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.
On Sunday, January 31, 2016, the Swarthmore Student Government Organization (SGO) held an Executive Board meeting in Parrish Parlors at 7:03 P.M. The SGO Executive Board consists of nine members of the student body. Each member leads a committee, while the co-presidents oversees the progress of these committees.
After taking a board group photo, each executive member updated the board on the progress of their respective committees.
Proposed Funding for Events in Philadelphia
Chair of Student Life Policy Kimberly Rosa ‘18 is aiming to work with Director for Student Engagement, Rachel Head, to procure funding for events in Philadelphia. The proposed fund would sponsor the cost of events and van transportation for students, as a way to improve student life at Swarthmore. These events would involve small-scale concerts at first, within the reach of SGO’s budget.
Difficulty Finding Representatives for Cultural Groups
Chair of Diversity Salman Safir ‘16 reported that he has been working with Diversity Peer Advisors in search for a new representative of all the cultural groups on campus, and making little progress.
“There are 20-plus cultural groups on campus and it’s difficult to find one representative for all of them,”Safir said.
Special Major Feedback and Coffee Fund
Chair of Academic Affairs Bobby Zipp ‘18 recalled that the feedback from last week’s SGO discussion on the revised graduation requirement was well received by the Council on Education Policy (CEP). Responding to student concerns about how difficult it is to become a special major now, Zipp, citing the CEP, said that “special majors are meant to be for a really niche project or topic, it’s not meant to be a mainstream program,” partially because it is difficult for faculty members to sponsor a special major.
“[I]t’s just such an onerous process,” Zipp said.
Inspired by the SPIRIT Fund at Tufts University, where faculty can take a student out to coffee or lunch on subsidy from the university, Zipp’s committee is working on building a coffee fund and is negotiating with Dining Services Director Linda McDougall. The proposed fund would promote interactions between students and faculty outside of the classroom. Zipp, whose committee is still working out the logistics of the program, hopes to implement it by the end of the Spring Semester.
WayUp: Additional Source of Internship and Job Postings
WayUp, a recently rebranded start-up that describes itself as a “pipeline to competitive internships”, recently contacted the SGO hoping to disseminate internships and job postings to Swarthmore students through the SGO emails. According to WayUp, one out of three students who apply through the site get hired.
“WayUp curates monthly emails that include job postings, content, and news. They host webinars and virtual office hours. And more than 7000 jobs and internships and summer opportunities are posted on the site,” Zipp said.
The SGO plans to survey the student body about the demand for WayUp, and to decide on further action after discussion with Career Services.While the SGO discussed concerns that WayUp might interfere with Swarthmore Career Services’ offerings, Zipp said, “I wouldn’t complain about another pipeline to get internships.”
The SGO is planning to host Karaoke night at Olde Club after Pub Nite on February 11, 2016.
The meeting adjourned at 7:37 P.M.
Minutes of the meeting can be found here.
