Wesleyan Student Assembly — Wesleyan University

Minutes: February 20, 2005, No. 17

WSA Officers

President: Emily Polak
Vice President: Jeremy Abrams
Treasurer: Brittany Mitchell
Coordinator: Ali Gomer

Meeting Agenda and Business

1. Opening of Meeting
2. Approval of minutes
3. Presentation by Dean Peter Patton
4. Discussion about code of non-academic conduct
5. Discussion about WSA structure
6. Committee reports
7. New business and announcements

Opening of Meeting
Amendment: EC committee report was not “open.”

Approval of Minutes

Minutes approved.

Presentation by Dean Peter Patton

• Dean Patton says that last year the dean structure was altered so that some new positions could be made available. He shows the Assembly a flow chart of the Deans of the College structure. One major change is that class deans are now following classes until they graduate. For example, this year’s freshman class dean will become next year’s sophomore class dean. Senior class deans will become freshman class deans. This structure was adopted so that students would not have to reintroduce themselves, etc. Another issue is that there is not enough coordination between the dean’s offices and the office of academic affairs. The deans have to take the information from faculty members (who help make committee decisions) and make changes.
• The new dean search committee includes faculty, students, and administrators. The first job was to create the position’s description and then describe the atmosphere at Wesleyan from different points of view. Patricia Herzog worked as a search assistant trying to entice people to be part of this search. She wanted to get good candidates who were doing well in their current careers. She delivered 20 candidates. The dean’s office interviewed seven and then selected three for an on-campus interview. One of the candidates dropped out because her mother was hospitalized with a serious illness. The two other candidates will be on campus for the next two weeks. There will be a campus meeting time for the two candidates, Billy Weitzer and Maria Cruz-Saco, at Shanklin 107 on Wednesday at noon and on the following Monday, respectively. Doug Bennet and Dean Patton will ask for feedback from the students and solicit fairly deep feedback from other people who have worked with these candidates. The goal is to have someone by July 1.

Stack

• Elaine Garven asks what the backup plan is. There are some people who might still be available, but it would be difficult to manage.
• Student feedback should come back by the 28 th of February.
• If Billy Weitzer does not get the job, he will remain the Senior Associate Provost. If the other candidate gets it, she will help select the new person.
• Who will give feedback? Hopefully WSA students, Patton says. Doug Bennet wants pluses and negatives, not a vote.
• Will there be evaluation forms? No, it might be too confining. Emails would be a good way of communicating. Zach Kolodin suggests handing out sheets of paper.
• There will be a task force put together to discuss a possible dean of multiculturalism.
• Evan Simko-Bednarski asks where the document that has exhaustively studied the possibility for a multicultural dean is from. Patton is not sure, but he has looked at different colleges’ dean structures.
• This summer there will be $200,000 invested into 200 Church. Eclectic will get a kitchen. The school is working on creating fours instead of tens in low-rise. In two years there will be a $6.75 million renovation of the Foss buildings.
• Patton is not sure where the multicultural dean would fit into the structure.
• Karen Courtheoux asks why other housing groups are not forced to attend community living standards workshops. Patton says that it is a good idea.
• Low-rise renovations would not fence the facilities off from Traverse Square. There are some landscaping projects that will be done soon. The streetscape could be softened up by adding some canopied trees. It would be possible to get rid of some bushes and adding some cypress trees.
• Jeremy Abrams asks about new doors and new stairs outside for low-rise. They will get new doors and fire sprinklers.
• Jeremy Abrams says that students in low- and high-rise should not be forced to attend the community life standards workshops. Karen Courtheoux says that we should universalize the
• Gender-neutral housing: there will be a proposal discussing the issue in the SLC report.
• Ben Evar asks about student input on Foss renovations. Yes, but not right now.
• Anda Greeney asks what the money will be spent on for Foss. There will be repainting, floor work, and complete reconstruction from within.
• Zach Kolodin asks who makes the final decision for the new dean. The committee will meet with Doug Bennet one more time and he will take in feedback from other students. The final decision will be made by Bennet. It is unsure when.

Discussion about code of non-academic conduct

Emily Polak leads this discussion. Up until now, there is no certain way that changes are made to the code of non-academic conduct. All of these changes add up to a code that students must abide by. It is really important to have some kind of codification. Garven and Polak have met with the two chairs of the Student Judicial Board. Polak is seeking WSA feedback on this issue. Hopefully, there would be a decision made on this for next year.

