Bryn Mawr College SGA Meeting – October 25, 2015
Roll Call
Announcements
Your Two Cents
Old Business
New Business
Roll Call
Present: Madison Wilson, Samantha Heyrich, Jasmine Rangel, Delaney Williams, Chanel Williams, Coco Wang, Emma Basen-Engquist, Lindsey Foster, Rachel Ofili, Eve Cantler, Charlette Williams, Casiana Omick, Bridget Murray, JoyAngelica Chan, Ann Tran, Stephanie Montalvan, Khadijah Seay, Danielle Cadet, Celeste Ledesma, Emily Gifford-Smith, Connie Lam, Lyntana Brougham, Sarah Andrew, Lilly King, Oona Ryle, Delia Landers, Hannah Chinn, Nora Dell, Melanie Bahti, Erin Saladin, Rina Patel, Sedi Agawu, Lillian Oyen-Ustad, Nikitha Shakamuri, Sneha Soni, Olivia Hollinger, Emily Siegel, Miranda Smith, Elizabeth Lorenzana, Elaine Holehan, Tosin Ajiboye, Kyra Sagal, Modupe Olufemi.
Absent: Mara Dominguez, Rhea Manglani, Maria Minaya, Natalie DiFrank, Diamond Ray, Alexis Wiltsire, Radhika Singh, Shakari Badgett, Tyler Brown-Cross, Ana Llamas, Dijia Chen.
Charlie Bruce ‘16 called the meeting to order at 8:15pm
Charlie Bruce ’16: Hey everyone let’s begin with roll call!
Roll Call
Angela Motte ’17: Hello everyone! As a reminder, I record these meetings, so keep that in mind when you speak.
Present: Madison Wilson, Samantha Heyrich, Jasmine Rangel, Delaney Williams, Chanel Williams, Coco Wang, Emma Basen-Engquist, Lindsey Foster, Rachel Ofili, Eve Cantler, Charlette Williams, Casiana Omick, Bridget Murray, JoyAngelica Chan, Ann Tran, Stephanie Montalvan, Khadijah Seay, Danielle Cadet, Celeste Ledesma, Emily Gifford-Smith, Connie Lam, Lyntana Brougham, Sarah Andrew, Lilly King, Oona Ryle, Delia Landers, Hannah Chinn, Nora Dell, Melanie Bahti, Erin Saladin, Rina Patel, Sedi Agawu, Lillian Oyen-Ustad, Nikitha Shakamuri, Sneha Soni, Olivia Hollinger, Emily Siegel, Miranda Smith, Elizabeth Lorenzana, Elaine Holehan, Tosin Ajiboye, Kyra Sagal, Modupe Olufemi.
Absent: Mara Dominguez, Rhea Manglani, Maria Minaya, Natalie DiFrank, Diamond Ray, Alexis Wiltsire, Radhika Singh, Shakari Badgett, Tyler Brown-Cross, Ana Llamas, Dijia Chen.
Charlie Bruce ’16: Thanks! We’re going to move on to announcements. During this item, any new items for discussion, questions, or announcements can be made. We have allotted ten minutes for this agenda item.
Announcements
Rachel Bruce ’18: This Friday we are hosting a breast cancer awareness concert. KCass will be there, along with breast cancers survivors. All proceeds go to research. Doors open at 7:30pm, and the concert begins at 8pm.
Nora Dell ‘19: What charities will proceeds go to?
Rachel Bruce ‘18: Breast cancer research fund.
Casi Omick ‘18: What day is it?
Rachel Bruce ‘18: Friday October 30th right before Radnor Halloween.
Nora Dell ‘19: Is it just by suggested donation?
Rachel Bruce ‘18: We have set ticket prices.
Samantha Heyrich ‘17: This Thursday in Thomas110 the alcohol concerns review board is hosting it’s 1st event of year. Myths and rumors debunked session will run from 7pm-8pm. We hope you all will join us, as we will be discussing interesting points and clarifying procedures. If you have any questions feel free to email me at sheyrich@brynmawr.edu
Joy Chan ‘17: This Wednesday the Pensby Office of Religious Life is hosting an event in Campus Center 10am-5pm. It’s a space for you all to write down what tradition means to you and how things all intersect.
Jasmine Rangel ’17: Hey everyone! Quick announcement- Lantern Night is November 1st. It starts at exactly at 8pm. Read your ticket, because you have certain times that you need to be there or you won’t be able to get in. Doors close at 7:45pm. 1st years have son practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday in Thomas 110 from 8-8:45pm. No Bryn Mawr time.
Celeste Ledesma ’17: Also if you didn’t pick up your ticket, we put it in your mail box.
Samantha Heyrich ’17: Hey, I’m back. If you’re a bouncer for Halloween, or you’ve signed up to be at a bouncing training session, we have a session this week that you should have RSVP’s thorough the Google form. You can’t be hired if you don’t attend the training sessions.
Charlie Bruce ’16: Any more announcements?
Gabrielle Smith ’17: Hello, while we’re pumped up, November appointment round positions will have positions opening on both the dining services advisory board, and the alcohol review concerns review board. If you find that interesting, you should apply! Email me if you have any questions!
Charlie Bruce ’16: Any more announcements? Ok Next item! Your Two Cents! Anyone in the BMC undergrad community can host a straw poll or bring up a topic for discussion.
Your Two Cents
Charlie Bruce ’16: No one? Ok, next!
Old Business
Charlie Bruce ’16: Any old business? Ok, new business!
New Business
Charlie Bruce ’16: Anything? Ok, we have reached the end of our agenda.
Melanie Bahti ’16: I motion to end the meeting.
Joy Chan ’17: Second.
Charlie Bruce ’16: Meeting adjourned!
Meeting adjourned at 8:25pm
Bryn Mawr College SGA Big Cheese Forum – October 25, 2015
Below are summarizes of small groups taken by individual note takers.
