SGA Meeting 11/11/12
Vrinda starts the meeting at 7:10pm
Absent: Alice Fischer, Ali Raeber, Molly Kaufman, Jenna Myers, Lija Geller, Neha Kamran, Morgan Turner.
Vrinda Varia ‘14: we are going to do the rest of the meeting agenda after the Big Cheese ends. Just as a reminder, we discussed topics at SGA in previous weeks about topic we wanted to cover with the Big Cheeses. The Big Cheeses have come with responses to our questions. We are going to give them 2-3 minutes each to speak to the questions that we posed to them, and then open up the questions in particular to that topic to all of you. So line up at the mic if you have questions. We will do that for 5 minutes for each topic, if we want to continue discussion, we can motion to extend time for one minute so we can get to all of the topics. If you still want to discuss a certain topic, we can bring it up during the end of the discussion. So we are going to move along. If you all could introduce yourself and then we will go on to the topics.
Kay Kerr: I am the Medical Director at the Health Center.
Wendy Greenfield: I am the Executive Director of Alumnae Association.
Jane McAuliffe: I am the President.
Jerry Berenson: I am the Chief Administrative Officer.
Michele Rasmussen: I am Dean of the Undergraduate College.
Laurie Koehler: I am the Dean of Admissions and Interim Dean of Enrollment.
SEPTA Funding
Preliminary questions: SEPTA funding: What are the statistics regarding student use about this? It seems that people like it and use it, is there an opportunity to increase funding for it?
Michele Rasmussen: when I saw the questions, I went to Mary Beth Horvath who has been coordinating the SEPTA request program for us for the last year and a half. We are in the year 2 of this program. I was going to give you a few stats since the question did ask how student usage has been of SEPTA. The statistics are for this fall semester. We have had a total of 1487 requests for tickets. The number of requests that have been actually picked up is 1069. The number of students who have requested tickets is 674. There have been many repeat customers, not surprisingly. The number of students who have reached the maximum allotment, which is 5 round trip fairs for the semester is 18. So our budget allocation for the SEPTA fair request program is $50,000 per year. This breaks down to $25,000 per semester. So far Mary Beth has spent $20,000 on tickets for this semester and she thinks that she will reach the $25,000 quota, and will not have to go over that. So we are pretty much going to stay stable at $25,000 per semester for the foreseeable future. What we noticed last year when we were more generous, we said you could have 20 round trip fairs plus another 10 round trip tokens. We reached almost the maximum funding allotment by about 7 of the year. So we had to scale it back for the spring semester. This year reflects an adjustment with the 5 per round trip per semester. We did get rid of the tokens because they were administratively difficult to deal with. Not to say anything bad about the great people at SEPTA, but they are not technologically loving as an organization. So each ticket has to be hand stamped by a single individual, and that is every individual ticket we buy, which is by the thousands of them. So that is why we got rid of the tokens. They were too difficult to manage them on top of the tickets. We are open to tweaking this, but for now for the spring semester we are not going to change the 5 round trips per person per semester, and we do not want to exceed the $50,000 per year because that is really a very large chunk of our budget. We are happy with the success and we will continue to monitor it. There might be tweaks in the coming academic years, but for the time being, it will remain the same.
Questions:
Taj Meyer ‘15: Is there any chance we can do something along the lines of an independence pass which has a similar point to the zone free passes?
Michele Rasmussen: what Mary Beth said about that was the ten trip ticket is the cheapest way for her to obtain tickets. So I am not familiar with what you just talked about, but I know she has looked into this and figured out that this was the cheapest way because each ticket in that pack is $5 per ticket. So I think that is the cheapest way to get it to work right now.
Taj Meyer ‘15: The independence pass, for anyone who doesn’t know, allows you to travel anywhere all day on the regional and buses and all that. Thank you.
Sarah Jenness ’13: I was here first semester last year and I know they used to be put into your mailbox but now you have to pick them up in Guild. Is there a reason for the change? I know for me it was more convenient.
Michele Rasmussen: we know it was more convenient, which is probably why we had so many tickets stolen within the first 5 weeks. It really comes down to a staffing issue. It was a huge administrative burden for Carol Fritz in Residential Life to have to manage all of the requests and put them in your mailboxes. Also, since then, the Student Life Office has moved into Guild so they are not right next door to the mailboxes. Mary Beth made that decision and I supported it to have the new pick up system just because their offices were getting overwhelmed with students walking in and out and having to deal with the mailboxes too. So we recognize it is not quite as nice in having them in the mailbox, but it is a tradeoff we had to make.
Campus Wide Renovations
Preliminary questions: Campus-wide Renovations: What renovations should we expect in the next year on campus? How is the green doing after the renovations this summer? Particular interest in renovations regarding: student parking, seating on the turfs, Haffner, and Canaday.
