Midyears made gains in representation this week as the new, Student Union-sponsored Midyear Committee began its search for members on Tuesday in a campuswide email, while the Senate passed an amendment to the Student Union Constitution on Sunday that would create a midyear senator position.

Committee Founder and President Rebecca Lavinson '13 proposed the formation of a midyear committee in an email to the Student Union late last semester and now plans to select six midyears for the group, with at least one from each class year, after interviewing candidates next week.

As of Thursday night, she reported that she had received 15 applicants, including many sophomores, some first-years and juniors, and no seniors.

As a midyear herself, having been accepted for the spring 2010 semester, Lavinson is familiar with the program and the challenges facing the midyear community. "I just heard enough complaints about it that I figured it was time to do something," said Lavinson in an interview with the Justice. "Some people really had a bad experience, and … I don't think that should happen because I loved my experience."

The committee will work with the Student Union and Brandeis administrators to share their ideas and try to improve communication in the midyear program, acting as a centralized resource for midyears.

Although the committee does not have a concrete agenda yet, Lavinson said that she has "a number of ideas" and has received many more suggestions from potential committee members for how to improve the midyear program. Key issues that came up included communication between Brandeis and the midyears before their arrival, activities and programs before the students' first spring semesters and study abroad opportunities. "There's a lot that students don't know going into this, and that is also kind of hard to find," Lavinson explained. Student Union President Herbie Rosen '12 called the committee "a great idea" in an interview with the Justice, adding that "midyears are a really important part of our university."

"It's a pride status to be a midyear on campus, but it's also challenging," said Rosen. "We need to make sure that our university is responding to their needs." As for his role, Rosen said that he would focus on "making sure [the committee] survives the transition" between him and his successor.

The formation of the committee coincides with the passage in the Senate of an amendment to the Student Union Constitution that would create a midyear senator position, if also passed in a referendum. The amendment passed by 18 votes to none, with two abstentions.

According to the Union Constitution, the amendment must now be voted on by the student body no later than fifteen days after its proposal to the Senate. The vote is scheduled to take place on Feb. 1, according to Rosen.

The proposed amendment to Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution stated that there will be a senator elected by the most recent midyear class to represent them for their first semester at Brandeis.

Rosen presented the option at Sunday's Senate meeting after receiving the required 10 signatures of support from senators who pledged to consider the measure.

"[Midyears are] a large enough group of students that they should have some representation," said Rosen at the meeting. Rosen added that the amendment was part of an effort to "give midyears a bigger voice here on campus" and ensure that they are represented more accurately than they have been in the past, by Village or freshman senators.

A midyear senator position was last proposed during the last Constitutional review in 2009, but ultimately was not created due to errors in the voting process. The then-Union Secretary and then-Union President were impeached and censured, respectively, as a result of not sending the amendment to the student body for a vote within 15 days of its presentation to the Senate.

If Rosen's proposal passes on Feb. 1, midyears from the Class of 2015 will be able to elect the first-ever midyear senator to represent them through the end of this semester.