Lillian Oyen-Ustad
Big Cheese Forum
Tom King and Lillian Burroughs
TK: Tom King
LB: Lillian Burroughs
Group 1:
Lil: Lil Burroughs, campus safety, she/her
Tom: Tom King, campus safety, he/ him
Emily S. senior, she/her
Sarah Andrews She her senior
Elaine C. senior she her
Tom: How are ya? We thought a lot about questions and issues we thing may or may not be disconcerting since it’s a short period of time. We could discuss villanova’s arming themselves, alcohol, parties coming up, which are our offices, etc. We’ve been really anxious; we’ve been meeting with students all week to discuss their issues and the rumors surrounding us. The most dangerous rumor was if we respond to an alcohol related case we don’t immediately call
Sarah Andrews 2016, I’ve noticed a lot more police cars on campus, I’m not sure if there’s something to do with that
Lil: Is it a police car?
Tom: You notice it, there has been no increase in patrol. We did some things when there was the FBI threat, not because there was any weight to it, but they volunteered and we did it to help everyone feel safe. They love Bryn Mawr, we benefit compared to all of the other schools, nova, harcum, Rosemont, even Haverford. They say they don’t know what it is or why it’s such a nice and safe place, but we meet with the police often and discuss our methods of close knit and open discussion
Lil: the other thing is since you’re at rock; there are a lot of students by the apartment complex, in which many nova students live. The police try there best to stay around that area.
Tom: The police do al lot of their training here over break, and we try our best to have them be comfortable at our campus
Swathi 2018: what are the details of the police officer at Radnor Halloween?
Tom: great question. The police volunteer for it as an overtime gig, and they enjoy being here. We try and marinate the offices with our campus. The upside is to build relationships and prevents citations. No car goes to the hospital with the student. It’s one silver lining to their presence. Although visitors are allowed, we have such an open campus that we cannot close down the campus.
Emily Siegl 2016: Upcoming winter and weather issues, can you talk about the college’s latest policy on bad weather days to assure our safety
Tom: Facilities handles salting and sanding, they’ve been very good about taking care of it. In some cases, the ice storms weren’t predicted, but those situations and classes, we decided last year that safety should be the most stressed point about the upcoming weather decisions. It involves being on the phone at 3am with the president, the provost, the deans, etc. but anytime there is a question about safety, we close. It used to be that it was up to professors, but now we’re not sure how that will come out. This year only student run places will be kept open during poor weather
Lil: If facilities and us decide to close the campus, we know that not only is it not safe for you, but it is not safe for our officers either.
Group Two:
Lil: I think we’ll probably skip our own questions and just let you all talk with us and ask whatever you need
Swathi 2018: Shall we begin?
Lindsey Foster 2016: How are we going to decide what happens on campus during bad weather
TK: It involves getting up at 3am 4am, and we pay a lot of attention to the colleges around us. If Haverford closes, we close. We’ve convinced the administrators that safety should be the most important thing. Ice is usually a lot worse than snow, tree limbs, power lines, we’re really pleased that safety is a bigger concern and bi-co is a new thing. Our recommendation carries a lot more weight.
Lil: Plus we need to be very careful about the blue bus
Lindsey Foster 2016: What do you recommend against head injuries with bad weather, what precautions should be taken
TK: Tell us, but then tell facilities, we’ve heard this a lot, and we’re trying to get them to prioritize. Last year there were two surprise storms, and we weren’t prepared for them. It just rained and got cold and then got icy. It’s important that we have
LB: In front of each residence hall there is a container or chemicals and salts, lil by the way, and no matter what time, always always call us. Last year ice was scary, we had a lot of bad days
TK: And we’ve been hearing this quite a bit, and this comes up a lot. And that tells us a lot. When we meet, head of facilities comes and whatever they do isn’t enough. It’s not quick enough
LB: There’s a new grounds person, dawn, and when the weather changes, note that with the rain fall and the leaves,
Gabby Smith 2017: We didn’t know we could use the salt, so if you could designate it to dorm presidents to let us know, that would be very helpful.
TK: They’re all very good when we’re all together, but there were a couple of days when it was unforeseen. But they usually do a good job if they know it’s coming. But that’s… we have to think outside the box when it catches us by storm. So, what else.
LB: Be safe on Friday please, keep an eye out, have fun, you don’t have to drink every flavor of vodka, but whatever
TK: But if someone does that, call us, there are lots and lots of schools that this is a problem: Haverford used to have a president who worked at Lafayette who lost 5 students while there. This is the kinds of things that we try our best to prevent. Our method isn’t perfect, but in the cases of people who do not make it, there is almost always a person who could have called and didn’t so here we try out best to avoid that through the model we create.
Lindsey Foster 2016: Does PA have an amnesty law?
TK: Yes it does, and since it came into practice, there has been no incident, not that there had been before then. They usually don’t cite when people go to the hospital. It’s a non-traffic ticket. We receive with anyone who experiences these issues. Open containers etc. Don’t let that be a reason not to call us. And if you’re not comfortable watching another student, we wont make you stay. We will simply
Group 3:
Lil CS She her
Tom CS he him
Channel 2016 she her
Linh 2016 she her
Charlie 2016 they them
Etc.
Swati 2018: Tom and Lil don’t ask questions, so we want to hear from you
Coco 2016: Very curious how handling the threat went on your end and what the procedure is on handling a situation like that.
TK: Nothing major, we took the threat as it was, and were made aware by the FBI on the Friday before and there was a lot of communication between out coworkers and members of the 43 other colleges and came to an agreement with the help of the FBI there was no immediate threat to the college or the community. One of our collegues made the decision to send out a campus wide safety alert, which pissed off the FBI and the rest of the student body. There is a meeting next week at Haverford which will address this issue. We will only be using safety alerts for absolute emergencies.
