Student Senate met Thursday, Feb. 28 for its last meeting before Spring Break. The meeting began with a special order led by Director of Campus Security Andrew Powell.
Powell spoke to senators about the newly formed Staff Council, which he serves on as chairperson. The group is comprised of 13 members with a goal of advocating for staff rights. They began meeting at the start of the semester, but the council has been a work in progress for the past 18 months.
“This is a big step for the College,” Vice President for Student Life Dr. Celestino Limas said. He also said that senators should work together with Faculty Assembly and Staff Council.
Senators moved on to make comments and announcements, including providing feedback on the housing draw events. First-year Suad “Cece” Sadek asked how students who celebrate Ramadan would use their meal plan since the Marketplace closes at seven, which junior Julia Aleo answered by encouraging those students to talk to Dining Services, who will help work it out.
Limas started the administrative reports section by saying that senior staff is focused on creating next year’s budget. He also said that Facilities Management is working with students regarding the construction noise from the Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness and Well-being, but that they are also under a deadline.
Limas said that the social lounge project is shifting towards figuring out the logistics. He is also looking for ideas for themed nights that could be used with the social lounge.
After a quick report from Powell, senators moved into executive cabinet reports. Senior treasurer Josh Baker announced that the finance committee approved three requests, one for the Computer Science Club and two for the Hide & Seek Club.
Following the announcements was new business, which began with Limas’ presentation on the results of the housing process. Limas showed senators the breakdown for rising seniors and juniors regarding where they chose to live next year. He told senators that he will create a more formal presentation once the entire process is finished.
Aleo followed Limas with a presentation about the new scheduling committee. The committee was formed to create a better scheduling system for on-campus events and to decrease overall events by 25 percent. Aleo asked for senators’ feedback on the proposal.
Some of the ideas in the proposal include creating a tiered system for prioritizing events and combining musical performances. Senators discussed potentially tiering events based on turnout rather than the importance of the person who scheduled them. They also made suggestions for improving the website used to schedule events.
The meeting ended with committee and class updates. Senior Stephanie Hanus said that academic council approved two new First-Year Seminar classes for next year.
First-year Brock Culver announced the first-year class unity event, which is cookie decorating at 8 p.m. Friday, March 15 in the Koons Activity Venue (KAV). Sophomore Rachel Freed announced that her class officers have changed and that she would serve as the new class of 2021 President.
