As part of plans to restructure the organization, Undergraduate Student Government (USG) executive leaders began circulating a petition Wednesday seeking 1,000 signatures in favor of a referendum that would ask the student body its opinion on USG's current structure.

The referendum would be part of the next stages in USG President Galen Foulke and USG Vice President Luke Adams' executive platform to reform the existing USG structure from a governmental focus to a student advocacy focus.

Last fall, Foulke formed the Constitutional Review Commission to find ways to improve the current form of student government.

The commission previewed their proposal during a meeting last semester as the University Park Undergraduate Association, which would change USG from a three-branch system to one house with 34 members appointed and elected according to campus address, college or greek affiliation.

Jeff Corbets, commission chairman, said the commission has looked at the student governments of other universities and is discussing how best to represent the students at University Park.

Though Corbets said the finalized report with recommendations would not be available until the end of the semester, Foulke said he hopes to unveil the recommendations by next week.

By the end of the semester, Foulke said the executive branch plans to hold a referendum online -- a method, that according to Foulke, could cost about $1,000 -- to ask the student body if it is satisfied with the structure of USG.

"I'm fairly confident we're going to get a 'no,' " Foulke said.

If 25 percent of respondents says "no," then a second stab at the referendum would be held at the beginning of next semester to ask if the proposed model is better than the existing government, he said.

If 25 percent of those respondents say they like the proposed model better, then their decision is binding, and the new organization will be implemented by the first day of the next USG term, Foulke said.

"This is the student representative voice, so I want them to weigh in on it," he said.

Stan Latta, Penn State director of unions and student activities, said USG has the power to change its structure, but Penn State President Graham Spanier has the ultimate responsibility to "recognize students as appropriately organized."

Since joining USG as a freshman, Foulke said he has seen problems with the way the organization models the U.S. government because it conflicts with USG's mission to advocate for students.

"It's very apparent to me that in the student body, there's widespread disappointment in the organization and also widespread belief that the organization is ineffective to represent the student voice," he said.

Foulke said he and Adams will focus on restructuring USG and will free themselves of other projects by sharing those responsibilities with other executive members.

Foulke gave an update of the plans for reconstruction at the USG Academic Assembly and Senate meetings this week.

Ashley Harris, Academic Assembly president, said she is not in favor of reforming USG because the problems of internal fighting and lack of communication among the branches that were there when the idea first surfaced have since been dissolved.

"When there is any sort of problem, I'm on the phone with the Senate president or any of the senators, and we work it out," she said.

However, Harris said she will support the restructuring if the student body expresses a need to replace the existing government in the referendum.

"But until that happens, I will be opposed of it," she said. "I won't stand behind Galen. I will stand behind the students."

Andy Banducci, USG Senate president, he was unable to comment on the proposal because he has not yet seen a report of the commission's findings. However, he said he believed that the current structure was adequate.

Banducci also said he hopes the talk of reforming USG will not be the organization's main focus and get in the way of advocating for student safety and tuition reform.

Greg Becker, USG Supreme Court associate justice, said he was unable to comment on whether he felt the plans to restructure USG were positive or negative because the court would be involved in examining the validity of the questions in the referendum. However, Becker said looking into ways to improve USG is always a good thing.

"USG has been the butt of a lot of jokes," Becker said. "There's always room for improvement in USG."