LB: We did our best by keeping communications open. Some doors were locked, there was more of a police presence on campus in order to make people feel more safe. You will always know the ways in which our campus protects you. It’s the issue of the media and the anonymous and public sites that caused such a panic. We have pages and pages of threats and we take each and every one with a grain of salt. The
TK: The FBI liaisons use our grounds for entry drills, and they don’t understand how our method works, but they love our campus and our community. We don’t have a zero tolerance because it doesn’t work as well. Our community of students can always reach us and we hope that they feel comfortable around us.
Channel W 2016: I was wondering if the sending out of the safety alert changed the way in which you went about handling the threat
TK: Absolutely not. We alerted the terrorist head of the FBI and worked closely with him to determine how to go about the threat and it’s presence on social media
Channel Williams 2016: I just wanted to comment and say that I felt safe that day. I went to the library and noticed it was locked and I had to think about it. I felt safe, so thank you
TK: So, we’ll close on an if it’s icy out and it’s dangerous out
LB: Right Kim?
TK: We know that the tip came from southern Florida and people feel too too comfortable saying what they believe to be socially okay. Did anyone see the video? There’s a fella over at Haverford who enhanced it to see the serial number on the gun and it turned out to be an airsoft gun. Basically it was a college kid from somewhere far away, trying to scare us all
Charlie Bruce 2016: That’s terrible
LB: It was removed almost immediately
Linh Tran 2016: I heard this from a friend; I don’t remember the name of the school
TK: Community college in Philly, there was no gun involved; it was just a fight that mentioned a gun, which caused a full out lock down
Tosin Abojiiye 2017: I have a question to ask facilities: I have a question around campus, why are the towers locked? In the 60s they weren’t locked but why are they locked now? Safety concern?
LB: It’s a safety concern, so people don’t jump out.
K Cass: We open them on May Day, the seniors and I go up together. It’s a big thing
LB: The thing is that you need to discuss it with facilities.
Charlie called time.
Nora Dell
Minutes for Big Cheese Forum; Financial Aid
Facilitator: Erin Saladin ‘16
Note taker: Nora Dell ‘19
With: Director of Financial Aid, Ethel Desmarais, and Chief Enrollment Officer, Pelema Morrice
ROUND ONE (Duration: 10 minutes):
Pelema Morrice: I’m Pelema Morrice, I’m the chief enrollment officer. I deal with three offices – graduate, undergraduate, and financial aid.
Ethel Desmarais: And I’m Ethel Desmarais; I’m the director of financial aid and I’m delighted to be here. We thought we’d start off with – what aspects of financial aid are doing well and the inverse, what could we do better?
Delany Williams ‘17: Maybe if there was more transparency. Like, what is the formula that our information is put into. This is kind of confusing and nerve racking for me, and in my family, because the financial aid we get allows me to keep going to college. So maybe more transparency, or maybe that’s not the right word –
Joy Chan ‘17: To see clarity in the process.
Ethel Desmarais: There’s two formulas: One to determine edibility for federal aid, and one for grant aid from the college. Federal aid is written in statute, which is on the back on your financial aid report, so you can see that.
Our institutional methodology is described in the financial aid handbook. The formula we use is a consensus formula that a lot of – about 300 or 400 private schools use, and every school adapts it to their situation. I think that there’s a couple of things that effect eligibility from year to year: The premise is that last year is the best predictor of next year. What affects this most is like how many students the family has in college. And if it changes year to year, that will affect your financial aid.
3rd Student: Thanks for the email about the restructuring this week. It was really clear, thank you.
Pelema Morrice: thank you.
3rd Student: Did you guys see it?
Delany Williams ’17: I didn’t get that. Or maybe I just don’t check my email *laughter*
Erin Saladin ‘16: I’m not sure we have times for these specifics: but I was wondering how summer funding affects financial aid, because its not clear how it affects financial aid.
Ethel Desmarais: Fellowships affect financial aid, but this only applies to certain students. For federal aid, we are stuck with the federal rules. If there is any kind of federal money, we have to stick to those.
Pelema Morrice: We have got an exception from the Department of Education. If the student is enrolled in one quarter course, for fellowships, and then your academic aid is not effected. This is what we usually do. Any Leftover money is a resource for the financial aid in fall. It also depends on what your expenses are and what type of money you are receiving and what you are doing. We meet individually with students and go over it individually.
The tough part is that while there is a great deal of policy oriented stuff, it is very individual oriented. So while many rules can be widely applied to everyone, there are specific situations that can affect individual aid. The best thing to do is to come in and talk to a staff member. Its easier to communicate that one to one.
Ethel Desmarais: Although I don’t mind email. It’s like you’re in a box – you have total cost of attendance, and the amount your parents can contribute, and then there’s what we can contribute.
Delaney Williams ’17: I like that I got financial aid *Clapping*
Joy Chan ‘17: If your family situation changes while you’re in college, how does that affect your financial aid.
Ethel Desmarais: Depending on when it happens, if it happens during the school year, you need to come in and tell us. It is possible to get a mid year adjustment. The appeal process is all in the handbook.
ROUND TWO (Duration: 10 minutes):
Pelema Morrice : So we have an opening question; what aspects of financial aid are working well, and where can we improve.
Florangel Suero ’16: I came here when I was 17, daughter of immigrants and a first generation college student. The financial aid office was intimidating; I didn’t know how it worked. I just knew that I had a ton of documents. I got less aid than I was excepting, especially from my family situation. I didn’t know I could ask for more. I didn’t know you could appeal until I was a junior. When I went to get help, the staff could be quite rude, honestly. So, is there any way to create a course or –
Ethel Desmarais: Create a course?
Florangel Suero ‘16: Yes, or maybe find some way to give first generation students the knowledge to navigate financial aid. Because the handbook is very hard to navigate. And make the course mandatory.
Pelema Morrice: I think that is a helpful suggestion. The process is a lot of work. Not everyone has access to the information. We’ve restructured the office and what that means is that we’ve given ourselves more time to think about what we want to do going forward. I know its never enough – how to navigate financial aid is hard and you don’t have and much experience. It’s a suggestion that we now have more capacity to implement. We can’t require a course, but we could make it broadly available.
