St. Mary's Student Trustee

Updates about campus life and student issues from your student trustee, Taylor Schafer '15! Open Hour: Wednesdays 9:30-10:30am SGA Office - Campus Center 105

[studenttrustee]

Public Safety Advisory Council 4/20

On Monday, we had out final PS Advisory Council meeting. We discussed the committee’s new charter that was passed in SGA a few weeks ago. I attached it below if you are curious in reading it. 

Our final discussion revolved around two things:

We discussed that from now on, the PS Advisory Council should be in charge of discussing expectations for certain events on campus, i.e. Hallowgreens, the Natty Boh Hunt, etc. AND relay that information tot he student body so events and student traditions are as safe and fun as possible. 

Director Kennedy will be staying on campus through the summer so that the transition between him and the new director is as smooth as possible. 

Director Kennedy noted that plans are still moving towards the PS Dept. moving into a new and permanent building over the summer. Details on the location were not disclosed and are still being worked out by administrators. 

[studenttrustee]

SGA Update 4/21

This week in SGA, Joanne Goldwater came to speak about upcoming changes and projects to Residence halls (for a more detailed explanation, refer to your weekly senate report from your senator via email). The Senate also passed several pieces of legislation:

A bill to allocated $360 to the Equestrian Club for emergency unforeseen expenses: passed.

The Fall 2015 Finance Board & Programs Board Fund Appeals: passed.

An Executive Order to extend the timeline for senate elections for Fall 2015: passed.

A bylaws amendment to removed gendered language from the bylaws: passed.

A bylaws amendment to remove “senate chair” from the bylaws language: passed.

A club constitution for the Grillmarks Club: passed. 

Tonight was the last SGA meeting of the year/the last of my career. It’s been a great/crazy/fun/educational 4 years!

[studenttrustee]

SGA Update 4/14

Tonight in SGA...

Sophomore Conor Burke and junior Emily Cerna came to present to the SGA about their involvement on the Bias Response Team. Other members of the team include Clint Neill, Dean Brown, Ruth Fiengold, and Mac McClintock. If you have any questions or if you have been a victim or witness of a bias incident on campus, please contact one of the team members or email [email protected].

A bill to allot $$ to install new and more efficient heat pumps in the North Crescents this summer passed.

A bill to allot $$ to install motion light sensors in residence halls passed.

World Carnival is Saturday, April 18th on Admissions field from 12-5pm and concert in the evening! If you are interested in volunteering, email Allison Wengler at [email protected] ASAP!

Side note: y’all, next week is my last SGA meeting ever. It’s been a wild and fun four years. I’ll miss it!

[studenttrustee]

SGA Update 4/7

Sorry for the late update...

This week in the senate, there were several bills passed. 

Club Constitution to create the Seahawk Survey Club: Passed.

The new Bike Shop charter: passed.

A bill to allocate funds to Best Buddies: passed.

A bill to appropriate funding to Latinos Unidos: passed.

The new Public Safety Advisory Council charter: passed.

The proposed 2015-2016 SGA budget: passed.

If you are interested in reading these documents, they are all available on the SGA website under the tab “Meetings”:  https://sites.google.com/a/smcm.edu/sga/home 

[studenttrustee]

Library Director Search Update

After a failed search in the fall semester, the Library Director Search committee met yesterday to discuss the new batch of applicants we have received over the past month. Over the next week and a half, we will be interviewing 10 candidates on the phone, and narrowing that pool down to a few finalists to bring to campus before the end of the semester. Stay tuned for more information! As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.

[studenttrustee]

Open Forum on Hallowgreens

On Wednesday, April 8th at 4:30pm in Cole Cinema the SGA is hosting an open forum on the safety of Hallowgreens. All are welcome to attend and join in on the discussion of how the community can make the event safer and the most fun for everyone! Come out and share your thoughts!

Dean Brown, PS Director Kennedy, a St. Mary’s County Sheriff, and several student leaders will be leading the discussion.

