Student Union

Hello everyone,

As a Liaison to Congress of the South 40, I receive the minutes from meetings of the Resident Student Advisory Board (RSAB).  RSAB is composed of the College Council Presidents, Hannah Bowling the Speaker of CS40, and Dean Justin Carroll - Associate Vice Chancellor for Students.  Similar to some Senate meetings, they bring in administrators to have conversations about issues facing students and their experience at WU.

This past Tuesday, RSAB met with Barb Braun, the Director of Student Technology Services (STS) to speak about the current state of technology and many of the issues we have been running into this year. Below are the minutes from this meeting courtesy of Hannah Bowling.  

For more information, please feel free to email Hannah cs40speaker@wustl.edu.

RSAB Minutes

Meeting with Barb Braun –Student Technology Services

November 16, 2009 

Attending: Steven Perlberg (WGE), Maanasa Bandla (RuSoFo), Julia Greenberger (HIGE), Lindsey Zhang (Brookings), Paul Dohmen (JKL), Nicole Adesman (Wayman Crow), Diana Chu (Park/Mudd), Tricia Yeh (Lee Beau), Mark Bigg (LK), Chrystal Okonta (NSA), Hannah Bowling (Speaker), Dean Carroll

 STS Overview:

Current Major Project:

I)     Printingà waste reduction

A)   Costly in terms of both financial and environmental resources

B)   Goal to make people more aware and more accountable for their usage

II)   Last week’s printing (81,000 sheets)

A)   Last year: full semester: 250,000 sheets used total

B)   Currently an increase in printing

C)   Can access how much saved through Paper Cut System

a)    Must actually release the printing at a station by the printer

b)   Saved 3500 sheets last week

D)   Next step:

a)    Possible contact ‘heavy printers’ – can see the top 10 printers

(1) Not a punishment, but to raise their awareness 

Student Technology Advisory Committee

I)     Born last April  

A)   Takes the place of an old SU group  

B)   8 members: 4 at large members who apply, 4 appointed by various student groups (CS40, SU, NSA, Greeks)  

II)   Goal: ‘technology done with you rather than for you”  

A)   Current student e-mail pilot project 

a)    Live@edu: Microsoft Project

Wireless Issues

I)     Survey Results

A)   Problems were ‘everywhere’ on the 40

B)   Almost 900 students responded-largest response to a STC survey ever

C)   Reports supported ad hoc comments about issues mostly occurring after 5 pm

a)    Contact STS if you’re in a corner suite with dead spots-tell Building/Floor/nearest closet/nearest door/time of issue

D)   Some of the issues come from the massive increase in students with smartphones like blackberries or iphones----they pull on WUFI

a)    Previously: around 4000 registered devices, now around 12,000

b)   Idea about there being more freshmen that are using the wireless and causing the issues: false!

II)   Actually controlled by “Network Services”

III) 2 weeks ago: “opened up the bandwidth”

A)   Previously: at all times half the bandwidth went to Danforth Campus, half to STS users

a)    Now: after 5 pm, all bandwidth (except that being used by university researchers) will be directed to residential areas

B)   Recent contract for more that will “very substantially” increase available bandwidth

a)    Likely contracts will be signed by 2^nd semester, aren’t yet allowed to tell how much will be added

IV) Library

A)   Have recently added more Access Points 

Suggestions/Final Comments:

I)     Residents paying for printing in the future

A)   Undetermined, isn’t under STS’s job description

B)   Eads decision is under ArtSci’s purview

II)   Suggestion

A)   Make students able to see the number of pages they’ve printed this year and what that means in terms of carbon output.

Again, if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below or email myself (novickj@wustl.edu) or Hannah Bowling (cs40speaker@wustl.edu).

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Hi Everyone,

I had a meeting today with my liaison, Buzz Spector, to get further detail on his plan for a senior thesis year.  Although it has not been entirely pitched, he's pretty confident it will be implemented by next spring.

There will still be specific majors, but the curriculum will emphasize the interconnectedness of all types of art.  The goal is for every art student to be able to use the full potential of the art school and especially be able to use all of the talent of our faculty.

Dean Spector believes this type of curriculum better reflects the real art world, where artists explore all sorts of media.

Core classes will stress the interdisciplinary of art and architecture and reveal more hybridization among the arts.

In addition, students interested in a design major will be able to take a major studio starting their sophomore year.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at kelseybrod@gmail.com or kelseyb@samfox.wustl.edu

Best,

Kelsey Brod

This Wednesday, Senate will be joined by WUPD Chief Don Strom to discuss racial profiling and any improvements that can be made on campus.  Please come and share your thoughts on the issue, and we hope to see you there! 

We'll also vote on the executives' recommendation for VP of Programming, which will be announced soon.  Our full agenda for Wednesday night is attached below.

Last night, SU Senate unanimously passed a resolution advocated for the renaming of the University's Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization, which is attached below.  Thank you to all the students who came out to show your passion and support, and moving forward we aspire to continue addressing issues that are of such great interest to you.