Florangel Suero ‘16: Or maybe inform the deans, because a lot of students come to them with their problems. Talk them through the process.
Ethel Desmarais: We do have an advisory board as part of the SGA. Last year one of the suggestions on how we could reach out to students was to get into the dorms. We should be meeting in the next few weeks. But, last year we did a workshop on how to complete the forms, and no one showed up. So what could we do to get people to know about it?
So going in to the dorms, would that be helpful? And then renewal applications – when do you need the most help with that?
Florangel Suero ‘16: I think the best time is right at the beginning of the semester, when students don’t have as much work.
Ethel Desmarais: Like if we were part of customs.
Florangel Suero ‘16: I think if it was put on customs, that a lot of freshman would come.
Hannah Chin ‘19: Even after we came as freshman, I still didn’t understand and I wasn’t sure. I was trying to explain work study to my roommate, and I didn’t know if what I was saying was right or not. I wasn’t sure. There isn’t anywhere online that we can easily navigate. Where can we find this information?
Pemela Morrice: There’s number of different ways. You can always email us. If you prefer to talk to us in person, you can come to the office. You can also go and read the handbook and then come in, if you prefer to digest the information first. So those are the three ways.
Ethel Desmarais: I would like to know more about the questions you have, because we are not the student employment office. I was also thinking about putting an FAQ online.
Hannah Chin ’19: That would be very helpful. I thought I would have to write a work study check at the end of the semester.
Pelema Morrice: So you mean understanding what work study is?
Ethel Desmarais: So work study is never gets applied towards your bill. It’s the money you use for your personal expenses – its expected earnings. You get paid bi weekly if you work – and all first years have to work in dining services. Some students save the money and pay the bill, most of them don’t. They use it for personal items like their shampoo or books.
Pelema Morrice: It’s a budget placeholder that its how much you expected to earn over the year.
Casiona Omick ‘18: It might be helpful to gear an information session geared toward first year students. Like “Are you a first year student who has questions about financial aid?”
Ethel Desmarais: I like that idea [to Pelema] write that down.
Pelema Morrice: [to Ethel] And then a Q and A about work study, is that something we want to do…?
ROUND THREE (Duration: 10 minutes):
Pelema Morrice: So let go ahead. What aspects of financial aid are working well and what aspects could be improved.
Rachel Ofili ‘16: I had a question about gates scholarship. I know a few people who had the gates scholarship, but because of policy, they weren’t able to take it or use all of it and they had to take out loans. And even with scholarships in general, Bryn Mawr takes half of that and then you still have to provide. So I was wondering why that is.
Pelema Morrice: So, outside scholarship policy varies by institution. With ours there’s the good and there’s the bad. The good is that because we meet 100 percent need, so outside scholarships, they don’t take away from other components. Other institutions don’t meet 100 need, so your scholarship will just add to financial aid. But we want to meet the full need, so we use scholarship money to take down our own commitment, rather than yours. We are looking at whether we can afford to change that. We are trying to make it as affordable as possible. But we are constrained by our budget. I know it gets complicated. It’s a resource issue. We don’t want to make this more challenging or difficult. We are looking at it in the future.
Rachel Ofili ‘16: I think if they get outside scholarships, it should be separate from financial because they are working hard to get those.
Pelema Morrice: Well some institutions say we won’t give you as much to get to that number. Its not about not wanting to make you feel like you’re not being rewarding. But it is challenging because of the resource issue.
Ethel Desmarais: I think of it differently. When you apply for financial aid, we are saying to you – what can you contribute? – and we will do our best to help you with the rest. When you bring in additional resources, you need less. So it gives us the ability to give more aid to someone else. It is a community issue. If you are receiving federal aid – you can’t have more aid than you demonstrate need. We have to comply with that. But its community. We would love to replace loans but…
Rachel Ofili ‘16: Maybe make it more transparent, because a lot of people don’t realize this. Because you’re gaining, but it still hurts. Its good for people who get aid but need more aid.
Ethel Desmarais: Essentially you’re saying they don’t have family contribution, and they work hard for extra scholarships.
Pelema Morrice: When you get an award no one feels like they’re getting enough. But especially with the scholarship that you earn, it is one of the ones that we are going to look out for.
Ethel Desmarais: Say you get a 1000 dollar scholarship. We would reduce BMC grant by 250 dollars. This process was designed to be an incentive, because we don’t touch the first 500 dollars.
Pelema Morrice: Its more of a resource decision. We are figuring out weather we can afford to do this. It is one our list of things to look out for.
Ethel Desmarais: I would love to be able to make the policy more clear in the website. We want your input from the advisory board.
Gabrielle Smith ‘17: More and more people who need financial aid are applying, do you think that in the future, Bryn Mawr will not accept those students or…
Pelema Morrice: Essentially, Kim Cassidy is going to go out and raise a lot of money for us. We are going out to find more resources rather than worrying about not accepting qualified students.
Questions there wasn’t time for:
Miranda Smith ’16: Is there any way to streamline the virtual Bryn Mawr financial aid page so that its actually readable for students. So that its up to date.
Nora Dell ’19: (Bionic)
Emma Basen-Engquist
Big Cheese Forum Notes
Big Cheese: Peaches Valdez
- Travel scholars program
- Advertising about the new admissions policy
- Mosaic
- Interviews
- Essay question about the honor code
- Alum networks
- Videos
- Traditions (Hell week changes)
Airen ‘16
Miranda
Lyntana ‘16
BM ‘17
Molly ‘16
Casi ‘18
PV: I have two questions. You all went through the admissions process, so what parts of it do you think are going well? From what you observe, what you experienced, what you see on campus?
A: I got a letter from the person who read my application. They included a personal note about my essay and it was all personalized and I really appreciated it.
Miranda: I think I really appreciated getting to meet with current students, especially students who were McBrides.
L: I had a unique experience because my sister was already here, so I had some experience with what it was like on campus.
