Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The purpose of this week’s meeting was to introduce to the new StuCo members, especially the freshman, the structure of StuCo and how it operates, as well as presenting new goals and initiatives.
StuCo President Jason Heo ’15 explained that for the past two springs, StuCo has been trying to expand so as to better represent the voices on campus. He pulled up a flowchart that clearly explains the duties of different groups and how or whom they interact with. Jason also quickly introduced some of the deans and their roles on campus.
He presented the StuCo’s Tumblr, and mentioned that a new, more official website will be created to replace the Tumblr page. Before, students could anonymously post suggestions or problems that they have on the Tumblr page. Now, StuCo members created a Google Form which students can use to propose initiatives and bring up problems to StuCo in order to continue and encourage the group to be aware of student opinions and interest. The initiatives from this Google Form will then be discussed by the appropriate committee. Through this, StuCo hopes that each student can heard in order to create a more cohesive, enjoyable, and lively campus.
StuCo plans to develop the committees more and, as the semester goes on, the initiatives will change in respect to the campus climate. The Academic Affairs Committee hopes to work with the Center for Innovation and Leadership to organize workshops to teach practical work skills, like Excel, which may be overlooked at a liberal arts college. The Appointment Committee hopes to increase awareness of the financial resources SAC, SBC etc has to offer because not enough students are taking advantage of the funds or presenting proposals to the committees. The Student Life Committee is thinking about bringing in a famous hypnotist/comedian to increase the number of dry weekend events on campus.
Other initiatives at large are late night food options, possible discounts for students in Media, and creating a bridge program for first year students to ease the transition into college.
StuCo will also be getting their own shirts for the first time. Design is pending.
“Excel Workshop: a workshop, poss. for 0.5 credit, to teach students how to master excel— potentially hiring an outside person to teach people the nuances of excel (peer institutions have done this) ”
Maybe instead of hiring somebody we should use resources we already have?
http://www.lynda.com/Excel-tutorials/Excel-2013-Essential-Training/116478-2.html
Saving money, one small step forward at a time.