Wesleyan Student Assembly — Wesleyan University

Minutes: November 24, 2002, No. 9

WSA Officers

President: Joey Wender
Vice President:Yaw Agyenim-Boateng
Coordinator: Sara Mirsky
Treasurer: Adam Lachman

Meeting Agenda and Business

• Meeting Opening
• Approval of Minutes
• Internal Elections of Coordinator
• Committee Reports
• Review of Attendance Policy
• Discussion of Sunday Meetings
• New Business and Announcements
• Adjournment

Opening of Meeting

The meeting was opened at 8:04 pm.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes were approved by a majority.

Internal Elections of Coordinator

Sara Mirsky, previously Assistant Coordinator, was unanimously elected to the position of Coordinator.

Committee Reports

1. Student Budget Committee (SBC)
   Adam Lachman, WSA Treasurer, reports:
   The SBC met and allocated funds.
   The Wesleyan Spirits have raised enough money to take a trip to Japan.
   If people have concerns about the Bogus Paper, they should email the SBC. The money allotted to them is being reevaluated.

2. Educational Policy Committee (EPC) Colleen Galbraith, EPC Chair, reports:
   The EPC met last week and passed the proposition for German Studies; there are now slightly fewer requirements, and majors will start getting credit for classes earlier.
   The subcommittee of the EPC assigned to present the case for film studies has decided on the language they will use to argue that it should become a department.
   Karen Courtheoux, EPC Voting Member, presents the new five year calendar that has been proposed. There is a problem in Fall 2004 because Labor Day comes later than usual. The University therefore needs to take away vacation days. Although it won't be voted on until next semester, the committee is debating how far into December school should go (it will never go past the 22nd, though). Most people on the committee are in favor of taking days out of reading week. They are also looking for feedback on how long Spring Break should be.

3. Student Affairs Committee (SAC)
   Emily Polak, SAC Chair, reports:
   Ms. Polak, Adam Lachman, and Adam Poswolsky met with Dining Management, Tim Reiss. The weekend of December 6th and 7th, the top floor of Davenport will be open from 10 pm to 2 am as a trial basis for late night dining. They are currently looking for bands to play at the café that will be set up.
   The SLC met and discussed chalking and program house evaluations, which will be happening on reading week. Chalking is moving onward; a discussion was held in the Hewitt lounge. A lot of people showed up, and many viewpoints were expressed. A new draft of the chalking policy was drawn.

4. Independent Projects Committee (IPC)
   Yaw Agyenim-Boateng, WSA Vice President, reports:
   The IPC planned on updating the website, but the plans fell through, so it will be done tomorrow.
   Cari MacDermott suggested putting the Book Coop online. The Book Coop is an organization that buys books at the end of the semester and then sells them back to students the next semester. However, permission from the instructor of the class is needed in order to buy and sell the books. If people have ideas, they should email IPC Member Melinda Coro at mcoro@wesleyan.edu.

5. Coordinating Committee (CC) Sara Mirsky, WSA Coordinator, reports: The Member of the Week is Maris Yanow. The CC is currently updating the voting webpage. SBC elections will be held on December 9th through December 13th. There will be an email advertising the elections going out tomorrow.

6. Finances and Facilities (FiFac) Ali Gomer, FiFac Chair, reports:
   Ms. Gomer met with the Master of Planning after the Executive Committee meeting last week. Construction is moving along, and a University Center Committee was appointed. Ms. Gomer and Nathan Victoria were selected to be student representatives on the Committee. One other student from the committee will be selected to be on the committee. There will be lots of subcommittees in which students can be involved, however.
   The Space Committee is attempting to get together with the SLC Space Committee in order to join efforts. Students can check the '92 Theater and Chapel renovations online. FiFac is also trying to get the plans into the Argus so that students know what's going on. On December 10th at 4:00, the campus planners will be coming back to campus; it will be the last time that students will be able to talk to them before they start drawing up plans.
   Member Matt Lerner reports that the Space Committee met on Friday. They will have a rough copy of the survey done for next time. Jeff Ederer suggested going to survey experts before a final draft is decided upon. The Committee also talked about centralizing student access online to all spaces around campus, especially to make it easier to book spots.

7. Community Outreach Committee (COCo) Jeremy Abrams, COCo Chair, reports:
   COCo met and finalized their survey.
   A meeting will be held with PSaC as soon as we return from Thanksgiving Break.
   COCo will be checking up on groups twice a month from now on.

8. Executive Committee (EC) Joey Wender, WSA President, reports:
   There will be no WSA meeting next week, and the last meeting of the semester will be held two weeks from today.
   

Stack

Jesse Watson asks Emily Polak why freshmen are once again only allowed to get two slices of pizza and a drink as a meal.
Ms. Polak was not aware of that and will investigate further.

Yaw Agyenim-Boateng asked what will happen to the position of Assistant Coordinator.
Sara Mirsky responds that appointments will be held the week after we get back.

Adam Lachman asks Ms. Polak about the Diversity Lunch. Ms. Polak informs the Assembly that it was a brainstorming session about what needs to be looked at with issues concerning minorities. They split up into subcommittees regarding housing, admissions, and other relevant topics. The plan is for subcommittees to meet again and give updates. The Diversity Subcommittee will meet with Student of Color groups to make sure that they know how to get resources and finances.

Review of Attendance Policy – Sara Mirsky

If members miss more than three meetings in a row or four overall per semester, they are subject to impeachment. If people cannot attend a meeting, they should email their committee chair or their committee chair and the Assistant Coordinator, depending on the meeting. Attendance has become a rather big problem this year.

Discussion of Sunday Meetings – Joey Wender

President Wender asks why attendance has slipped. He asks the Assembly if there is anything that can be changed about Sunday night meetings to make them more productive and fruitful. This should be an ongoing discussion that should be communicated through email and committee chairs.

Stack

Camille Zahniser asks what happened to the online committee reports.
Melinda Coro responds that although the reports were very productive, it became a hassle because none of the chairs emailed her. It saved a lot of meeting time, though.

Anay Shah points out that meetings are more interesting when people come in to present to us. President Bennet or some other administrator should come to a meeting.
Matt Lerner suggests that the agendas contain more information so that people are more informed about what will be discussed at the meetings and the time frame for the meeting.

Emily Polak admits that she doesn't know everyone's names. The Assembly should be a closer group.
Karen Courtheoux suggests that a new WSA directory be sent out.

Colleen Galbraith says that what goes on in Executive Committee doesn't always get to Full Assembly.
Nathan Victoria thinks that the minutes and agenda should be sent out Friday afternoon.
Adam Poswolsky agrees that emailed, bulleted committee reports would be good. The SBC would be particularly interesting to see.

Colleen Galbraith suggests that leaving early and coming late should count in the attendance policy.
President Wender suggests that members of the Assembly introduce themselves and state their names, class years, positions, and favorite foods.

New Business and Announcements

Jesse Watson states the Freshman Forum will be held on December 4th in the Woodhead Lounge from 6 pm to 8 pm.
Joey Wender wishes everyone a happy Thanksgiving and a happy Chanukah.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:59 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Monica Arduini, WSA Secretary