PV: My sister was also here, my little sister.
Molly: I was talking to some of the travel scholars and they really enjoyed the visit.
A: That program was the only way I could afford to visit Bryn Mawr and it was really important that I got to visit.
C: I know a lot of people who used that program and it helped with their decision.
PV: We really like that this program is authentic and not scripted, the after 5 PM part of that program will show a student what we do after class, like hanging out in the hallway or studying in Canaday. The overnight is really important, we really encourage our students to do this.
A: I actually got to talk to some of the travel scholars as a member of an AMO group, and we were really clear that some parts of Bryn Mawr aren’t as good, but you’ll find that at other schools, and it was good getting to meet with other AMO presidents and the students.
PV: On the flip side, what isn’t working as well?
B: Logistically, sometimes it seems like the travel scholars program isn’t planned very well, that the scholars don’t always have places to stay, they end up in common rooms.
A: Is there advertising that goes out about the new admissions process?
PV: There is no specific mailing list, but usually whenever the big articles in the New York Times or others come out, they mention us. Also I’m presenting at a conference about LGBTQI students with the University of Vermont. We are working hard on making sure we have the resources to support trans students. With our staff, this is a question that is coming up more in our information sessions, so our staff is able to give more context. I think that definitely we’re becoming more vocal about this. But we always take advice. If you know any students who want to advise us on what kinds of language to use or other things, you can just let us know and we’re very open.
Margaret ’19
Kim Cassidy
RO ‘16
Chanel ‘16
Coco ‘16
PV: Based on your experience with the admissions process, what aspects of it do you think are going well?
M: I like being able to do the overnight here, I got to do that on one of the admitted students days and I thought it was really personal. I could really see Bryn Mawr from a student’s perspective, which convinced me.
RO: I was one of the students who experienced Mosaic. I noticed that after that we stopped, everyone who did it felt bad that it happened because everyone who went became really close friends – we had a trip into the city and it was a great time. It would be nice to bring that back, even if once every four years. And a lot of people who went to Mosaic are here now and it was good to share that experience.
Coco: As an international student, it was really valuable to have you visit our high school. I wouldn’t have known about Bryn Mawr. When I visited Bryn Mawr, someone connected me to Patti, and she connected me to international students, and they answered my questions and helped me with my application process and to this day they’re still my close friends.
Peaches: On the flip side, what aspects of our process could change?
Coco: When I got the admitted letter, we had to go on Bionic, which was previously virtual Bryn Mawr, it was hard to find out whether I was admitted or not, so that was a little confusing for me.
Peaches: We usually tell students to scroll to the bottom. But yes.
M: I did an interview here, and it was a little nerve wracking because it felt like the person who was interviewing me seemed nervous.
B: My interview – the person who was interviewing me didn’t introduce herself, so I didn’t know if she was an admissions officer or an alum, which was confusing.
PV: Was this on campus? Our Saturday staffing is when alums come in because usually officers are getting ready for workshops – sometimes the alums are officers for other schools so they’re very excited. We’ve revamped our training program completely for interviewers.
B: We interviewed in a room in admissions, but it would have been good to meet at a local coffee shop or Uncommon or something.
M: I felt similarly about my interview.
B: I remember from last Big Cheese there was a question about changing an essay question to make it about the Honor Code?
PV: SGA worked with me on making sure that incoming students are invested in the honor code and we created one question about how your values intersect with the spirit of the Honor Code. They were some of the most detailed answers I’ve ever seen – they really read it, and they wrote longer answers, which shows that they are invested. It really says a lot about student advocacy and agency – students came to me with a problem, and they came to me and we fixed it. This says a lot about agency of students on campus and ties in with the honor code.
Connie ‘18
Maria ‘18
Charlotte ‘16
Nikki ‘19
Yanira ‘16
PV: What aspects did you like about the admissions process? The applications process, or making your decision? What parts of the process led you to say yes?
M: I liked how flexible Bryn Mawr is with test scores.
Y: Three of the people in this group are Posse, and I think it’s a very different application process. You still do the same submission, but I think it’s still very different.
PV: In terms of your experience.
Charlotte: I think the consortium really sold me on the school. Having the other schools around and being able to take other classes was a neat option.
PV: That’s very important. A lot of students say that that is their top reason for coming to the colleges. We used to just have information about the Quaker consortium on our website, but now we’re including videos with students.
Ch: And I think you know that there’s a certain type of person who applies specifically to women’s colleges.
PV: Oh yeah definitely.
B: When I applied, no one from my high school had gone to Bryn Mawr, but a senior sent me a personal gift and it was really sweet.
PV: Our alums want to be involved in some way, so we have receptions around the US with alums to branch out. With our admitted students, we have the option to meet with an alum.
Ch: I heard about Hell Week as a prospie and that was a really big part of my decision process. Spring freshman year is a hard time for a lot of people, so it’s going to be interesting to see how freshmen react to the change.
Y: I know students are considering transferring sometimes use Hell Week to decide to stay.
PV: We definitely know that does impact us in some way. A number of us sit on committees to talk about that. We’re kind of just told once the plan is done. We have alums who contact us and we pass the information along, so its good to know that the alums are concerned but also they know that they don’t live here anymore. We’ll have to work with students to make sure that community is still here.
N: As a freshman, traditions were a really big part of me coming here. My cousin is a senior and she always talked about Hell Week but when she heard the changes she was like, “Don’t worry, you’re still going to get Helled.” All of my friends are very positive about the changes and freshmen are looking forward.
Ch: That’s good to hear.
PV: Change is always hard. We’re going to be here and we’re going to help when asked.
B: Are you going to include Hell Week in the videos for admissions?
PV: The videos are going to include that but we don’t know exactly because they’re being professionally done. We are definitely going to talk about it because it’s part of the community.
B: It’s something you really have to hear about from a current student.
PV: Definitely, you can’t read about it online because it won’t make sense.
