Agenda for November 9th, 2014:
Roll Call
Announcements
Your Two Cents
Seven Sisters Recap
Big cheese debrief
Plenary follow-up
Finance Committee Recap Meeting
Old Business
New Business
Roll Call
Present: Present: Anna Kalinsky, Sofia Oleas, Heidi Gay, Anna Sargeant, Pam Gassman, Dijia Chen, Molly MacDougall, Mikah Farbo, Swetha Narasimhan, Kristian Sumner, Rhea Manglani, Brenna Levitin, Miranda Smith, Mikala Forster, Marian Slocum, Grace Kim, Aleja Newman, Odeymarys Garrido, Ann Tran, Connie Lam, Rachel Bruce, Matison Hearn-Desautels, Julia Kim, Stephanie Montalvan, Angela Motte, Shaina Robinson, Lindsay Burak, Rachel Feynman, Dani Weismann, Jessica Bernal, Shakari Badgett, Gabrielle Crossnoe, Jillian Moroney, Nkechi Ampah, Cat Wagner, Carly Breen, Prerana Vaddi, Olivia Hollinger, Elaine Holehan, Alexis McDonald, Modupe Olufemi, Rebecca Cook, Linh Tranh, Natalie DiFrank
Absent: Pamudu Tennakoon, Xavia Miles, Ava Hawkinson, Chanel Williams, Lyntana Brougham, Leigh Peterson, Angie Koo, Sneha Bendapudi, Julie Henrikson,
Announcements
Anna Sargeant ’15: Two Announcements, on Friday at 3pm in uncommon grounds cafe, the Soco is hosting with a discussion with campus safety on party safety plus alcohol usage. We will be going through scenarios about people’s life experiences. It’s important to have a secure social space.
Next Sunday the Hot Topic will regard alcohol usage on campus. This is not a specific discussion inspired by campus parties, but rather the attitude towards alcohol as a whole. We believe that this is an important discussion as a majority of our student body is under the age of 21, the legal drinking age, yet we have had a large number of hospital visits due to alcohol this semester. We would like this conversation to create a space in which we can share experiences, both positive and negative, and discuss why people drink or not drink when on this campus, whether due to stress of social situations. Moreover, how does alcohol usage affect the atmosphere at Bryn Mawr.
Anna Kalinsky ’15: The Residence council is in charge of a party fund, which is used to partially fund parties on campus. This past Friday, the Council approved a fund for 180$ each for Pembroke East and Pembroke West for East vs. West.
Rebecca Cook ’15: Community Dinners are open at Batten Mondays 6:30 pm. Please rsvp through the facebook event on the batten facebook page or emailing (jhenrikson@brynmawr.edu) Email at the latest 10am.
Aleja Newman ’17: Last week I talked about how Acme will give you Cuisinart pans after you get a certain amount of stickers. If you do go to acme and are still giving stamps, because we can use those for SGA kitchen! We can take a straw poll on what types of pots and pans that we’d like to get stickers for.
Matison Hearn-Desautels ’18: I’m starting a project called “SGA Fun Facts” where I post flyers around campus with interesting facts about SGA – helpful resources, history about the SGA, etc. I would appreciate any contributions, so please, don’t hesitate to email me at mhearndesa@brynmawr.edu. This can include anything, no matter how small! I would also welcome any assistance during this project, so if you’d like to help post these flyers around campus so we can ensure they get everywhere, please come see me or email me!
Kristian Sumner ’17: The Sociology Department is holding 3 job talks in the next couple of weeks, all of which for three people of color talking about different topics involving immigration. All of these job talks provide refreshments and you should really try to go if you can, they usually take an hour. These are people that Bryn Mawr are considering hiring as professors here so if you would like them to teach here, attend the talk, and answer a questionnaire about them so that your feelings as a student are heard.