Jerry Berenson: There is a big renovation for next summer for Haffner. It will be a fairly major renovation. It needs all new plumbing and all new electrical; it will get new bathrooms, new laundry rooms, and various other renovations. The dining hall will also have significant renovations. We hope to increase capacity there if we can. It is over $2 million. The other big item is the parking lot behind Merion is kind of caving in. It has an original underground water collection system that we do not use anymore, but it is still there and it has to be filled in because otherwise the parking lot will not be there much longer. So that is actually a major project. Beyond that, a number of small projects. There is a question here on the turf. The main reason we did work on the turf this year was a re-grading. We got free dirt. It’s great to get free dirt. So we took the opportunity to smooth the grade in, which actually makes the accessibility of the turf better. We hope someday to have the grounds from Taylor down to the staircases down towards the gym as an accessible grounds. So this makes progress towards that, but that’s more of a long term goal. There is a question about student parking. There is no plan to change student parking. Seating on turf, you can sit on the ground where ever you like; I am not sure what that means actually. The last question is about Canaday. There is a long term capital plan for doing some major renovations in Canaday. It is part of the capital campaign that we are planning right now. It will not happen for a while; maybe it will get started when the freshman are still here as seniors. It is probably a few years away because we need to raise the money first.
Questions:
Marissa Jackson ‘14: I was wondering if you could expand on capital planning. I have never heard that term before and I was wondering what it entails.
Jerry Berenson: the college maintains a kind of rolling 5 year capital plan of projects we think we want to do. There are few sources of funding. The basic source is the R&R Budget (Renovation and Repair Budget). It has about $4 million per year and that’s what we have in the operating budget every year to do the maintenance on campus. For big capital projects, if we do a major renovation of the dorm, guild, the renovation to the gym and fitness center. Those are capital projects done outside the operating budget and the sources of funding are generally gifts or borrowing money (debt). There is one plan which is maintained with the rolling average plan, but some of it is in the operating budget and some of its not. If that helps. It does get pretty complicated.
Diana Tive ‘15: because students have to pay for parking on campus, I think a lot of people feel that there should be more allotted for parking spaces. Not necessarily a new parking lot that needs to be built, but more allocation for parking because it is a substantial amount of money and people on campus.
Jerry Berenson: we have looked at parking. It is a fairly limited number of parking. That is something we have looked at over the years. We have faculty and staff, many of whom have to drive and park and we have to have enough spaces for them. There are just not enough spaces.
There are under 200 student parking spaces, which is not a huge number. We do not feel it is absolutely necessary for most students to have cars because we are so close to public transportation. Many students have argued that we should increase parking money for sustainability reasons.
Karina Siu ‘14: I wanted to know what the timeline was for Haffner? Will it all be done during the summer?
Jerry Berenson: yes.
Karina Siu ‘14: Okay, I just wanted to make sure. So the dining hall in Rhoads won’t be used? I keep hearing rumors about that.
Jerry Berenson: during the summer we will use the dining hall in Rhoads or some other program, but it will not affect anything during the academic year.
Lindsey Crowe ‘14: for the turf seating, we were asking whether or not there will be plans to purchase seating or more benches for the field for fans to come down and watch. Since athletics teams seem to be growing considerably within the past few years, we would like more people to come to the lacrosse, field hockey, and soccer games, as well as other things.
Jerry Berenson: thank you for clarifying that and it is something we certainly can look into.
Kendra Kelly ‘13: I was wondering if there were any plans to put in more ceiling lights in the common rooms, especially Rhoads sand Denbigh. They are very dark and I know there is always a possibility of putting in lamps that you plug into the wall, but for the few amount of electrical outlets there are it is difficult. I think it something that you could communicate with housekeeping about. Maybe more plug in lamps, but something more long term if there is a plan to work on this.
Jerry Berenson: I had not heard that issue before. So I do not think there is a plan. Rhoads in particular you said?
Kendra Kelly ’13: Rhoads and Denbigh.
Jerry Berenson: It is certainly something we can look into.
Academics (3.5)
Preliminary questions: Academics: In looking at grading, is the discussion of implement a 3.5 grade feasible? Why do we not have one? Does this grade “deflation” impact us in looking for jobs and graduate programming?