Stack

• Anda Greeney asks what are some examples of changes made. Chalking—no time to incorporate any changes to administrative decisions.
• Elaine Garven asks about the different options presented. The SJB should not be viewed as legislative but rather as interpretive. Karen Courtheoux suggest following option number three, which suggests that open all campus forums generate student input, then the SLC votes and the WSA would ratify the vote.
• Ben Evar asks what the process by which changes would have been made. It has always been by the administration.
• Evan Simko-Bednarski suggests that there should be two forums if option three were selected, one at the beginning and one at the end. He also feels that the WSA ratification is very important.
• Zach Kolodin suggests that number three has a “big gap.” If the SLC would vote on any proposed changes and that they would not design the changes themselves. Emily Polak says that each year the code of non-academic conduct would be reviewed by the SLC in option 4. The SLC has a good composition, and it would be an effective interpreter of the students’ needs.
• Anda Greeney suggests that the administration might not want to give us the power to accept the changes.
• Ali Gomer says that the code of non-academic conduct is a very important guideline for student behavior and giving students the right to become more involved in the process is very important. She suggests that the faculty and administration could be helpful in part of the process, but the students should have the final say.
• Jeremy Abrams suggests that the administration would not accept this. He suggests that we have a structure to compromise with faculty and the administration. He thinks we should first talk to Bennet about these options so that everyone would have a fair amount of voting power.
• Brittany Mitchell adds that the SJB should not get too much power because they are not elected members of the student body.
• Sam Ruth says he is concerned that the administration would not respect the new policy.
• Elaine Garven suggests that options three and four could be merged and allow any possible students to be involved in an “all campus advisory committee” chaired by the SAC chair.
• Zach Kolodin says that we should keep the forums and we should know what to ask the administration for.
• Ben Evar suggests that the possible committee we create should include faculty, student, administrator voices. This is primary while the idea of a forum is secondary. There should be a meeting should include people from all perspectives.
• Brian Brotman suggests that it is not that important to wait for Bennet’s approval.
• Gabe Tabak suggests that it would be very important to have people from every different interest group in the all campus advisory committee.
• Yaw says that SJB members are not elected by the student body, but they are interviewed several times, including by the WSA, and write essays before they are accepted.
• Brittany Mitchell suggests that having time intervals in which to make changes is a bad idea. If something important came up, the administration might be forced to create a new
• Zach Kolodin adds a fifth option that would include an open all campus forum to generate input at least once at the beginning of the second semester, a subcommittee of SLC formed to review input that would make a proposal, the WSA would vote.
• Evan Simko-Bednarski suggests that having at least one forum is very important.
• Jeremy Abrams suggests that a committee including faculty, students, WSA members, SJB members would make changes.
• Karen Courtheoux calls for a straw poll on the propositions. The fifth one receives the most votes with 22, followed by the sixth.
• The next step is for Emily Polak to write up some kind of mix of five and six and email it to the committee. Suggestions can be emailed to Polak at epolak@wes.
• Abrams suggests that the WSA president should have some say in summer decisions.

Discussion about WSA structure

Ali Gomer leads this discussion. This issue is coming from a few places: CC has had to do several appointments, the constitutional review committee will be meeting soon, the student grievances that were made before winter break have not yet been discussed in the Assembly at large. Ali Gomer will moderate the discussion hoping that no personal attacks are made. Stack is limited to one half hour.

Stack

• Jesse Watson suggests that the CC and EC go through the agenda items and have a certain structure for each agenda item. There could be shorter limits for speaking and guest speakers. The CC could engineer a meeting that would fit into a two-hour space. Ali Gomer says that we have allotted time 15 minutes for speakers and 3 minutes for each student voice.
• Anda Greeney says that we should wait until we get to the discussion to limit discussion. Secondly, he suggests that we need more direct election of chairs. In the fall, there would be an internal election and a two-thirds vote in the Assembly could overturn student body decisions.
• Matt Ball suggests that the chairs being internally elected is more important. These committees are the Assembly’s leaders and the not the student body’s leaders. Anda Greeney says responds that the two-thirds internal body election would prevent bad candidates from becoming chairs. Zach Kolodin says that overturning candidates would lead to soured relations.
• Jacob Mirsky suggests that the WSA lacks sustained dialogue. There are issues that are lost over time due to a lack of accountability. He motioned a while ago that there should be a committee designed to discuss ideas brought up in the meetings. It was shot down. He suggests that there should be a sub-chair. He thinks there should be an updated list of what the WSA is working on so that students are encouraged to get more involved.
• Ali Gomer suggests that the minutes should reflect what goes on in the meetings.
• Brittany Mitchell says that when things are brought up in the Assembly meeting, individual committees take up those issues and work on them. She says that the idea of a sub-chair would be a very good idea for the structure of the committee.
• Rabs Hutchful says that the elimination of class years in the WSA elections is a good idea. She does not like the idea of increasing the WSA assembly member count. She thinks that subcommittees are too numerous and that committees should be more responsible for more of the work. For instance, the COCo-SBC subcommittee was not serving its purpose. She agrees that individual ideas being the responsibility of a separate committee is not a good solution because it would just add to the clutter of subcommittees. Assembly members should be more productive.
• Matt Ball suggests that we do not need some way of limiting the length of the meetings. Students should know what they are getting themselves into. He suggests that we could have a small amount of time at the beginning of meetings in which students could voice their ideas. Brittany Mitchell says that we should have a better venue such as the president’s office hours. Emily Polak says that people are aware of the WSA email address and constantly send emails that Polak respond to.
• Ali Gomer suggests that we should be thinking more broadly than just about the big issues. We should communicate individually with the student body.
• Elaine Garven says that certain chairs such as SBC would have to be elected differently in regard to Greeney’s idea. Overturning elections would sour relations.
• Nora Connor says that there should not be divisions of class year in the spring WSA elections. Representation should be more universal.
• Zach Kolodin says that EC minutes should not be confidential. Ali Gomer suggests that they relate to EPC issues that are also confidential. Emily Polak says that the EC is dealing with the details about what to bring to the Assembly. They are trying to work on issues that are mundane. Brittany Mitchell says that this is not the reason; it is because the EC sometimes tries to nip issues in the bud. Karen Courtheoux says that there are two sorts of issues that she wants to remain confidential: (1) personnel issues (2) … [no time left].
• Evan Simko-Bednarski supports the elimination of class year representation in the meetings. He also wants the Assembly to begin having issue reports focusing on things such as gender-neutral housing. We could structure it in a number of different ways.
• Jacob Mirsky says that when he talks about minutes he means that there is no way to ensure that there is a follow up on the issues. There is no way to pick out issues and ensure that they are being dealt with. He supports having more administrator visits to increase their amount of accountability. In addition, former WSA members could be encouraged to speak to the Assembly. The WSA could have a discussion at the beginning of the year to discuss the WSA goals. Ali Gomer says that comments made in the Assembly are discussed in the CC.
• Ben Evar suggests that the Argus column would be a good outlet for further discussion of topics discussed during the meeting. COCo-SBC subcommittee will be discussed in the committee reports.
• Gabe Tabak suggests that there should be a balance between productivity and efficiency. If individual committees need new members, the constitutional committee should consider adding more members. Elimination of division by class year is important, but direct election to committees would lead to lower voter turnout because it would decrease interest. Deciding internally resolves many conflicts.
• Jeremy Abrams encourages everyone in the Assembly to speak to other committee chairs.
• Lashawn suggests that sitting here for three hours is not a good idea because members talk above other members and are sometimes disrespectful. Anda Greeney suggests that perhaps students from the general student body could work on subcommittees.
• Karen Courtheoux suggests that Greeney’s direct election idea would work better if chairs were elected internally or otherwise. She suggests that if we make up short documents on issues containing the history of issues. There is a strong meaning attached to being a representative and we should have general responsibilities instead of just committee responsibilities. Organization will fall into place afterward.