On Monday, 11/10, Dalton 119 @ 4:00 p.m VERONICA MONTES is giving a job talk about
“The Sentiment of Nostalgia and Its Capitalization in Ethnic Enterprises: A Multi-Sited Ethnographic Study of Mexican Entrepreneurs”
On Thursday, 11/13, Dalton 300 @ 4:00 p.m KEVIN ESCUDERO is giving a job talk on
“Organizing While Undocumented: Intersectionality and Engagement with the Law as a Social Movement Strategy”
And on Monday, November 17 @ 4:00 p.m., Dalton 119 ANGELA GARCIA is giving a job talk about “Navigating Exclusion and Accommodation: The Embodied Effects of Local Immigration Laws”
These emails are circulating throughout the community but since we get so many emails I’m keeping in close contact with Karen Sulpizio who sends out the info about these meetings.
Charlie Bruce ‘16: I have two announcements! I’d like to apologize to all the members of the representative council who received an email me three times about SGA Member At Large Matison Hearn-Desautel’s announcement. Zimbra said that I had an error report, so I thought it had not sent. In the email, I also misspelled her last name. If you have an SGA related fun fact for Matison, please email her mheardes@brynmawr.edu Also, friendly reminder that if you have an announcement, please type it up and email it to me before the SGA meeting. Thank you!
Melanie Bahti ’15: The Honor Board will be hosting an event on Thursday November 13th from 8:30-10pm in CC 105 (pool table room). We will have snacks, board games, and some arts and crafts. Almost all of the members of the honor board will be there, and we’d love to talk to you!
I’m in the process of working on some kind of FAQ/guide to self-scheduled exams, for first-year Bryn Mawr students or for students within the Tri-Co taking a Bryn Mawr self-scheduled exam for the first time. If you have/had any questions or confusions about self-scheduled exams, please get in touch with me at mbahti@brynmawr.edu or stop by my office hours (Wednesdays 9-11 in the Lower Level of Guild). I would love to include your input in this resource.
Aleja Newman ’17: What’s the difference between announcements and your two cents?
Syona Arora ’15: I’m going to explain that in my announcement.
Alexis De La Rosa ’15: The November appointments round is upon us. The applications open tomorrow and will be open from 9am to 9am. Interviews will run the week of the 17th. Going up on that, we’re hoping to change the structure of how the appointments round runs, we’re going to use google forms using your name and class year about the structure. If you have any comments or suggestions about how to run appointments or change the structure, please email me at (adelarosa@brynmawr.edu). We’re also adding a new committee for dining services, so keep your eye out for more info about that!
Heidi Gay ’15: I’m the Student Curriculum Head. I will be sending out an email about proctoring self-scheduled exam. You cannot proctor and take an exam at the same time. Email me at hgay@brynmawr.edu If you have any more questions. Keep an eye out for the link
Namita Dwarakanath ’15: As pre-registration opens and spring semester approaches, there are increasing questions and concerns about financial aid policies on campus. Last week, I sat in on a broad college finance meeting, but I would like to have a more focused meeting with administrators about financial aid on campus. Having feedback from a variety of students is critical to ensure that these policies reflect the needs and goals of the campus community. If you have concerns, questions, or just want to talk about financial aid, please contact me at bmctreasurer@gmail.com or ndwarakana@bmc, or stop by my office hours Mondays 7-8 in the Campus Center.
Syona Arora ’15: A dining services forum will be held on Friday November 21st from 3-5 in the Campus Center main lounge. This is a chance to speak to Bernie Chung, David Chase, and Jerry Berenson and ask open questions and have a discussion to voice your concerns about Dining Services on campus. I know that other dining service staff members are also planning on attending, so this is open to staff as well – please spread the world and take opportunity of this space. If you are unable to attend, feel free to send any questions or concerns to sga@brynmawr.edu.
Please remember that Announcements is not a time for discussion or straw polls, but rather a time to share events or updates. Short questions about details are permissible, but please refrain from discussion. Your 2 Cents is a time for anyone from the community to bring forward a topic of discussion, and New Business is just for members of the Rep Council to bring forward topics specifically pertinent to their position. Old Business, like Your 2 Cents, is open to the entire community to bring back a topic that has been previously discussed at an SGA meeting.
Also, a few etiquette reminders: Representative Council especially, please know that you are committed to be at SGA meetings from 7 PM to 8:30 PM every Sunday. Please do not leave early or arrive late. If this continues to be a problem, we will start counting late arrivals or early leaves as absences. If there is a prior conflict, you must inform Charlie well in advance.