Melanie Bahti
Big Cheese Forum Notes – Dean Balthazar small group
Session I:
Angela Motte ‘17
Madison Wilson ‘17
Sam Heyrich ‘17
Charlette Williams ‘16
Elizabeth Lorenzana ’16
Sneha Soni ‘16
Rina Patel ‘18
Dean Judy Balthazar
Melanie Bahti ‘16
JB: What attracted you to talking about the Alcohol CRB?
Madison: The ambiguity of it. What it really does and why it’s necessary.
Charlette: I’m a Radnor DP.
Elizabeth: To hear more about it.
Rina: Same, and for my position I’m supposed to be on it.
Angela: Just to hear more about the changing culture of alcohol use on our campus. How it seems like the incidents seem more intense lately compared to my freshman year.
JB: Can you say more about that?
Angela: Just people getting sick; it seems like people are more incapacitated and I don’t remember it being like this before.
JB: Let me tell you a little more about why we reinstated it. Students came to me and said “Alcohol flows freely on this campus; there are no limits to alcohol on this campus.” It also came up in relation to Hell Week, to opportunities for excessive use of alcohol with Hell Week and Step Sings. The Hell Week working group charged the Dean of the College with investigating alcohol on campus. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel and want to work with self-governance, so we looked through the SGA constitution and remembered that the ACRB was something that had been imagined by SGA many years ago. So it’s not like I have a great vision at this moment of what the Board should be, and I want students to be thinking about what would be best for the Board to do. And separately there are administrators and staff thinking about the types of alcohol education that we want and how we can work with the ACRB.
Does that feel surprising? Or is there a sense that there’s some hidden agenda?
Angela talked about what she’s observed; if you were to be active on the ACRB, and what do you think would be effective for them to look at and help with?
Sneha: Are there specific concerns that have come up, or is it just people getting sick?
JB: With regards to Hell Week, there was a concern that upperclassmen who were drinking weren’t able to take good care of their behavior around first years, and also there was concern about first years feeling pressured to drink, which is illegal and sometimes unhelpful. There’s also an issue of people smoking marijuana and asking why there’s only crackdown on weed and not on people drinking alcohol. Also, what it’s like to be the host or server at a party and whether the community is making it possible for you to host a party without feeling pressured. I worry about the law, I worry about students’ mental health, physical health, emotional health.
Sneha: What are you supposed to do about that, when you’re hosting a party?
Sam: [summarizes the Party Policy, which is available at http://www.brynmawr.edu/activities/documents/PartyPolicy2009.pdf]
Session II:
Angela Motte ‘17
Sam Heyrich ‘17
Joy Chan ‘17
Sedi Agawu ‘17
Delaney Williams ‘17
Dean Judy Balthazar
Melanie Bahti’16
JB: If you came over because you were interested in hearing about the ACRB, what interests you?
Delaney: I felt like in the Constitution the group is very outdated. I thought there should have been changes about who was in the group before it was reinstated so that the Board could be more situation-specific.
Sam: To address that concern, we’re going to try really hard to keep things transparent and keep students involved. We’re working on a Plenary resolution to update who’s on the Board, and establish people’s roles and positions.
JB: I asked Charlie to reinstate the Board, but the positions were appropriate for the campus community as it was in the 2000s. I wasn’t sure how I could fix it before bringing it back, but the goal was to evaluate our existing structures, and how we can help students navigate alcohol use on this campus. I’m going to get the Board and the relevant staff together so that we can think about what’s useful for us to work on.
Delaney: I’m also curious because on the Board is supposed to be the COPS Head, but that position is unfilled, and right now that position has around 3 hours of meetings per week, and this would add another thirty minutes or more. I’m wary of students getting into that position without knowing what it entails.
Sam: You should come to one of our meetings and we can discuss that in relation to our Plenary resolution and reorganizing the Board.
JB: What do you see working or not working with regard to alcohol on campus?
Joy: I don’t drink, so I’m not sure, but I think that students tend to have a carefree attitude and it might make sense to be more stringent. There have been parties that aren’t registered, and it seems like people are just taking the campus atmosphere for granted.
JB: So are you saying that it would work better if we enforced the Party Policy as it currently stands?
Joy: Yes, I think so.
JB: Are you worried about guests?
Joy: Not really, that’s not exactly what I was thinking of.
Delaney: In terms of guests, I can see things that have been put in place with regard to guests, like at East-West last year.
Can you summarize what the alcohol policy is for parties?
Sam: You can only have wet parties in residential spaces. There’s a certain number of servers depending on the level of the party. And then there are supposed to be wristbands for those who are carded as being over 21.
Sedi: Is that really required?
Sam: Yes. It’s written into the policy and it’s required.
Sedi: It seems like that isn’t totally happening.
JB: Do you think that that’s a good safety measure, that it’s effective?
Delaney: People are going to drink anyway, even if it’s not at the party.
Sedi: But I think that even if it’s not working 100%, it’s better than not doing it at all.
Session III:
Angela Motte ‘17
Molly Mac Dougall‘16
Sam Heyrich‘17
Oona Ryle ‘19
Modupe Olufemi ‘17
Margaret Gorman ‘19
Dean Judy Balthazar
Melanie Bahti ‘16
JB: What brought you to come sit down in this circle?
Oona: At the last meeting someone was asking what it was, and I realized I didn’t know.
JB: So the ACRB has been in the SGA Constitution for something like 10 years, and it’s a part of the Party Policy. It helps students be responsible for how alcohol is a factor on campus and what kind of education is needed. I don’t know why it stopped meeting but I wanted students and self-governance to be a part of the conversation about alcohol. We need to be thinking more about what structures are in place to make sure that students are using alcohol safely. So now we have the ACRB, which is students, and then there are staff and folks in the Counseling Center looking at what kind of alcohol education we need and what the next steps are. Molly, can you talk about why you think your position is relevant to the ACRB?
Molly: So the ACRB has a responsibility for dealing with situations where there are violations of our community norms around alcohol, and would decide whether it should be referred to a Dean’s Panel, an Honor Board hearing, or something else.
