By Neha Ara Rashid

Once a month, the presidents of the student councils from each campus in Education City meet at the EC Student Government to discuss current events and issues.

The EC Student Government was formed at the start of this semester in September, according to Melissa Winter, the HBKU representative to these meetings. She adds that it was founded “to facilitate communication between the student government groups over similar issues that the groups deal with.” Additionally, it also provides “an opportunity for collaboration” among the EC campuses. These issues range from transportation in EC to pooling in resources for various campus events.

Each campus university sends one or two representatives to the meetings held on a monthly basis. There are also three staff advisors, one each from TAMUQ, NU-Q and HBKU, says Winter. In addition to the student council presidents of the campuses, the President of the Residence Halls Association (RHA) also participates.

According to Najla Al-Khulaifi, President of the Northwestern University in Qatar’s Student Union, the EC Student Government provides a platform to “tackle mutual issues and concerns and minimize the number of identical events.”

However, according to Taimur Rizwan, President of the RHA to the EC Student Government, this is not a new student council but “just a meeting of the executive boards of the current existing councils of different universities.”

“The goal is to make coordination and communication easier,” Rizwan said. “The idea is also to prevent and remedy the oversaturation of events. As in, having a few combined big events rather than just marginalizing and micromanaging events in different universities.”

According to Rizwan, the EC Student Government helps the individual universities by pooling in resources for their events. However, he believes this should not divert any attention from local councils and their events. “People ask for help, you can choose to help them and you can choose not to help them.”

An example for this, Rizwan said, was the recent Stand Up, Speak Out event hosted by NU-Q to raise awareness for domestic violence. The NU-Q representatives of the Student Government requested other campuses’ Health and Wellness Counselors to participate in the event, thus including various campuses in the planning of one event.

 “I think it is a valuable leadership opportunity for the members to realize that other issues are facing all EC students,” says Winter. Recent topics of discussion at the meetings have included transportation challenges and upcoming events.

The EC Student Government could be a “good portal for bigger things” – especially in light of the recent budget cuts, says Rizwan. “Whereas before they could only rely on their sources, now they can potentially rely on other resources,” he adds. These resources can range from financial help to volunteers at the event.