Representatives of underrepresented groups and several organizations from the Executive Student Action Council met Saturday and formed an advisory board that will eventually replace ESAC.

The group, tentatively titled the Communities Coalition, plans to meet weekly and to send a non-voting delegate from its organization to an Undergraduate Student Government Senate meeting once a month to allow for two-way communication.

The coalition is similar to the University Student Advisory Board, which advised student government on issues affecting students University-wide, said Mark Shiner, political co-director of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance. USAB was set up as an advisory board to the University president.

USAB evolved into ESAC last summer because members wanted more of an action board, but the new coalition will once again function as an advisory board. Shiner said there have been problems with USAB and ESAC.

ESAC, a council of representatives from various student organizations, looks for issues that impact students University-wide and makes goals and plans to address those issues. Some of ESAC's goals for this year are minority retention and the University's prioritization of teaching over research.

Shiner said USAB tried to take more of an active role when it was supposed to be an advisory board, and ESAC is trying to take on too much. Student leaders who are already involved with their own organizations don't have time to be on ESAC subcommittees and work on other goals, he said.

The coalition wants to avoid problems USAB and ESAC experienced by being just an advisory board. The new coalition wants to be a non-voting organization because voting would turn it into more of an action committee, Shiner added.

And Steve Muri, Penn State University Veterans Organization president, said a vote wouldn't be appropriate because most of the coalition's student leaders are not popularly elected by the student body.

Muri said voting would be a token gesture on USG's part and student leaders think they can better accomplish their goals by communicating directly with administrators.

"It's just a combined effort between the organizations to get things done," he said.

PSUVO Vice President Pat Scanlan said admittance to the coalition will be based on a set of criteria that the group has not decided on yet.

Members of the coalition include LGBSA, Black Caucus, Womyn's Concerns, the Asian American Student Association, PSUVO and Latino Caucus. Representatives from these groups attended the meeting Saturday.

Coalition supporters believe liaisons between USG and the coalition members would no longer be necessary because of the direct communication between the two groups.

Tracy Farmer, USG Senate staff director, said the coalition coincides with USG goals to overhaul student government.

"We're not restructuring student government," she said. "We're restructuring student representation."

Dawn Williams, Black Caucus vice president, said the caucus already has a direct link to the administration but needs communication with other groups as well.

Williams said her group's members do not want to be a part of USG or let USG vote for them on decisions, adding that she doesn't think USG has any power.

"They can't get anything done and they won't get anything done for us," she said.

Aileen Martinez, Latino Caucus co-vice president, said the organizations involved with the coalition have in the past limited themselves to working within USG's structure. As a separate organization, the coalition could focus on its own agenda, but still have direct communication with USG.

ESAC Chairman Paul Kasper and USG President Chris Saunders could not be reached for comment.