Michele Rasmussen: in preparation for this Big Cheese Meeting, I talked to Judy Balthazar who is the Dean of Studies and Kim Cassidy who is the Provost to remind myself where we left off with this discussion. Many of you will remember we talked about the infamous 3.5. The view that they had and that we have heard from faculty with whom we spoke about this anecdotally, especially the Curriculum Committee is that I think the faculty would be open perhaps to a discussion about the 3.5. But there is a caveat. Based on our anecdotal conversations with faculty, many of them are currently more likely or just as likely to round a student’s grade up to a 3.7 as they are to round down to a 3.3. So I think if the 3.5 was introduced, what we heard faculty say is that they would be more likely in fact to give students a 3.5 or 3.3 rather than a 3.7. So you might find that there is no upward movement in GPAs; that is one of the concerns in having a 3.5. So I think that is worth keeping in mind. The other point that Dean Balthazar made is that none of our peers have a 3.5. So to address a concern that not having a 3.5 putting you guys at any disadvantage when it comes to graduate school or employment or internships while you are still here; first of all, we have no evidence of that. I am pretty sure that the Career Development Office professionals and faculty would be letting us know if our students were not as successful as our peers. But moreover, our peers do not have a 3.5 either. This was raised with the Curriculum Committee last year, but it didn’t really go anywhere because the follow up by the students who brought it forth never really happened for whatever reason. So if this continues to be an issue of interest, I would encourage you to work with your normal reps; Curriculum Committee Reps would be the obvious choice to push this forward. I do not see the faculty deciding to do this; it will have to come from the students. That is where we are at wit the GPA issue.
Questions
Karina Siu ‘14: I was wondering for institutions that have a 3.5, did they make a move to have a 3.5 or did they already have one? I was just confused when I came freshman year and they said that we just do not have one. Is there a certain reason?
Michele Rasmussen: I think that that would be hard to answer for all institutions. Some institutions have completely different grading scales that we do. It would be hard to generalize over the hundreds of thousands of institutions.
Karina Siu ‘14: so it was just one of those choices? I was just wondering if there was a reason.
Michele Rasmussen: I don’t know what the history of the GPA scale at Bryn Mawr is. I am not aware there being a conscious decision at any point to eradicate the 3.5, but I cannot speak for other institutions have done.
Perry House
Preliminary questions: Perry House: In light of the recently passed Plenary resolution, are there any plans to renovate Perry House? Is this actually feasible?
Jerry Berenson: first let me give an explanation of what Perry House is. As you know, it is a house; it wasn’t built as a dormitory, which is the same as Batten House. The problem with those kinds of buildings are that they were not built up to any codes when it comes to dormitory related or a commercial type space. So it is a real challenge, and has been for many years to keep the building in the way we would like to have it. As you know, there have been problems in those buildings over the years. The other problem is that we have done a lot of fix ups and repairs in looking at our repair books, our database of repairs. Over the years there have been hundreds and hundreds of work orders for Perry House, but it is actually really hard. You can’t do partial renovations, and the reason for that is that if you do more than a repair, any kind of renovation, then you are required to bring the building up to code. You really can’t bring houses up to code. You have to basically have to sort of tear them down, except for the facade, and rebuild the building. It is really the only way to do it. So you are kind of faced with, you get the choice between keeping the building and doing repairs and keeping them occupied but then at some point you just have to do a major renovation. So that’s where we are with Perry House. We couldn’t even keep it open this year; it got to a point where we didn’t really think it was a satisfactory place for students to live. We know that we have two choices: we close the building or we have to do a major renovation to the tune of something like $2 million and a half. Now is there a decision to do that major renovation. Well, we are going through a process right now considering that. All capital decisions here are made by the Board of Trustees of the college and certainly bringing options and recommendations on a kind of student housing issue. So we are talking to students and faculty and staff about their thought. The problem is that it is a lot of money for a small number of beds. Many students have pointed out that it’s more than a dormitory here, it is a cultural center and we have to consider that too. If we just look at the dollars and cents in terms of the dormitory, well it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to put that kind of money into it, but when you look at the broader issues I don’t know. Then maybe it does. So that is what we are doing. This year we are looking at the broader issues and talking to faculty and staff and students who have already begun doing that and then beginning the discussions with the Board of Trustees level. Our plan is to make a decision by April and the reason for that is we would have to have a decision by April, if we do decide to renovate the building, we would need a decision by this April to have it so the building is up and functional by September 2014.
Questions
Janielle Vidal ‘14: I have two questions. For Jerry Berenson, I just want to know what is the plan for the Black Cultural Center if Perry House isn’t renovated because I know it is currently housed in the MCC and from my experience, it’s not a large enough space to be both.
Jerry Berenson: It is part of what we are talking about this year if we decide to renovate Perry. Obviously, if we decide to renovate Perry House, then the Cultural Center will stay there. If we decide not to, then we would have to evaluate the current Multicultural Center or other space maybe on Cambrian Row would be an appropriate place to house the Black Cultural Center. So I guess we kind of have to make the Perry House decision first.
