Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of five articles looking at new positions in the Government of the Student Body cabinet. Look for a new story each Tuesday.

A new student leadership development position in the Government of the Student Body cabinet has been created to aid in the improvement of student groups.

“For the last couple years, GSB’s only relationship to student organizations was us giving them money, if that,” said William Rock, GSB vice president. “But we thought we could create a position that could help student groups organize and become better.”

The position was filled by Cara Harris, senior in liberal studies.

Harris’ role, Rock said, will be to advise and work with student groups on such things as leadership development, organizing events on campus and informing groups on the GSB funding process and other possible funding avenues.

Rock said the position was created during a cabinet reorganization process, which was initiated to cover issues that weren’t addressed by previous cabinets. He said during the interviewing process, more new positions were created as applicants supplied Rock and others with new ideas.

The leadership development director position developed partly in this way, Rock said.

“The position we advertised was called a ‘Director of Activism,’ but both Victoria [Brenton] and Cara [Harris] applied. We wanted them both, so we split the position in two,” Rock said.

Victoria Brenton, senior in liberal studies, became the new student projects director.

Harris said she was motivated to apply for the cabinet after she had accomplished everything she wanted to as a GSB senator. She said she sees her role as one of improving the leadership of student organizations by connecting them with more-experienced campus leaders and helping student organizations become more professional in their presentation to possible recruits and others.

Because Harris is graduating at the end of the semester, she said she is trying to develop a blueprint of the position for others to follow.

This semester, Harris said, she hopes to create a calendar for student leaders that will have important campus dates, organize two student leadership development sessions per month and find a proper replacement who can come in and learn about the Leadership Development position before she leaves at semester’s end.

The first student leadership development session was Sunday, she said, and was sponsored by Seth Landau, the Public Interest Research Group campus organizer. She will also meet more with student groups with the intent of advising them on how to successfully recruit new members, communicate with students and learn the processes of GSB funding, among other things.

“I’m most fascinated with working with the Sports Club Council, because they have such a hard time dealing with the bureaucracy [of GSB]. I hope to work with them in a way that will show them it’s not just about that, but it’s also about having fun,” Harris said.

Recently, Harris said she has been working on the “President’s Handbook” for student groups, which is aimed at helping the leaders of student organizations improve how they run their organizations.