[studenttrustee]

Budget Committee Update 4/6

Today the Budget Committee finished its duties in relation to making recommendations for the FY16 budget. President Jordan will be making her final decisions on the recommended cuts and proposed investments, and they will shared with the campus community within the next two weeks. Please stay tuned for more information! The latest budget updates are available on the budget google site:

https://sites.google.com/a/smcm.edu/budget-committee-2014-15/budget-documents/general-info

[studenttrustee]

SGA Update 3/31

This week in SGA, we had some new business and guest speaker Sustainability Fellow Shelby Kalm. 

Shelby presented a potential GSMRF project that would take place this summer -- replace the heat pumps in the Crescent Townhouses for more efficient systems. (The same project that was completed on the Greens this summer.)

Legislation passed this week:

The bill to put Sustainability Wednesdays (formerly Meatless Mondays) up for a student referendum passed. The referendum will go out next week to all students via email.

An executive appointment made to the Finance Board passed: junior Youanidou Thiaw.

A constitutional amendment to add an ex officio member of the SGA Executive Board from the Center for the Study of Democracy passed. 

A constitutional amendment passed to reduce the Media Board’s (The Point News and HAWK Radio) budget by 1.5% of the SGA Operating budget next school year. 

A constitutional amendment passed to change the meeting times of the Constitutional Review Committee.

All of the constitutional amendments will be going to referendum for the student body to vote on next week along with Sustainability Wednesdays. In order for the amendments to count, at least 30% of the student body needs to cast a vote. 50% + 1 need to vote yes for them all to pass.

Other updates:

The Natty Buh Hunt is this weekend -- please refer to the “dos and don’ts” flyer for guidelines and happy hunting!

World Carnival volunteer interest meeting today at 4pm in Cole Cinema.

Michael Dunn will serve as our new Title IX Coordinator. He will begin over the summer. 

The Budget Committee convenes again this Friday to review final recommendations and investment proposals.

[studenttrustee]

Natty Boh Hunt

Hello fellow Seahawks! As most of you know, this Saturday is our annual Natty Boh Hunt! This is a list of do’s and don’ts for the night. Happy Hunting!

[studenttrustee]

SGA Elections

SGA elections are now live! Check your email and get out there and vote!!!

Remember what CJ Cregg says: “Decisions are made by those who show up.” Make sure your voice is heard. Vote!

[studenttrustee]

Budget Committee

Throughout the semester, the College Budget Committee (which I sit on alongside LQ Senator Adriane Azucena and several SMCM faculty and staff) has been working hard to look through the recommended cuts for the FY16 budget submitted by each department on campus from their own budgets, rate them an "A", "B", or "C"--A meaning they are a less painful cut to the budget and will most likely happen, B meaning it hurts a little more but could still possibly happen, and C meaning the most painful cuts and should only happen if absolutely necessary. If you are interested in reviewing the proposed budget reductions, please go to the link below and click on the "FY16 VP Recommended Reductions 3-13-15." This document contains the proposed cuts along with their ratings mentioned above. Please review this document and provide any feedback and ask any questions you may have. There are other documents on this site as well, such as potential investment proposals submitted by faculty and staff members, Budget committee meeting notes, etc. 

Email me at [email protected] if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback at all to the proposed cuts. 

https://sites.google.com/a/smcm.edu/budget-committee-2014-15/budget-documents/general-info

[studenttrustee]

SGA Update 3/24

On Tuesday evening, we had a very brief SGA meeting that included a brief presentation from Programs Board about a survey they sent out to students soliciting feedback on the type of events they host, the times in which they hold them, and how often students are attending certain events. (The powerpoint from that survey should be attached to the SGA email you get from your SGA senator every week!)

There was no new business this week, but next week we should have a few items on the docket--including the legislation to put Sustainability Wednesdays up for a student referendum. Come out next week if you are interested in discussing this matter!

Reminder! SGA elections are coming up starting on Monday! Check your email, and vote!!! There will be elections for SGA president, vice president, treasurer, and director of campus programming. 

[studenttrustee]

Welcome back!

Welcome back from spring break, everyone! I hope you all had a nice week off. 

