Vice President for Student Life Dr. Celestino Limas addressed the Elizabethtown College Student Senate Thursday, Sept. 6 in Hoover 212. Limas began by informing the Senate that he received a proposal from Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Allison Bridgeman detailing compensation for the displaced students from the Vera Hackman Apartments.
Two different compensation plans were proposed: Plan A offers a flat $490 compensation for all students affected by the displacement, whereas Plan B is tiered, based on the amount of time students have been displaced in the past few weeks.
The first tier, for students who were displaced twice, would receive $412 in compensation. The second tier, for students who were only displaced once, would receive $206. Limas said that the College will decide on which compensation plan to use shortly.
Senior Treasurer Josh Baker informed Senate that the apartment residents received an email asking which compensation plan they would prefer. However, he said that he and the other people who responded to the email thought that they were picking a finalized option for themselves, not that they were stating their preferred plan that the College will consider in its decision.
“That’s… good for me to know,” Limas said after a pause, to which the senators responded with laughter. Currently, Plan A is the preferred option.
After addressing the Hackman issue, Limas made a few requests of the Student Senate in regards to conduct and how senators carry themselves out of meetings.
“Be responsible for those around you,” Limas said. “Make certain that if someone needs help, reach out straight away.”
Following Limas, Assistant Campus Security Director Dale Boyer announced that the grace period for parking tickets has ended, and students will receive tickets if their cars are not registered and have received their stickers.
Zone Two stickers are still not available, and Boyer warned that students still should not park in Zone Two even if they qualify, because then that becomes an issue with the Elizabethtown Borough, not just the College.
Student Information Systems and Starfish Coordinator Michelle Henry announced the opening of a commuter house for students who commute each day to campus. She stated that every time she has been inside the house so far this year, she has seen at least three students at a time using the facilities there.
As the new liaison for commuting students, Henry asked senators to reach out to her if there are problems brought forth by commuters.
A majority of the Student Senate meeting following administrative reports covered chair and committee elections.
The new Class of 2022 senators, after taking the oath of office earlier in the meeting, had to fill the positions on the Senate’s committees that were assigned to them.
Other positions for the other classes were available too, with the most notable spots being for the Academic Council. The Student Senate only recently was approved to have two representatives vote on the Academic Council, and the two representatives that were elected were Baker and senior Stephanie Hanus.
A good portion of the elections were tabled for the next meeting, when there are more senators in each class and more senators are present to the meeting. Student Senate adjourned shortly afterwards.