Michele Rasmussen: we were very concerned about that very issue. You are right that the current holdings of the Black Cultural Center are being kept at the Pensby Center for the time being. Part of the goal for this year, in addition to what Jerry just described in deciding what happens to Perry, is to find a permanent home for the Black Cultural Center. In my conversations with students and colleagues and alumnae today, there seems to be fairly general consensus that even if Perry does come back, that perhaps it isn’t the best location for the Black Cultural Center simply because it is a residential space, it’s not accessible, and if we want to showcase the heritage and the type of importance of the Black student experience the Cultural Center refers to, having it in a space that is not visible or accessible or public to many of us is somewhat problematic. So I think even if Perry comes back online, it is quite likely that a new location for the Black Cultural Center will be determined. We just have not quite figured out what that will look like.
Janielle Vidal ‘14: thank you. My second question is for Wendy Greenfield. Has the alumni been notified about Perry House? If so, what are the feelings that they have responded.
Wendy Greenfield: I am working on a correspondence of the alumnae right now. I have vetted it with a couple of alumnae who are on the trustees. There are trustees liaisons to the Diversity Leadership Group. And then I am going to be working to show it to the student representatives, I think you are one of them and Marissa Jackson, and with Jerry and then send it to the alumnae community and then we are going to create a system for them to provide feedback. So we are also working on that.
Jane McAuliffe: I just want to add, I think we are all aware, those of us at this table as well as a much broader group of senior administrators and trustees of just how fraught an issue this is. How very difficult it is to make decisions around something that is so iconic as Perry House has been. It has sheltered many of our alumnae and raised and nurtured during their period here at Bryn Mawr. So it has enormous importance for both a number of our alumnae as well as many of our present students. So just a word of assurance and really reassurance that there is great awareness of this and when Dean Rasmussen sent out the initial email that she did in early June that began the process of talking about Perry House, also talking about the Black Cultural Center, inviting student participation. We really need this to be thought through well by all sectors of the community because it affects all sectors of the community.
Sarah Jenness ’13: Jerry gave a financial history of Perry House, but I was wondering if one of you could provide me with a more cultural history? Why we have it on campus just to let everyone know here because I think people understand it is costly, but not everyone understands why it is so important to have and I would appreciate if that side of the argument was presented where so many people are present.
Jerry Berenson: We do not have a great history of it. We have been looking at it. So you may know a lot more about it than we do. I know some students have been doing research in the archives and in our facilities buildings. We do not have great records going back to when the building was; we know it was purchased in the early 60s, but when it began being used as a Black Cultural Center, we are not actually sure of. So I do not have a great history. We have really been searching to try and find as much information as we can because I agree with you, I think it would be useful information to have as we make these decisions. So if students have some ideas about this, it would be great to know.
Michele Rasmussen: based on what I understand, Perry House was a residential space for Black students specifically in about the early 70s after the sit-in. A group of African American students at that time had a list of demands for the president at that time, and one of them was their own residential space. Perry, which I believe was Spanish House, I am not exactly sure what that means, if it was a language house like the Haffner spaces, was decided to be that space. Why that particular space or if that was what the students wanted, that is lost in history. One of the reasons why I am pushing to have a history project is for this very reason. If we look at “Offerings to Athena,” which is probably to date, the best historical volume we have on Bryn Mawr’s 125 year history, there is not a whole lot in there about Perry and the voice of the people who lived there. So I think this speaks to a need regardless of what happens to Perry, it is a need.
Marissa Jackson ‘14: point of information, like what Dean Rasmussen said earlier, my research kind of says that Perry House was the result of sit-in in that Sisterhood gave to the president’s office, like she said. So just to reiterate, it was the result of sit-in and basically African American students did not feel comfortable on campus living in the dorms and they needed a space where they could go and talk things they were facing on campus, things they had seen, things that people had said. In the 70s, after the Civil Rights Movement, it was a really big issue on campus and I feel like it still is today, and so that is kind of why Perry House exists.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: I think that was just essentially to remind people that there is a lot of student research going on out there about Perry House especially right now. So if there is any ways in which the student can provide you with information, please let us know. I am going to need a motion to extend time to the end of this speaking order.
Motion and seconded.
Sharaai Marrero ’13: this is a question, so I have been very active and just informing myself about the Perry House issue, etc. etc. I was just wondering if it were possible if the administration could, when they are talking about Perry House, talk about it a more positive tone. More of in a, this is possible and these are the steps that need to be done instead of being like, Perry House is going to cost around $2 million and we will have to figure it out if it’s even possible to be done. Does that make sense? As in earlier it was said about bringing Perry up to code and how you cannot bring a house up to code. I feel like it can be possible even though it can be difficult especially with the little space and the Cultural Center being in one building together. It doesn’t always have to be together and the money tone of the email that was sent a little while ago of how much money it is worth per student and just the connotations in general that are being attached to that topic of Perry House and that House as well when it comes to the money. If it’s possible to make a conscious decision to talk about it in a more positive way.
