SGA Update

SGA President Ilana Gratch ’16 began the Nov. 15 meeting with the results of the Eat Real survey about dining options. Of the 800 students who responded, 92 percent were in support of reaching the goal of 50 percent “real food” served on campus by 2020. (“Real food” is defined as meeting at one of the following criteria: local, humane, ecologically sound and fair).

Gratch also announced that 10 o’clock Ross will be terminated if students continue to steal food items such as large cereal bags. She reminded the group, tea and coffee are not served as a safety precaution against hot water burns.

Senators discussed ways to incorporate a student voice into the presentation on student mental health that was held on Wednesday Dec. 2 at in Wilson Hall.

On the topic of mental health, senators also acknowledged an inconsistent and sometimes unhelpful approach to stress voiced by professors. They cited personal experiences and anecdotes from friends and peers. Gratch announced that she will discuss these concerns with President Patton during their next monthly meeting.

Speaker of the Senate Reshma Gogineni ’16 opened the discussion to the reshaping of MiddCourses such that professors could offer input on the structure of the class and their teaching philosophy. Gogineni will be working with Director of Technology Dana Silver ’16 and anticipates the challenge of advertising the feature to professors and convincing them to participate.

Senators explored ways to bolster the CCI’s relationship with the student body and improve first-year students’ awareness of the CCI as a resource. Senators discussed the possibility of a Winter Term or first-year seminar workshop that would help students explore career interests and connect to alumni. Senators also cited the challenge of integrating the CCI’s function with the liberal arts philosophy.

Finally, Gratch updated SGA on the status of the AAL distribution requirement reform proposal. The new requirement would be renamed “Critical Perspectives” and would allow students to choose to study several different regions of the world. The administration will vote in January. If it passes, the restructured requirement will be piloted by first-year students in fall 2017. However, senators voiced a push to implement the change sooner, noting that the most significant obstacle is the manpower required to label all classes on BannerWeb.

At the meeting on Nov. 22, senators voted to pass a bill sponsored by Gogineni that would allocate $99 from SGA’s budget to cover the first year’s subscription fee to publish a MiddRides app on the app store. The app will be available for students in January 2016. MiddRides is described in the bill as necessary for students to travel safely across campus during winter, but currently unreliable, due to low staffing. The app will increase efficiency by allowing students to submit their locations to the driver’s assistants and receive feedback when the van is approaching their location.

Senators voted to table a bill that would extend the drop deadline and the invocation of the Pass/D/Fail option to eight weeks and the revocation of the Pass/D/Fail option to 12 weeks. The two week add period would not be changed. Survey results indicated that few students would take advantage of the extended deadlines, but they believe the policy change would alleviate stress. Faculty will discuss the policy on Dec. 11 and 15 and will vote to continue or cancel the Pass/D/Fail option in January.

There was a motion to table a resolution recommendation that would prompt further conversations on increasing campus accessibility, especially in the Ridgeline Apartments. The recommendation, sponsored by Community Council Co-Chair Tiff Chang ’17.5, Wonnacott Senator Lisa Han ’16, and Sophomore Senator Jin Sohn ’18, would also encourage discussions about inclusion not only as it applies to physical disabilities, but “cognitive, learning and other disabilities diagnosed and undiagnosed,” as written in the bill.