Another reminder or suggestion is that we use SGA as a space to share ideas and start discussions, and frequently individuals will come forward with ideas that are not fully formed. We should not expect these ideas to reach fruition during this meeting if they are more ambitious. When ideas are presented, often individuals are looking for the green light for moving forward outside of this meeting, and if you have any concerns that are shared by the entire community, feel free to share, but also know that you have the ability to discuss these ideas after the meeting with more individualized concerns.
Your Two Cents
Aleja Newman ’17: At the Laverne Cox talk on Friday, we need to not be afraid to be politically incorrect. I wanted to tell everyone whose here that it’s ok to be curious.
Seven Sisters Recap
Syona Arora ’15: This past weekend, the Executive Board (minus Melanie) and Shaina, Jenn, Alizeh, and Heidi attended the Seven Sisters conference at Wellesley College. Shaina and Jenn attended as community members, and Alizeh and Heidi are the Seven Sisters reps. They will provide a short recap of what our weekend was like!
Heidi Gay ’17: We attended the Seven Sisters Conference hosted by Wellesley this past weekend. We met with delegates from all of the current Seven Sisters institutions: Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley.
Every year the conference continues to grow and change, and we were happy to contribute to this evolution. Bryn Mawr was unique in bringing community members in addition to Executive Board members and Seven Sister Representatives to the conference.
In addition to planning and breakout sessions, there were also skill-sharing workshops in Emotional Intelligence, Transferrable Skills, and Self Care.
While at the conference, we learned that there have been racist incidents on Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, and Smith’s campuses so it was eye-opening to see that many of the colleges have been going through similar experiences to us. We plan on using each other as a support network in the future to more effectively problem solve.
Something else we learned is that in the wake of a racial profiling incident committed by Mount Holyoke Campus Police, Mount Holyoke has begun to adopt policies based on Bryn Mawr’s system of confrontation and student accountability.
This conference is indicative of the changing relationship between the colleges. The E-Board and the Seven Sister Reps. are looking forward to working with their counterparts.
Syona Arora ’15: Thank you for the recap! We had a great weekend.
Big Cheese Debrief
Syona Arora ’15: We received some feedback from a variety of community members, students and Cheeses alike, but if there is anything that anyone else would like to share, please use this time. We always welcome constructive criticism, especially because we reformatted Big Cheese so much and want to continue to improve. If you do not wish to share your feedback now, please email sga@brynmawr.edu.
Elaine Hollahan ’16: One thing would be nice if we could do it earlier in the day.
Syona Arora ’15: That’s a good idea because the cheeses need to leave right afterwards.
Aleja Newman ’17: There wasn’t a method for a motion to extend time. When we talked about mental health that we talked about that I felt that I couldn’t go to the health center to treat an illness. I wanted to say that out loud. There’s something about being able to say it to a group of cheeses.
Kristian Sumner ’17: I liked the fact that there were intros, because that explained the topics for me.
Shirah Kraus ‘18: I really liked the Big Cheese forum! I think that there could’ve been more publicity. There could have been flyers to advertisement.
Syona Arora ’15: Does anyone else have any suggestions on how we can advertise?
Kristian Sumner ’17: Because cheese is such a huge part of it, there could be cheese across campus with an advertisement.
Rachel Bruce ‘18: In the dining halls, they could have cheese laid out with a count down to big cheese.
Brenna Levitin ‘16: We use a lot of words that first years don’t understand. I think we need to define what a big cheese forum is without using the words “big cheese”. It’s a term that not all the first year students or international students know when they come in. I suggest writing new words definitions.
Syona Arora ‘15: This year we wrote SGA Buzzwords pamphlets distributed to the first years the definition says: “Big Cheese Forum is a once a semester event where members of the faculty, staff, and administration are invited to a SGA meeting. A few weeks prior, community members discuss the questions to pose. The SGA Executive Board determines to whom these questions are most relevant and invites them to participate at the Forum. The Forum consists of answering specific predetermined questions as well as an open Q&A for the participants. It is also an opportunity to hold members of the larger campus community accountable to their goals.”
Shakari Badgett ‘17: If there’s only one person who has knowledge about a subject, they should be given more time to talk about said subject.