Jane McAuliffe: I would like to answer to that. I would at least like to respond to it. I think this is a part of what I said earlier, which is just a keen awareness of how important this issue is and that it is not just a dollar and cents issue. On the other hand, every single dollar that we spend here at Bryn Mawr, we have to talk about. We are an educational community, we make decisions, we talk about things on the basis of information. So the first thing we do is try and get the information. Students have started to ask us more and more, in the Plenary resolution is an indication of this, they wanted more information about the cost of residential life and that information has been provided in a preliminary way. Just to kind of sketch the landscape. That is not the determining argument. But it is a way that moving from a basis of financial information. We did something very similar, I think before any of you were here. About 5 years ago, at the time of the financial fall, we had to cut a substantial fortune out of the operating budget of the college. That is a very different situation than what we are assessing here, nevertheless, we threw out as much information as we could to the whole community about the areas in which this reduction in the operating budget could be taken. One of those was the closure of Rhoads dining hall. It was a very difficult stem for the students in Rhoads to contemplate that as something that would have to be sacrificed as a consequence of this budget process, but we made every effort in doing that to be as financially transparent as possible. It was in the same spirit that I asked Jerry to provide the information, financial information, surrounding how the range of this decision in the email he sent out.
Jomaira Salas ’13: my questions is for Laurie. I wanted to ask you, I know that the college has been trying to diversify the number of students that it is bringing in. I work in admissions and I see a lot of that work being done. So I was wondering what your thoughts are on that since you are helping bring students in and Perry House kind of serves as a very big reason for why students of color stay and actually graduate. So I was wondering what your prospective is from an admissions standing?
Laurie Koehler: I think we have had tremendous success over the past, particularly 5-7 years in recruiting and retaining more under represented students of color on campus. In fact, if you compare us with the top 25 liberal arts colleges from last year, we were number 5 of those top 25 for our racial diversity, and that is something we are very very proud of. And we are not there yet. In having students here doesn’t mean that we are operating the way we want to be operating as a community, and I think that everyone here is committed to making sure that that is the case or that we continue to find avenues to create dialogue. In terms of specifically of Perry, to be honest, I think that I am excited to be a part of this conversation with the cabinet now and I think as representing admissions and also even the administration, I need to look at this from all angles.
That is certainly one of the angles that we will talk about and that it needs to be brought to the table, but I also think there are lots of other angles we need to take into consideration.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: I know that people have some other questions, but in light of time, we will move on and we will have opportunities for questions afterwards. If you have questions that are still not answered after tonight, send them to me and I will make sure you guys get them.
Health Center
Preliminary questions: Health Center: What does our health insurance actually cover? How has Obama Care impacted this?
Kay Kerr: the Health Center’s insurance issue, for the whole country is a big issue and will be a big issue for years to come. The basic need for the college insurance is that everyone needs to have an insurance plan and students are required to have an insurance policy. That having been said, there are a lot of holes in insurance policies. Some have deductibles, some have copays, some don’t function in the state, Medicaid is only good in the state where you got it, some require precertifications from your doctors at home. So about 20 years ago, I think it has been that long; we as a college decided we would get a supplemental policy that helps pay for first dollar amount. In other words, so everyone would be able to get the initial medication, the initial test, to diagnose and treat what was going on. They did not have to worry about and we did not have to worry about as providers, oh we cannot order that study because you do not have the copay or you do not have the deductible. To be honest, we are pretty innovative in that. I do not think there are too many colleges that do that. So the college bought a gap policy to pay for some of those things that other insurance policies didn’t pay for. That insurance policy, unlike most insurance policies in the United States, has not gone up more than $30 in the past 20 years. It is a very inexpensive policy that costs under $150. It has served us extremely well. We have never had to say to somebody, oh you can’t get that test because you can’t pay with a copay or you cannot get that medication because it is not on your policy. So the college has really provided something that I am not sure a lot of other places have. So as for the Affordable Care Act, it was passed last year, and for the most part, politics aside, there is a lot of ways it is going to be a very positive thing for students and insurances. For one thing, that is going to affect most of you, you can stay on your parents insurance policy until you are 26. That is a huge difference. So if you graduate and don’t get a job right away that has insurance, if your parents have an insurance policy, you can stay insured. Any time you change anything there are unintended consequences. One of the unintended consequences is that it basically made our insurance policy illegal because in an attempt to try to make it better and more comprehensive for everybody, it said you cannot have the kind of limits our policy had. Our policy had a lot of limits that only paid for medication up to $500, it only paid for in hospital stays up to $20,000, it did not pay for the health center care. So last spring when it became aware that it would apply to health centers, our insurance broker scrambled and found us found another policy that would work for us. In fact, this is a very comprehensive policy, and this year it does cover a lot more than it did in the past, including paying for the Health Center. So this years insurance policy is actually a lot more comprehensive than before the Affordable Care Act than previous policies have been. The challenge is going to be that it is likely that it will be more expensive, and as time goes on, it is unlikely that we are going to be able to maintain it. But for this year, it is a much more comprehensive policy than we had in the past.