Modupe: A few weeks ago we had something happen in our dorm; I’m wondering if the Party Policy is going to be updated to cover situations where there are wet gatherings that don’t necessarily get big enough to count as a party. There’s not really accountability in those situations; I didn’t know who to talk to when there are problems.
Sam: We’re going to be working on revising the policy; we would love suggestions about what to do in that kind of situation.
JB: What’s the smallest party that has to be registered?
Sam: 30 people.
JB: What would you call a party? 5 people? 10 people?
Margaret: It’s sort of an unclear issue.
Oona: I think maybe if there are enough people to be breaking up into smaller groups and moving into smaller spaces.
Modupe: I think it depends on whether there’s alcohol. A dry gathering, maybe 30. Wet, 15.
JB: What would happen if we said 15 or more had to be registered?
Angela: There would be backlash.
Melanie: I think people could be convinced if there were an intermediate level below level one, without the necessity of bouncers, servers, etc. But maybe if there were like a designated point person who could be accountable for things.
Summary:
The ACRB is something in the SGA Constitution that’s been around for ten or so years, but was recently reinstated. We want to have students be involved in the process of thinking about alcohol use and education on campus. We talked a lot about the party policy, and about what to do in the event of smaller wet gatherings that aren’t totally at the level of a Level 1 party (30 people) but are still large enough to need some kind of accountability. This is especially helpful for DLT who sometimes need to get in touch with whoever’s in charge of the party. The ACRB is in the process of both revising who’s on the Board and what their roles are, and also revisiting the Party Policy, so you can contact Sam Heyrich who’s the head.
Ann Tran
Stephanie Nixon –
She asks about trying to increase Title IX awareness. She focuses on training for people who are at points of entry (new faculty, new students, etc.). What is going well vs. what is confusing?
Title IX: Federal legislation that protects people from gender and sex, as well as sex education. In higher education, it relates most often to sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination.
Round 1
- How does harassment work when there is harassment in from a Philly-based school?
- 1) discuss safety and whether or not the victim knows the person. 2) Asking the student if THEY want to look into jurisdiction, etc. or if the student wants Nixon to look into the situation instead.
- Did allowance of accepting trans women jeopardize our federal funding?
- No. There is correlation (unless there is a lawsuit, which has not yet happened).
- On a side note, Title IX changed to accept gender non-binary, etc. students.
- What are we doing to raise awareness?
- Must ask herself where she prioritizes her energy. Works with gen. faculty every other year. Peer education advocacy group. Closed survivor support group for people who identify themselves as people of sexual violence.
Round 2
- Preventative measures for sexual harassment?
- Interesting word. How can we create a more positive relationship with consent? Spoke about some of her new initiatives and older initiatives (plug for Closed Survivor Group)
- What are the flyers that have been coming up about these initiatives?
- A little confusion that it missed the mark. These flyers are about how to respond to and how to help survivors. There was a butterfly metamorphosis as being a work in progress, but some found this flyer confusing.
- What is the Closed Survivor Group about?
- Creating supportive spaces to end sexual violence. It is closed for privacy. This is the pilot initiative to see how it feels.
Round 3
- I struggled with the definition of Title IX even as an upperclassmen. I think that it would be important for more initiative to learn and be able to present that explanation.
- There are certain parts of the definition of Title IX that I forget because I do not remember. Can there be a way to recall these things?
- There is a website to define these issues, personal to Bryn Mawr, as well as for the Bias Response website
- There are certain parts of the definition of Title IX that I forget because I do not remember. Can there be a way to recall these things?
- How can we integrate Title IX in a time that is not of crisis?
- Closed Survivor Support Group plug.
Delia Landers
Big Cheese Forum
ECC/Black at Bryn Mawr
Vanessa Christman
Facilitator: Rachel Bruce
Notetaker: Delia Landers
Introductions
Discussion
Vanessa: What have you heard so far about Black at Bryn Mawr and the ECC? What could administration do to make it better? What can we do to sustain both of these.
Responses: After taking the tour people were wondering where Black at Bryn Mawr would go in the future, since the people who originated it graduated.
Vanessa: The fact that it is a digital archive as well as a walking tour makes it more sustainable. The Pensby center will stay involved in it and will keep asking if people want to keep it going. Wondering if others will have questions about other parts of the past that are not necessary archived.
Responses: They are trying to get current students involved
Questions: My friends who live in the community have wondered if the kitchen usage in the ECC going to be improved in the future, it is not equipped for cooking for large groups even though it is advertised space for large groups.
Answer: Steering committee is meeting for the 1st time tomorrow, they can discuss who should address this issue.
Dorm Presidents: There was a food demo that went really well. During Fall Break the residents who were still on campus were able to make food for themselves.
Question: I am a tour guide and I was wondering what is the best way to talk about ECC on tours, should we speak about it as a safe space, does that apply that the rest of campus is not a safe place?
Answer: The committee could have a conversation with admissions.
K-Cass: How do you describe the ECC?
Dorm Presidents: A place to be reaffirmed, a fostering community.
Vanessa: We can talk about both or one and the other? What have you heard so far about Black at Bryn Mawr and the ECC? What could administration do to make it better? What can we do to sustain both of these?
Questions: In a conversation with an alum from the 60s she was concerned about the ECC as segregation. Maybe we should think about a way to communicate with the alums.
Answers: The alumnae magazine that just came out should help to clear some things up. It’s a place to foster community and if those outside can see that they may have a better understanding.
Rachel: What are some things that you have heard about the ECC?
Questions: Navigating the ECC as a tour guide, the term safe space makes the prospective students and their parents question if the rest of BMC is safe. They see the sign saying this in New Dorm.
Answers: The committee can look at that.
Dorm Presidents: Now we shy away from the term because of what it has become, but when Perry was created it was a specific safe space. It is important to acknowledge that the whole world cannot be safe. We don’t sugarcoat the lived experiences. Inclusion is good on campus, but it still is a safe place, there is always room for a safe space.
