of College Councils internal membership.
Today the Senate of College Councils is comprised of college councils each represented by a president, financial director and representative who participate in the Senate of College Councils General Assembly. Senate of College Councils also includes committees with student members focusing on specific academic issues.