Questions
Mari Toro ’14: I went to the Health Center last week for abdominal pain and after the nurse met with me after doing the necessary tests and stuff; I was told that I was negative for pregnancy. That just struck me. I was really confused because I had already very clearly explained to the nurse that there was no possibility of that medically. I talked to other students about it and it seemed that this is a common thing that the Health Center will insist that we undergo an unnecessary and relatively expensive pregnancy test. So I was wondering why that is a thing.
Kay Kerr: we very seldom order a pregnancy test if someone does not ask for it. The only exception that I know of that where we would do it is that we would always tell someone if we were going to do a pregnancy test, is if someone does come in with abdominal pain, part of the best practice is in certain situations, not every abdominal pain. If someone does come in with clearly a stomach ache that’s because you have indigestion, but the best practice for working up abdominal pain is always to do a pregnancy test even if someone has never had sex and has absolutely no possibility of it because there are situations where people report they have not had sex and it turns out that they are pregnant. So it is part of the best practices for medicine to do that, but I would encourage anybody, any time anybody, not just our Health Center, orders a test and you don’t know why or what it is for, and you disagree with it. First of all nobody can do any test without your permission. So if you don’t want something done, you can say I don’t want it done. And you should remember that the rest of your lives. The other thing is that if you have a question what is the purpose of this, please keep asking until you have an answer that is appropriate
Mari Toro ’14: so as a follow-up, would you recommend I send a personal email to the Health Center Advisory Board because I really wasn’t okay with, you know, not being told about that test and am being charged for it.
Kay Kerr: if they did the test without telling you about it, absolutely. If you just meet with me, that would be the most effective thing. If you are uncomfortable for any reason, but I don’t think you are since you are here, just make an appointment to talk with me. Then I could look at your chart, figure it out, and we have lots of people working down there; can somebody make a mistake, yes they can. I again appreciate you bringing that up because if I don’t know about it or we do not get the word that somebody is doing something that is not following policy, we need to know of it.
Chloe Baumann ‘14: I have a question about a policy for student feedback. I know a lot of our primary care comes through you, and it sometimes feels like a conflict of interest for a lot of students because you are also the medical director and we do not know who to report to if we have feedback about the Health Care we have received. Is there a form we can fill out? Is that something we should be going through? Who should we talk to?
Kay Kerr: there are a couple of different ways that you could do it. We do have a Health Center Advisory Committee. You can go through that, which is a subgroup of the SGA here. If it about the Health Center and it doesn’t involve me, then I would encourage you to talk to me because I am the person who can make a big difference in changing something right away. If it is about me and you want to talk to someone else, Michele Rasmussen is the person to go to. So you can talk to Michele if you are concerned about the way I am operating.
Chloe Baumann ‘14: let me clarify my question, it wasn’t necessarily about you specifically, it is just that there is just an overwhelming feeling and aren’t happy with how it is necessarily run. There is a lot of grumbling that happens and it is not necessarily constructive to anything to grumble about it and then not know who to report to. So thank you for clarifying it.
Kay Kerr: I completely agree with you. It is never helpful to grumble. I can’t tell you how much I welcome constructive feedback. I really really encourage constructive feedback. If someone has a concern about what is happening in the Health Center, again if it is anything not about me, please come tell me about it. There is a problem that needs to be fixed; there is a miss communication that happens frequently in healthcare, and that communication needs to be fixed because a lot happens in a 15 minute doctor’s visit or anybody’s visit and there are a lot of miscommunications. So I would really encourage you to come and talk to me, and if we need to fix something then I will try to fix it.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: it is 7:55 and there are questions about this, but do want to make sure that we at least hear about merit and need based scholarships. So I am going to ask you guys to hold your questions until we hear back from them, and if we have time, we can go back to them.
Merit and Need Based Scholarships:
Preliminary questions: Merit/Need Based Scholarships: Do we have both at Bryn Mawr? How is one eligible? Can current students apply?