Answers: We can tell parents that they cant see all of the campus on one tour, but if the prospective student is interested in the ECC and the culture they can come back and engage with the community.
Vanessa: What have you heard so far about Black at Bryn Mawr and the ECC? What could administration do to make it better? What can we do to sustain both of these?
Responses: Problems with people going in who are not residents, is this in the process of being addressed, onecard readers?
Dorm Presidents: There have been readers put into the doors they just need to try and make sure the door of New Dorm is closed because if it is propped open the students can still come in.
Vanessa: The Committee will address these. They wanted to wait on making some decisions until there were students living there so that they had more lived experiences to make informed decisions off of.
Rachel: What are some misconceptions that you have heard?
Response: There have been questions about access to the kitchen and the library.
Dorm Presidents: Having business hours for the main door for people using the library and the office. The library can be used but the books are not in circulation so they ask for them to not be taken out of the building. Groups affiliated with the ECC are allowed to reserve the space, groups that are not should use the SGA kitchen. Groups should not use the space if they are not interested in engaging with the community.
Vanessa: There is an office in the building. Some other groups that are connected may be able to use the space. We need to discuss who is going to be in the space.
Black @Bryn Mawr; didn’t really focus on this but we discussed its continuation.
ECC: A discussion about the idea of the term safe space and the idea that some may have that the ECC is segregation. Discussing a way to communicate the purposes to the Bryn Mawr community that isn’t currently at the college. Many discussions about Access. There will be access to the library in a limited sense. The kitchen can be used by affiliated groups, but the people who use it and who access the center in general should think about the reason that they want access. Is it just to use the resources or to actually engage with the community.
Lizzy Muhammad
Big Cheese Forum Fall 2015
Cheese: Bernie Chung-Templeton
Facilitater: Emily Giffordsmith ’16
Notetaker: Lizzy Muhammad ’18
Group 1:
Angel Suero: 2016
Yanita Santos: 2016
Maria Minaya: 2018
Rachel Ofili: 2016
Bernie is representing dining services and one-card:
Bernie asked students what they wish dining was and that isn’t? And also what could be better:
Student: Wishes that the dining hall work experience related to something else career-wise for resume purposes.
Bernie asked about times that the dining halls are open and about the foods offered.
Students love brunch.
They appreciate that Haffner is open during the day when Erdman isn’t.
Bernie said: “What will you want next semester or next year?” Also asked where she might be able to cut costs to get things that students want and will use.
Students think that the small juice classes and tiny bowls are kind of a waste since they are not being used.
Bernie said that they were just an experiment and agrees that the juice cups are probably not necessary and may just fade away.
Student: Asked what the most expensive dining costs were: Bernie said meat is first, dairy, eggs etc. She will only buy a good grade of food, she will not cheap out on us for the sake of saving money. She is working with les of a budget this year because certain food prices are riseing, for example she can’t get rid of eggs even though the price is going up on them. She explained how certain months can change the price of certain foods, gave the example that January can cause problems for the prices of tomatoes, lettuce, orange juice etc.
Student suggested servers giving smaller sizes.
Bernie said that many servers are first-years and that it’s difficult for supervisors to train 400 people, but that she would reiterate the importance of training during meetings.
Student asked if we could get more fresh fruit.
Bernie said that it’s very expensive, but we’ll see.
Rachel Ofili 2016: Asked how the international station is decided? Bernie said that there’s a survey on a board.
Group 2:
Bernie asked for 2-3 things that could be improved about the meal plan?
Sarah Andrew 2016: Asked about the take-out policy, said it’s not clear to students, coming in and out after you get take-out etc. Bernie said: The “control factor” is because the meal plan is to feed students a set number of meals per week. If you need special services talk to a manager and they will take care of you.
Emily Segal 2016: Concerned about the hours of the dining hall. Would like extended hours specifically for breakfast and dinner for students who don’t have morning classes. The group (some dining hall supervisor were present) agreed that 10am at Erdman would work just fine.
Olivia Holinger 2016: “Why doesn’t haffner have continental breakfast?” Explained that it would make work lighter for Erdman employees.
Elain Rockford 2016: Pro continental breakfast at Haffner.
Lyn Hannah Broam 2016: Lives in Breckon and skips everyday. Says that it’s because food is not close or open long enough.
Aaron McClur 2016: Wants another dining hall.
Bernie has tried to re-open Rhoads dining but it’s over $200,000 and way out of her budget. 70 percent of budget is spent on labor and benefits ($12-13 per hour employees get benefits that are very expensive even though their pay is not super high). Bernie encourages students to make noise when they feel it necessary.
Airen McClur: Asked about getting take-out for friends who are sick?
Elaine Halihan 2016: Answered by explaining that you can call in what you want and Erdman workers will bring it to you if sick.
Airen McClur 2016: Asked if that could beadvertised better.
Group 3:
Bernie asked for 2-3 things to improve or 2-3 things that you like.
Student: Asked for an apple cutter.
Bernie said no problem.
Lindsey Foster 2016: Extended hours to get food after dinner.
Emily Giffordsmith 2016: Agrees with extended dinner, brought up the issue of drinking alcohol on the weekend and not having food in the stomach for quite a few hours between dinner time and party time.
Sedi Gao 2017: Asked if we could use our one cards for food that’s in the dining hall, but that is found in Lusty or Uncommon (getting an apple from Uncommon to help with timing and location). Bernie: Brought up the idea of having breakfast at Uncommon.
Joy Chan 2017: Asked if we could have more meal plan options, like a points system or dining dollars.
Bernie: “We used to have that but we had to get rid of it to maintain a quality plan in the dining hall.”
Then she asked about the idea of a superplan where students could add additional money to swipe at uncommon and Lusty.
Bernie said to think of the meal plan as a membership: We need X amount of people to belong to it to exist, we need people to work.