Senate also inducted 12 senators for the new term, 7 of which are new to Senate (denoted with a *):

Architecture - Taylor Epskamp*
Art - Kelsey Eng
Arts & Sciences - Ross Passo*, Mamatha Challa, Alex Cooper*, Michael Post, Dan Robinson*, Eric Schwartz, Jacqui Germain*
Business - Jason Yakabu
Engineering - Pat Kelly*, Cody Katz*

Finally, Senate held our internal elections for this new term last night:

Speaker of the Senate - Chase Sackett
Academic Affairs Committee Chair - Michelle Chen
Campus Services Committee Chair - Liz Jordan
University Initiatives Committee Chair - Kirsten Miller

Thank you again to everyone who came last night, and please let us know however we can help you with an issue on campus!  As a preview, next week WUPD Chief Don Strom will be coming to our meeting and discussing ways to address the issue of racial profiling on campus.

Hey everyone! My name is Mamatha Challa, and I'm in the College of Arts and Sciences. Currently, I am serving as a senator on Student Union, and I work on SU Senate’s “University Initiatives” Committee.

On October 30th, I had a wonderful meeting with my assigned Administrator, Mr. Art Ackermann. Art Ackermann is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning and Management. Our conversation focused on two main topics: making the Danforth campus more bike-friendly, and the idea of implementing a bicycle sharing system on campus.

Bike-Friendly Pathways/Docks
In case you don’t know, our Administration is currently in the middle of a large initiative to make the Danforth Campus more bike-friendly. In our meeting, Mr. Ackermann discussed many plans related to this initiative. Examples of projects that the Administration is considering are separated rider and pedestrian pathways, specific bicycle parking docks strategically located around campus, and teaming up with the “Great Rivers Greenway.” Part of Great Rivers Greenway’s mission is to interconnect St. Louis with one long bicycle path, and our University is considering helping out by placing a part of the City’s bicycle path through the Danforth campus.

Implementing a University-recognized Bicycle-Sharing Program on Campus
After hearing all this fascinating news about our school’s current movement towards increasing and maintaining bicycle usage on campus, I was incredibly excited to present Mr. Ackermann with our idea of implementing a bike-sharing program on campus. Bike sharing systems are systems where a fleet of bicycles is available at a network of unattended stations for short-term use. Currently, our committee would consider strategically placing Bike Share docks at locations that have a lot of bicycle traffic, such as the DUC, the South 40, and the Sam Fox School. Students would be able to access a bicycle at a station by either keying in or swiping their campus card. Then, the student could use that bike to travel to another station on-campus. After dropping off the bike at that station, any other student would be able to access it.

Mr. Ackermann seemed interested to learn more about the idea, and is going to be contacting one of the company’s that we proposed as a system supplier. In return, he asked for our committee to get him more information on how exactly bike-sharing systems work on other college campuses. Our next step will be contacting other universities with these types of programs, in order to get student testimonials about the true quality of these systems on campuses, as well as to get any extra advice. Additionally, our committee is putting together a student survey, which will help gauge the amount of student interest there is in SU working to implement such a system. I’ll be meeting with Mr. Ackermann in two weeks, and he’s also asked Liz Kramer (who works on Sustainability issues for the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor of Administration) to help out. Our hope, as of right now, is to use all this information and discussion in order to properly implement some sort of pilot program in the future.

That’s it for now! If you are even remotely interested in this topic, have some suggestions, or would like to learn more, feel free to comment/email me and let me know!

Thanks!

-Mamatha Challa

This Wednesday at 9PM in Simon 113, SU Senate will vote on a proposed resolution, sponsored by Senators Jake Novick and Jason Yakabu, to advocate for the renaming of the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization, on the basis that the term "clean coal" is an industry marketing term and that usage of such wording may invite doubt regarding the integrity of the research conducted by the Consortium.  The full resolution is attached below, along with the full agenda for Senate this week.  As always, we hope to see you there to let Senate know your thoughts on the legislation.

Tonight SU Senate passed a resolution lauding the actions of recent student activism in response to the "America's Energy Future" conference which the University held this Monday, and which did not sufficiently include renewable energy sources.  This student activism is a perfect example of efforts we can make to improve our own campus and university, and we stand by our fellow students in their attempt to achieve a sustainable energy future.  Next week Senate will be discussing a further energy-related resolution in response to the specific decisions the university has made with regard to this issue-- look for that soon.  Take a look at the resolution here, as well as Student Life's coverage of the flash mob.

Senate also passed a resolution recommending the creation of a pilot program through Spring Break expanding dining hours at the Village from midnight to 2AM on Friday and Saturday, and stir fry availability from 8PM to 9PM on Sunday through Thursday.  The chair of Senate's Campus Services committee and Jeff Nelson, the Student Body President, will meet with administrators from Dining Services to evaluate the status of the pilot program every two weeks.  Further options under consideration include SU subsidizing the program, or recommending changes to dining hours elsewhere to accomodate these additional hours.  Check out the resolution here, and also Student Body President's Jeff Nelson's blog on the subject.

Also, Senate confirmed Nate Ferguson, former VP of Programming, as the new VP of Administration.  Be on the lookout for information on the next VP of Programming soon.