Up on the docket for this week for me is:

SGA tomorrow evening -- 8:15pm in GP195

bi-weekly meeting with Dean Brown, Wednesday @ 3pm

budget committee meeting, Wednesday @ 4:45pm

campus safety meeting, Wednesday @ 5pm (I cannot be there, but several other student leaders will be there)

Friday is 50 Days until graduation for seniors! Crazy!

Updates to come for all of those this week. Stay tuned!

[studenttrustee]

Public Safety Advisory Council Meeting 3/11

This evening, the Public Safety Advisory Council met for the first time since Interim Director Kennedy started. The Council consists of Myself, Director Kennedy, Sergeant Enoch/Sergeant Coons, senior Jonothan Holtzman, Senior Fatima Dainkeh, senior Lauren Rost, junior Matt Carney, and sophomore Krista Cavanaugh. We discussed several different issues, very much similar to the meeting between myself, Dean Brown, SGA President Kate Brennan, and SGA VP Jake Wohl. 

Director Kennedy introduced himself and gave a run-through of his goals, mainly in regards to officer training, changing of facilities, updating standards on office conduct, etc. 

Also, Public Safety vehicles are beginning to seriously deteriorate and the department is starting to think about options for the best vehicles for campus safety.

We discussed updating the PS Advisory Council charter that was originally passed through SGA in 2011, so there can be a stronger foundation and structure for the committee.

The Council will be aiming to implement more open meetings -- hosting open lunch discussions once a month in Campus Center 205. Look out for those!

The Council and SGA are also looking to implement a permanent NightHawks program -- a student volunteer service that will escort students home, patrol campus, and be an extra set of eyes and ears for PS on the weekends. We are aiming to implement it mid-April!

Sergeant Enoch gave the student members of the Council some provisions for this year’s Natty Boh Hunt, which is on Saturday, April 4. 

No hiding/searching inside buildings on campus. All buildings will be locked before the hunt, and please don’t attempt to break into building. 

The open container rule still applies.

If PS suspects a student with beer is underage, they will approach it normally -- if you are stopped by PS, you are still expected to comply with them as necessary.

Please be respectful of the campus and each other!

More updates to come after break!

[studenttrustee]

Discussion on race with Azie Dungey

Today in DPC, myself and about 10 other students had a great discussion with visiting scholar Azie Dungey (star and creator of web series "Ask a Slave"--check it out, it's great!). We talked about race across campus and the importance of cultural competency** as a necessary component of education. We discussed last semester's racial tensions on campus sparked by events in Ferguson and NYC, and more local matters such as the rope swing in North Woods. 

We talked about making cultural competency a portion of first-year orientation, part of the first-year and transfer seminar, or part of a yearly campus day set aside for discussion about what it means to be a part of the St. Mary's community. 

**When I say cultural competency, I mean being able to comfortably and effectively communicate and interact with people from different ethnic backgrounds, races, religions, socio-economic backgrounds, etc. 

Reasons these things matter:

St. Mary's prides itself on being a welcoming and accepting community to all, but it doesn't feel that way for all students, particularly minorities.

The events of last semester, mainly through Yik Yak, opened people's eyes that we have, in some ways, lost sight of the St. Mary's Way and need it back real bad.

St. Mary's can be that accepting and open place we all fell in love with, it just needs some redirection.

We do not live in a post-racial society.

Some tangible ideas myself and other students at the forum had:

organize a St. Mary's Day, a day set aside for community discussion and reflection (we used to have this annually!)

urge the administration and faculty to work cultural competency into the curriculum with the anticipated strategic plan that will be written in the next year or so

create more space for dialogue among the community. There is already good programming that takes place on important topics like race across campus, we just need more than the regular crowd to come out to them!

working with coordinators of first-year orientation to work some more meaningful programs and discussions about cultural competency into the already great program

Do you have any other ideas? I'd love to hear them!

[studenttrustee]

St. Mary's says no more violence or fear, silence or victim-blaming. NO MORE.

Great job, SMART!

[studenttrustee]

Reminds me of why I chose to come here, why I stayed, and why I will forever be proud to have been a part of this community. <3