Koeppel appointed as SFCIC chairwoman

Anna Koeppel was selected for her knowledge about student organizations.

By Kaylen Ralph

Published Oct. 27, 2009

Senior Anna Koeppel was appointed by Missouri Students Association President Jordan Paul to be the chairwoman of the Student Fee Capital Improvement Committee last week.

Koeppel, former member of The Maneater staff, acquired the position due in part to her knowledge of student organizations from her days serving as Student Organizations editor, Paul said.

"I'm pretty sure that the reason that he thought of me was because when I was involved with the paper I got to know students groups really well," Koeppel said. "Jordan knew I was familiar with student groups and what they do and I guess he thought I could apply that knowledge to this position."

Additionally, Paul and Koeppel said they are confident she will be able to keep a strong stance on issues important to students but might not be congruent with certain faculty or administrative opinions.

"Most of the time they're interested in your input, but sometimes they like to say this is the way we've done it in the past and go with that," Paul said. "Students who aren't as strong-willed as Anna could just go with the flow instead of saying what they really want and think is necessary."

The SFCIC is a spring committee and will begin regular meetings next semester. The committee is charged with the task of recommending how to distribute the portion of student fees allocated for capital improvements to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs. Scroggs said in an e-mail she thought Koeppel was a fine choice and would do a good job leading the committee.

Koeppel's appointment to this position was irregular as far as past appointments have gone. Graduate Professional Council President Sarah Symonds also had a pick for the position, which resulted in the need for resume submission and interviews with both candidates by Paul and Symonds together. This was the presidents' first time making a joint appointment.

"Because I didn't know Anna and Jordan didn't know my candidate I decided it would be a good idea to bring them in for an interview just to get to know them and see if they would be a good fit for the position," Symonds said.

After this particular appointment, Paul and Symonds decided all appointments for standing committee chairperson positions should consist of this interview process, even if there is only one suggested candidate. They plan on writing this into the Articles of Cooperation between MSA and GPC.

A quality of Koeppel viewed as especially impressive by both Paul and Symonds was the large amount of research she had done on the committee before her interview for the position.

"When we asked her questions she was able to point to different examples of how things had been handled before," Paul said. "She came into the interview very prepared and had done quite a lot of homework on the position."

Student Affairs Fiscal Officer Rich Anderson said he doesn't foresee any particular challenges for Koeppel this spring.

"She just needs to lead the committee, it shouldn't be too much trouble for her," Anderson said. "A student has always led the committee. There's a faculty co-chair but they usually defer to the student chair since the goal is to fund projects that students see as a priority."

Anderson and Koeppel met Monday afternoon to discuss some of the specifics of Koeppel's new position as well attempt to get meeting dates set up for the spring.