This Wednesday, SU Senate will see two resolutions and vote to confirm a new Vice President of Administration.  The first resolution advocates for an pilot program for expanded hours in the Village, and the second advocates for Washington University to change the name for the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization and also pursue the development of renewable energy sources.  Senate will vote on the passage of both resolutions, which are attached below. 

Nate Ferguson, the current VP of Programming, has been recommended by the executives to be appointed as the new VP of Administration.  After Treasury confirms their selection on Tuesday night, Senate will vote to confirm a candidate for the position.

Last Wednesday, Senate's Town Hall on Racial Profiling co-moderated by myself, Connect 4's co-Presidents Wanda Savala and De Nichols was an incredibly productive discussion with many students in attendance, and has been covered in two separate articles in Student Life: "WU commission investigating officer's encounter with student" and "SU Discusses Results of Racial Profiling Survey".  We analyzed the current situation on campus and the results of Senate's survey to students regarding racial profiling, and came up with a formative action plan that will next be discussed at Connect 4's Roundtable on Monday, November 9th from 8-9PM in DUC 276.  The survey results are attached, as well as the comprehensive document collecting ideas from both Wednesday's Senate Town Hall and Monday's Town Hall regarding the Chicago Mother's Night Club Original incident.  Here are the ideas we will be investigating to improve the situation on campus:

WU/PD and RACIAL PROFILING

*Voice opinions and open conversation with them.
*Schedule a meeting to voice concerns and open conversation.
*Have them create a list of requirements they use for suspecting individuals.
*Increase transparency.
*Diversity Training for WUPD.
*Establish what causes students to report others.
*Raise student awareness.
*Establish reportage system.             
        BRIC program is outlined. Could be of help.     

 ON CAMPUS STUDENT AWARENESS, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING

*Freshman year program      
       Connect 4 members Camille Young and Lexi Klein are starting an Operation  *Understanding initiative for freshmen at WU. Connect 4 has budgeted for events for such for next semester. 
*Get students to share personal stories.
            Use the Stories Project?                                                                                                                                 * Generate ways by which students can learn about other cultures and student groups.                            
* Provide safe, open means by which to express curiosity about other cultures.
* Decrease minority sensitivity to curiosity. Increase understanding.           
* Celebrate similarities instead of differences                                   
* Continue dialogue via non-cultural cultural groups like Connect 4 and One World                       
* Host diversity trainings and trainers.
     Rap Sessions, November 14th.
    Mix It Up Day, November 10th                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
STUDENT INTERACTION/ PROGRAMMING

* Have More events that allow students to freely interact and mingle… (some already exist)      
     Mix It Up Day, November 10     
     The Solution                                                                                              
* Have reps from different groups visit other groups                                    
* Connecting students before arriving at WU
          Bear Buddies, Joseph Marcus                     
* Reach out to grad schools.                                                                         
*Reach-out to those who aren’t in cultural groups.                                       
* Integrate Greek Life in more "cultural" activities.                                                            * Create a multicultural retreat that all students can attend at the beginning of the year.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  * Develop an Overarching Group of students that would commit to this.     
     SU is working with Connect 4 in efforts to create a diversity affairs position in SU as  well as an executive council that would address these and other issues of diversity.        
* Address MC Weekend.                              

RESLIFE        
* Take diversity into account when making freshman floors.
* Use RAs as resources.
* Provide training program on Freshmen floors as part of orientation.

It was Dean Colangelo's birthday on Thursday! In addition to that exciting news, I had my first meeting with him on Oct 8 and had another brief meeting with him Oct 30.

What does Dean Colangelo do?

He is the Executive Officer of the Sam Fox School and the deans of architecture and museum report to him. He also represents the Sam Fox School to University Council. Is also concerned with the financial stability of the school.

In his day-to-day schedule, he meets with other deans, has cabinet meetings with includes the directors of graduate programs, and is working on how to structure the new curriculum (mentioned in next section).

What administrative news is there?

In 2011, the Sam Fox School is going to begin a "shared first year program". In this new program, Art and Architecture students will have more exchange between them and symmetry between their programs. For instance, a student can take Sculpture and Architecture their first year. A drastic change is that students can work with faculty to design interdisciplinary programs. Majors start in the sophmore year. The Art and Architecture staff will become more intertwined -- for instance an Architecture teacher can teach a Drawing class. It will also be easier to switch between Art and Architecture schools because of transferrable credits. There will be more concrete information about this program after the faculty retreat today.

In the future, the Sam Fox School is looking to implement a Bachelor of Design program. And in the Fall of 2010, a Master of Landscape Architecture program will be implemented in the Graduate School. The MFA program will also include Design. And  an art program will be joining the archictecture program in Buenos Aires.

Where does the Sam Fox School stand in relation to the rest of Wash U?

The deans in Sam Fox work constantly with the deans in the other schools. Dean Colangelo is examining how more collaboration can occur between the Olin School of Business and the Sam Fox School, that is collaboration between design and entrepeneurship.

It was really great meeting with Dean Colangelo. If you have any questions or ideas about what we discussed, feel free to ask! And if you want me to bring up anything to Dean Colangelo in our next Liaison Meeting, let me know.

Happy Halloween!

Kelsey

kelseye@samfox.wustl.edu