Laurie Koehler: So do we have both merit and need based scholarships at Bryn Mawr; yes, absolutely. We offer both merit and need based grants. The overwhelming majority of the colleges financial aid budget goes to that need based aid because we are committed to meeting 100% of students’ financial need through a package of grants, work, and loans, and we do cap those loans as well. The average grant, for example, to qualify for need based aid is more than $35,000 per year. Our practices, and I mentioned earlier that top 25 list from last year about the number 5 most racially ethnically diverse campus; we are also the number 3 most socioeconomic diverse campus. We are among the top of the elite liberal arts colleges for that diversity on campus. At the same time, we know that the market place for higher education has changed, and becoming increasingly competitive. The high cost of a college education and shrinking family incomes has led many colleges and universities to try different approaches and add different financial aid policies. Every year, a lot of schools are doing things differently. Many of our competitors, including schools like Smith, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin College, University of Chicago all offer merit awards. So a few years ago, one of the recommendations that came out of a trustees course about the competitive position of the college was that we should move forward with merit based awards in order to remain competitive in the market place. So those awards are chosen through the holistic admissions review process. There is not an extra application to complete. There are only available to students through their first year process, and that is true with our competitors as well. I want to be really clear that merit aid is not taking away from need based aid budgets to go towards merit aid, but that it does help us with targeting our enrollment goals.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: So it is 8pm, but if anyone has any questions about this or for any of the Big Cheeses, please come up right now and give them to Natalie. We will get in touch with all of these guys and get the answers for your questions. We will include them in the minutes. They will be posted on Thursday.
Jane McAuliffe: I have a complement to you, Vrinda. You have run this meeting beautifully and I thank you for that. I also think this is phenomenal that we can gather as a group like this and try for as much openness about how the college operates as possible. So thank you, thank you very much for being here on a Sunday night and for the questions you brought forward.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: I just want to reiterate that thank you. Thank you all for coming out Sunday night, away from your families. We really appreciate it.
Laurie Koehler: shameless plug for admissions events; 30 students arrived today for our travel scholars program and are staying overnight. Another roughly 40 students will be here tomorrow with their family members, so please give them a warm welcome. We want these students to apply and enroll.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: Thank you guys again and we will be in touch.
Announcements
Karina Siu ‘14: this weekend cross country was at their regional cross country championship and Kristina Kronauer placed 4th and has made a spot into national cross country meet. I have a card and if anyone wants to sign it, please come see me. I will give it to Kristina later this week just to say congratulations.
Makala Forster ‘15 and Marian Slocum ‘15: we just wanted to remind the sophomores that we are going to have a class tea on this Tuesday in the Campus Center and if you are not a part of the Facebook group, please join and tell all your friends. It is 8pm-10pm and there will be food.
Sophia Dauria ‘15: is Nora Scheland still in the room? It’s her birthday.
Hannah Lehman ‘13: senior gift will be tabling this week so please come and make your gift. If you donate $20.13, you get a really cool cup.
Emily Tong ‘13: The Honor Board, CDAs and CDO are going to be hosting a confrontation workshop this week. It is on Wednesday in Dalton 25 at 7:00pm. It is going to be really fun. We are going to try and keep it short and fast and upbeat. So there will be an opportunity to practice working out scenarios that might take place in dorms, classrooms, or potential work places. As student leaders, you should all make an effort to come and bring a friend.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: environmental students department is hosting a mixer on Tuesday from 4:30-6:30. So check it out, it looks like it will be a lot of fun. It looks like they are hosting a lot of things with different clubs on campus.
Your Two Cents
Sarah Henkind ‘13: I am one of the Res-Co Co-Heads and I attend the Tuesday Group meetings with the head of Facilities, the head of Housekeeping, the head of Dining Services, etc. An issue that was brought up came from was from Bernie in Dining Services. Some of you may know and some of you may not know. Their budget is really suffering and has been. They only have $1.2 million to spend each year on food. They have only had one increase of $80,000 over the last 11 years. So in addition, the cost of our meal plans has gone up, while the quality of the food and the cost of the food has gone up. But the quality of the food has gone down. They might not have holiday dinner and they might not have enough food for May Day or Garden Parties. So we need to figure something out. If any money can be reallocated from somewhere else into a fund or if somebody wants to spear head this because this is going to be a big issue.
Chloe Baumann ‘14: how is our college getting by with that with audits if our board has gone up over the past several years? Do you know who we would talk about with this?
Sarah Henkind ’13: start talking with Bernie because she knows.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: I know people have a lot of concerns about campus finances. We are trying to get into communication with John Griffith. Unfortunately, he could not come to Big Cheese tonight. If you do have questions specifically for him, we can act as liaisons, or you could email him directly. We are going to come back and talk about Dining Services issues at specifically another SGA meeting. Keep that in mind.
