Student Union

Current Problems
Many student groups use the Student Activity Fee to purchase equipment that is a valuable resource to the campus community. Student Union values these types of purchases, but the current process for funding them is problematic. Here are the outstanding issues with the way equipment is purchased with the Student Activity Fee:

Background
Every undergraduate student pays a Student Activity Fee that is equal to one percent of the cost of tuition. The sum of each Student Activity Fee is money that Student Union has to allocate to student groups to put on campus events like WILD, Diwali, Happy Hour, Bahaus, KWUR Week, etc.

We are always looking for ways to improve how we allocate the Student Activity Fee. The Executive Committee Restructuring project is an attempt to make the process more consistent, transparent and accountable to the student body.

To migrate email from an old student group email account to a new Google Apps account, please use the Google Email Uploader Tool. 

The Google Email Upload tool can be downloaded by going to: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/email_uploader.html.

In order to migrate the email, you will need to have Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird installed. Thunderbird is FREE and can be downloaded by going to: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

Please use the following information when setting up the email client to import your mail.

There is sure to be a lot going on this weekend, especially since the first week of classes will be over. I hope everyone takes some time to enjoy some of the great athletic events (and chipotle burritos) that will be taking place.

On Friday, I'll be checking out the Mens' and Women's basketball teams take on Case Western from 6-10 in the AC. The Athletics Department is sponsoring a Residental Hall Shooutout and the first round will take place!

On Saturday, there will be a M/W Swimming Invite. This should be really cool to attend, especially since the first 50 WU students to show up between Noon and 1 will recieve a free chipotle burrito buck.

Finally, on Sunday, the M & W basketball teams will be back in action vs Emory (remember when they randomly tried to start a rivalry with us...) The Men's game starts at 11 and the Women's starts at 1. These games will feature the second round of the Residential Hall Shootout and the first 50 WU students to show up with recieve a free chipotle burrito (actual food)!

St. Louis, MO: Student Union will begin to offer student groups new web services from Google Apps on January 15, 2009, as a “proof of concept” project that was initiated last spring.

The new services from Google Apps will include an @su.wustl.edu email address that utilizes Gmail with over 6 GB of space, calendar and document sharing, and google sites.

“Harnessing the power of Google Apps will allow student groups to conduct business more efficiently” said Jeff Nelson, Vice President of Administration. “Students on campus have expressed a desire for improvements to the various email systems on campus. Student Union is proud to be taking the lead and offering student groups next generation web applications.”

In February, the Student Union Technology Resources Committee conducted a survey that found thatseventy-nine percent of students favored Gmail in the event that student email were outsourced.

Student Union has been working with Student Technology Services and the University General Counsel to develop this program as a pilot and a proof-of-concept for a potential student-wide switch to a commercial email service.

I have updated the Executive Committee Restructuring Proposal. This, version 1.1 includes minor changes to clarify the intent of the proposal outlined in 1.0. It also fully details the proposal for the restructuring of Sports Club Federation.

Here is a highlight of the changes that were made to the proposal from Version 1.0.

• In Article IV, Section 10‐b‐2‐ii of constitution (page 8), language is added to clearly state that representatives from the SPB from member committees are no considered officers of Student Union. This means that they can hold an elected office (i.e. senate, treasury, etc).
• In Article IV, Section 10‐b‐3‐ii (page 8) of constitution, language is added to clearly state that representatives elected to the SPB shall be considered officers of Student Union. This means that they cannot hold an additional elected office.
•  In Article IV, Section 11 of constitution (page 10), the Club Sports Board has been changed to the Athletics Board. The language to define the Athletics Board is largely consistent with the current Sports Club Federation constitution. Some changes were made to the registration appeals process to reflect the fact that the Athletics Board is a part of the executive branch, so Executive Council should handle appeals and not the Senate or Treasury.
• In Article IV, Section 11‐b‐4‐ii of constitution (page 10) language is added to clearly state that the Director of Club Athletics is an officer in the Student Union Executive Branch. This means that she cannot hold an additional elected office.
• In Article II, Section 2‐b‐2 of statutes (page 6) points iii, iv, and v were added to clearly state that the equipment committee will centralize equipment storage and rental, but will have the ability to allow other groups to store and rent equipment if necessary. This is to ensure that groups that have their own spaces will be able to manage and store the equipment they regularly use as well as conduct the rental process.
•  In Article II, Section 2‐b the composition of the Treasury committees’ membership has been updated to reflect that at least 30 percent of the members should go to Budget Committee and SGAC each, and at least 20 percent should go to the Equipment Committee. 

A lot of feedback has been given on the proposal. My observation of the majority of concerns that have been presented are that they are based on misconceptions about the proposal. I want to make sure that everyone understands what this proposal actually means before I look to make any drastic changes.

The full text of the proposal is attatched to this blog post. Please read it! All feedback is welcomed. Please send it to administration@su.wustl.edu

Student Union is proud to announce an exciting new pilot program. At the beginning of the Spring Semester, Student Union groups will transition from a unix-based system to Google Apps for all of its email accounts. This means that Student Union will be able to offer each student group a Student Union Google Apps Email account that ends in @su.wustl.edu for the next year with the following features:

Monday, 12/8 @ 7pm in Wilson 214

The A&S Curriculum Review Committee and ArtSci Council will hold an open forum to discuss and field questions about potential changes to the A&S curriculum including:

• Clusters
• Core requirements
• Language requirement
• Various small group experiences (First year seminars/programs, WI, undergraduate research)

This is your opportunity to give input on potential changes to your graduation requirements

SENIORS ARE ALSO ENCOURAGED TO COME. See you there!

**Note: There has been serious discussion about revising the cluster system and instituting a foreign language requirement. Feel strongly about it? Then come hear about it & give us feedback!**

Email artscicouncil@su.wustl.edu with questions

Please download the attachment or click here to read remarks, as prepared for delivery, by Vice President of Administration, Jeff Nelson, before Treasury on November 18, 2008 regarding Executive Committee Restructuring.