With the start of the spring semester, Student Senate returned to their weekly meetings over Zoom. Thursday, Jan. 28, senators met, with the majority of their time spent talking to the Vice President for Student Life Dr. Celestino Limas.
He started his report by reminding senators to set-up multi-factor authentication as ITS will require it for all Elizabethtown College logins by the end of February.
Limas then talked to senators about a new financial cost for incoming students. Starting this fall, new students will pay a $300 per semester comprehensive student fee. He stressed that this fee does not apply to current students.
The fee will be used for Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness and Well-being maintenance, residential upgrades and annual ITS upgrades. It will also absorb the parking fee for new students. Current students will still pay the $100 annual fee as they are not paying the new student fee.
Limas acknowledged that current students were clear in their objection last year to Student Senate’s proposed student fund. He said that is why the College chose to only impose this fee on new students.
After Limas, Assistant Director of Community Living Rina Carpenter gave their report. They told senators to follow the Office of Student Activities’ Instagram for monthly event calendars.
Director of Title IX/Compliance Programs and Intercultural Affairs Nichole Gonzalez concluded administrative reports. Gonzalez informed senators that the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Title IX extended their Martin Luther King Jr. programming through mid-February.
During executive cabinet reports, sophomore Clubs Chairperson Alex D’Amico announced that club registration is open until the middle of February.
Student Senate ended their meeting with class updates.
They also met Thursday, Feb. 4, where the meeting started with the Oath of Office for the new Class of 2022 representative.
Limas began administrative reports by discussing his new “side project” – firepits across campus. He shared the locations of nine firepits and asked for senators’ opinions. Limas said Community Living will have more information about using them after move-in.
Limas then discussed the petition for interhall visitation that students have shared. He said he feels a petition is not the right way to address the situation and would rather have students reach out to discuss the matter with him. The College currently plans to re-evaluate their decision not to allow interhall visitation by March 15. Limas told senators that the decision will be based on a number of factors including the response rate of the Daily Digital Health Report.
Carpenter provided the next report for OSA. They said clubs should schedule all meetings on 25Live, including virtual ones.
Director of Campus Security Andrew Powell said new parking passes will be in students’ on-campus mailboxes during move-in week.
Assistant Director of the Learning Zone Tammie Longsderff reported that all tutoring options are available now, including both academic and writing tutor drop-in sessions. More information can be found on the Learning Zone’s website.
Director of Community Living Jennifer Crowder announced that Resident Assistant applications are open for next year.
During executive cabinet reports, junior Executive Treasurer Kyle Cappucci told senators that there has been a good response to the Student Senate COVID-19 Testing Fee Scholarship. Cappucci also said club funding requests are open.
The meeting concluded with class updates. Sophomore class president Andrew Furman said the Class of 2023 is posting a fact a day on their Instagram for Black History Month. The sophomores are also holding a candygram fundraiser.
Junior class president Jessica Freels reported that the new Class of 2022 treasurer is junior Cece Sadek.
Student Senate meetings weekly at 3:45 p.m. over Zoom on Thursdays. Meetings are open to everyone.