Old Business
Sophia Dauria ‘15 and Christine Newville ‘15: we are the COPS Co-Heads. A few SGA meetings ago when we were talking about topics for Big Cheese, there were some issues surrounding Public Safety that were brought up, and we were put in charge of talking to the department and coming back and reporting to you guys. So the issues that we talked to Tom King about, who is the Head of the Department, were the communication between two campuses (Bryn Mawr and Haverford) and then also Swarthmore because there have been some recent incidences, and then also the other changes the department is hoping to see. So the first thing, as you guys probably know, they are trying to go by the name Campus Safety now. The reasoning is to build a stronger bond on the two departments on both campuses to really encourage that communication between the two of us. Their biggest imitative right now is making sure students know that the officers we have on both campuses are not here to get us in trouble, but they are here to keep us safe and protect us and our wellbeing. So if you are a dorm leader, make sure you let your residence know to use them as a resource and do not something to be afraid. So we are going to try to do this year is have events to introduce officers to students. There is an app for smart phones for Public Safety, and it will call public safety. It is called MyPD. If you have any questions or want us to talk about them with us, please let us know. We will be having another meeting with them later this week.
Vrinda Varia ‘13: does anyone have any questions immediately”?
Xavia Miles ‘16: what is the name of the app?
Sophia Dauria ‘15: MyPD.
Karina Siu ‘14: Thanksgiving week, do we still have a meeting that Sunday?
Vrinda Varia ‘13: no, November 18th and then our next meeting after that is on December 2nd. Before we start motioning all over the place, if anyone has any questions that were not answered tonight by the Big Cheeses please send them to sga@brynmawr.edu. Ask you constituents by tomorrow and so we can get answers to them in the minutes ASAP. Also if people have any feedback about how Big Cheese went, like the structure of the meeting, send that my way and let us know.
Questions that were Unanswered at the Big Cheese and their Answers:
How are international students affected by policy changes?
The international student policy is not affected
How is health care financed? Are there other plans we can choose from? Are there plans to change this?
In this country, health care is generally financed through private or public (i.e. medicare and medicaid) insurance programs. In order to make health care services available and accessible to all students, the college also provides additional funding for the Health Center. Insurance will be changing over the next few years to accommodate the implementation of the regulations of the accountable care act. At this time it is unclear what that effect will be on any insurance plan whether it is your personal insurance or the insurance the college purchases. The college only purchases one insurance policy on students, which is a secondary insurance, and it is based on what is most cost-effective.
Can you speak about emergency services? More specifically about liability and transport to and from the hospital if the health center recommends that a student goes to the ER?
If the Health Center refers someone to the ER who does not need an ambulance, they are taken by campus safety. Generally campus safety will also bring them back if they need a ride. I’m not aware of liability issues around that.
How are medical records being transferred?
Medical records are transferred when a student requests the transfer of records in writing. They are generally faxed or mailed depending upon the request.
They can be transferred to another treating physician without a written request.
There are special rules around the transfer of certain information such as HIV information and counseling
Because education costs are growing at a steady rate, people are wondering if that bubble is going to burst like the housing costs. What is your take on that? Is financial aid going to mirror that rising cost? Will financial aid increase as tuition increases?
Every budget cycle requires a close examination of the College’s financial picture, including reviewing tuition as well as financial aid policies and budget. While the College can make no commitment that the level of financial aid will keep up with tuition, through our practice of meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need, College has shown a strong commitment to financial aid. Over the past four years, for example, the College has increased its financial aid budget by almost three times the tuition rate (35% vs 13.5%). The net financial impact of this has been that the total net dollars received from students (tuition – financial aid = net tuition) over the past four years has actually declined by 2%.
My question is in regard to the campus center’s renovation on the mezzanine and the possibility of increasing the outlets, I believe it was mentioned before, but nothing has been done about it. Is it possible to work on it?
We think this may require a fair amount of work. We will consider the feasibility and cost of adding the outlets over the next two weeks. Students can contact Jerry Berenson then and he will let them know if we will be able to do this.
What are the plans for a potential new dorm? Are we considering any other forms of student housing/are we open to suggestions?
We are just beginning to consider the possibility of building a new dorm. Suggestions are welcome and can be made to Jerry Berenson.
Two other questions came up Sunday evening. One was about lighting in the Denbigh and Rhoads living rooms and the other concerned benches near the athletic field.
Facilities staff will meet with the Denbigh and Rhoads dorm presidents to review the lighting situation and will see what can be done to address the concern. We will speak with the Athletics Director about the possibility of adding benches.