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, March 20, the Swarthmore Student Government Organization (SGO) was joined by Assistant Dean and Director of Student Engagement Rachel Head, and Presidential Fellow Bruce Easop. The meeting convened at 7:03 p.m. in SCI 105.
Coffee Fund Ready to Go Live
Chair of Academic affairs Bobby Zipp ’18 is working to finalize the details for the coffee fund. The coffee fund, introduced to the SGO executive board after winter break, encourages increased student-faculty interactions by allowing students to get coffee with professors for free. Zipp has been working with Director of Dining Services Linda McDougall and Provost Tom Stephenson on logistics and funding for the program. The last step in the logistics is a sign-up and verification system.
“We need to figure out how to verify people and track people who are using coffee fund. Once that’s figured out, the program can go live next week,” Zipp said.
Zipp is considering using a Google Form as a sign-up sheet, and sending out a random code for the student to use at the coffee bars.
Participating in the coffee fund is simple. “Similar to how departments have funds set up for use in the coffee bars, where professors can say ‘charge this to the department’, students can say ‘this will be charged to the coffee fund,'” Zipp explained.
Valerie Smith to Share Themes and Priorities
Presidential Fellow Bruce Easop announced that on Wednesday, April 20, Valeria Smith will be hosting a community meeting to talk about what her administration will focus on at Swarthmore.
Easop, who left Princeton to join the President’s Office in February, was asked to elaborate on his role as presidential fellow on campus. Easop said, “I do a variety of things, ranging from speech writing to correspondence. It’s a little amorphous, but I’m also a liaison between administration and students to make sure that staff is accessible to students on all parts of campus.”
At the meeting, Easop asked the full SGO for input on the best ways to advertise the event to get a turnout that represents the entire student body.
“I think the best way that you have a representative group of students to come to this meeting is to target all the student groups, like the different cultural and faith groups on campus,” Co-president Christine Kim ’17 said.
Weighing in on the nature of the event, Zipp encouraged Easop to make clear to the student body that the April event isn’t the only chance for students to share their input.
”Encouraging an open dialogue about the policy before, during and after the event is important. And to make sure that the conversation about the policies doesn’t end after the event,” Zipp said.
Summer Housing to be in Willets, Mandatory Meal Plan
The administration is moving the summer housing location to Willets residence hall. In the past, summer housing was in Mertz and Parrish residence halls. The housing change is driven by the 24 hour / day construction in the Crum Woods scheduled to happen this summer.
In addition to the location change, the administration is requiring all summer residents on campus to enroll in a meal plan. Head asked SGO to give input on the most reasonable price for the mandatory meal plan.
OneCard Access Hours
Starting this fall, OneCard access will be installed for all dorm exterior entrances. However, individual dorm rooms will not be updated to the system. One big topic of discussion that comes with open access is deciding when students can have access to dorms other than their own. The administration is recommending that dorms be open to all students on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 7:30 A.M. to 3 A.M. On all other days of the week, student access to other dorms would end at 1 A.M.
The next stage of the OneCard access upgrade will be for the Black Cultural Center, the Intercultural center, and academic buildings.
Other news:
Rachel Head announced that to fill Mike Elias’ role, the search for a new Assistant Director of Student Activities, Leadership, and Greek Life is underway. The college completed the first round of off-ground interviews in Indiana.
The Business Office has given the administration permission to begin developing an online platform where “student organizations can more directly see every transaction that they’ve had over the years.” This is an effort to increase transparency and clarity for the internal workings of student groups.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:59 P.M.
The minutes from the meeting can be found here: http://sgo.swarthmore.edu/minutes/