Committee Reports

CC

• We have decided to go to a more written-based committee report structure.
• One important issue—the new Argus column. The column will be open to anyone working on an issue. We would like to have a column for this Friday’s Argus. The story should be due by Wednesday at five.
• Annie Fox is the new member of the week for her work on Splash pages.
• The WSA will have diversity training at 4:00 p.m. next Saturday. Location TBA.

EPC

• Expanding mentoring programs, getting more grant programs on campus for humanities and social sciences.

FiFac

• Cafsac met

IPC

• Social Committee: Janine Criscuolo is taking over on SC for Anda Greeney.

SAC

• There will be an interview session before the dean search speech at 11:15 AM on Wednesday and the following Monday.

SBC

• Had allocations on Friday.
• Will work on personal projects this week.
• SBC office hours will be held this Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m. in the WSA office.

Stack:

• Zach Kolodin suggests that the opening column should be written by the WSA president to give the column a sense of officiality. He suggests possibly writing about the dean of the college search.
• Arie Eernisse motions to talk more about committee reports. Not passed. However, Ali Gomer suggests that the chairs mention one or two main issues.
• Karen Courtheoux talks about changes to the library. Email her about specific changes at kcourtheoux@wes. The WSA should be compensate for the Argus’s lack of stories on things such as admissions by creating issue documents that they publish occasionally.
• Anda Greeney asks Elaine Garven about summer storage. Garven says that there have been inquiries into only giving storage capabilities to people who live far away. Senior class storage is so under-used that it could be used differently.
• The WSA column will be an individual member’s view on the WSA. Emily Polak says that the column would not necessarily be the view of the WSA. Evan Simko-Bednarski suggests that adopting a monadic structure to the WSA column would be flawed.
• Brittany Mitchell says that Dean Patton suggested that there would be a possibility for people of different biological sexes might have a chance to live together by petitioning. Summer storage should be more focused on serving students who live far away. As long as the column is signed by a WSA member and is a clear representation of ze’s opinion, it should be OK.
• Jacob Mirsky asks if gender-neutral housing will be an option. Yes, it will give students a possibility to live together after they are placed in a room. Emily Polak clarifies that students have to petition to live in biological sex-blind housing. The petitions are looked at by Patton.
• Jeremy Abrams asks if the computer labs will be open over spring break. Elaine Garven will look into it.

New Business and Announcements

• Used batteries: Ben Evar says that there is a place to deposit old batteries in Shanklin. We could have a small container on each dorm floor to recycle batteries.
• Anda Greeney suggests that the WSA should have t-shirts to increase the WSA presence on campus. Jeremy Abrams says that it is an elitist idea.
• Rabs Hutchful motions to move the meeting up to 6 PM because of the Oscars. The motion passes.

Adjournment
The meeting is adjourned at 9:50 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Arie Eernisse, WSA Secretary