Syona Arora ’15: I think that’s something we realized after the fact.
Rachel Bruce ‘18: I think we should hold it later in the semester because of the date it made people feel stressed because there was a lot of work due after that weekend.
Syona Arora ‘15: The date of the forum was set to accommodate president Kim Cassidy’s schedule. It’s also always in the month of November. We will also keep student calendars in mind as possible. Always feel free to email us at sga@brynmawr.edu
Plenary Follow-up
Syona Arora ’15: Plenary was held on September 28th, 2014 and all eleven resolutions were passed. Some resolution writers, such as Brenna and Emmett, have already provided updates, but this is a time for other resolution writers to present any updates.
Swetha Narasimhan ‘15: So I wrote the resolution about the LILAC – CPD rep and since plenary Molly ran an elections round and the rep is here!
Natalie DiFrank ’17: Hi I’m Natalie DiFrank, I’m the new LILAC/CPD rep.
Alizeh Amer ‘16: So I passed the resolution on halal/kosher food. So far, we’ve passed out a survey, and we’ve got a little more than 30 responses. We’re trying to get a better definition of halal. We asked the MSA advisor to work along with the students and dining services.
Molly MacDougal l’16: We changed the resignation period from two weeks to three weeks to align with an elections round.
Rachel Massey ’18: I passed a resolution to increase the number of textbooks in the library. I’ve met with Gina Siesing and provost Mary Osirim. We’re starting a system to increase the number of books on reserve it will be held in terms of department and not in terms of tuition. Right now, we’re working with the faculty in terms of looking at books on reserve. Between Carpenter and Canaday right now we’re working on putting these things together.
Melanie Bahti ‘16: I passed two resolutions to have changes the honor code. The honor code online has been updated. You can find the updated current version online.
Charlie Bruce ’16: I’m speaking on behalf of Nora Scheland ’15 and the members of the Conflict Resolution Committee. Their resolutions were related to amendments to the constitution. I have made the appropriate changes. The updated constitution can be founded on the SGA website, sga.blogs.brynmawr.edu.
Syona Arora ’15: This is a way to hold the resolution writers accountable. Next on the agenda is finance committee recap.
Namita Dwarakanath ‘15: Usually the finance committee happens once, but this meeting was split into two, because Jerry Berenson and I chose to participate in the demonstration (that was back in October). Basically what’s going on we’re having a 3.5% increase in tuition. It’s a tuition increase comparable to overall spending. It’s been a 3.5% increase to tuition for the last several years. 50% of that is paying faculty, staff, and student workers. One of the bigger things that’s happening is how we’re restructuring financial aid. We’re a need aware school, so we give financial aid to most students who ask for it. We’re trying to figure out what we want when we give Merit Aid and when to give it to students. The structure for merit aid has changed every year. As of last year, Jerry said we’re trying to wean off of merit aid, to become need blind, but that seems to be last true now. I’m trying to get a follow-up, but haven’t yet. I’m talking to the new CFO Kari. Part of the reason why we’re having problems is that the first years enrollment is low, so we’reis a little bit in the red. We’re trying to have renovations of Park science. We’ve approved 17 million dollars for phase one of those renovations. We are right now the most expensive women’s college. A reason of that is because a tremendous amount of students received merit aid policy. We’re making a lot of changes.
Shirah Kraus ‘18: When you say are the most expensive, what do you mean?
Namita Dwarakanath ‘15: Bottom-line, we’re the most expensive women’s college. Right now, there’s no admissions representative in the finance committee meetings. I’m hoping to talk to the new CFO and CEO about this.
Prerana Vaddi ’16: When you say we’re getting a smaller class coming in, could you speak to why?
Namita Dwarakanath ‘15: I don’t know, that’s why we need to discuss admissions and finance as a single unit. It’s not because of lower applications. Our acceptance rate was comparable, but of the students accepted, less came than usual. I think that ties into how we sell ourselves as a college.
Old Business
There was no old business.
New Business
Syona Arora ‘15: From now on, when we ask questions and ask for feedback. We’re really thankful feedback. Talk to your neighbor for 30 seconds, so we can get feedback and make changes.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:51 PM.