The Undergraduate Student Senate held its last general body meeting before spring break on Feb. 27 to discuss poster management on Student Government bulletin boards, a Title IX initiative, and committee updates.
The meeting began by addressing the question of what is to be done about the overflow of posters on Student Government bulletin boards. An initial attempt at resolving this issue involved the poster arbiter (PPA) performing checks on the bulletin boards weekly instead of biweekly.
However, even with more frequent checks, the problem persisted, indicating that either the volume of posters increased or more frequent checks needed to be performed.
Potential solutions to the issue include implementing stricter poster requirements via the PPA or Committee on Student Organizations (CoSO), increasing the number of bulletin boards, or venturing into digital boards.
This academic year, being a PPA is a paid position, so while more frequent checks are possible, the executive budget would have to be amended to account for the increased work done by the PPA.
Operations committee chair, Sanjeev Naiek, proposed that each bulletin board get cleared on the same day of every week and that this be indicated at the top of every bulletin board for people to see. Thus, people placing their posters on a bulletin board are informed that their posters will come down on a specific day of the week. This would reduce the amount of work done by the PPA.
The idea was generally well-received by other members of the Undergraduate Student Senate, though some concerns were raised.
This discussion was followed by a presentation, delivered by Ryan V. Wilpula, regarding the student sexual misconduct and awareness survey, an initiative proposed by Title IX that was released last Monday.
The survey will collect information regarding students’ experiences with sexual misconduct, an umbrella term for behavior including, but not limited to, stalking, sexual harassment, and dating violence. The goal is to capture a broad range of student experiences, so even if you haven’t been directly impacted by sexual misconduct, you are still encouraged to take the survey.
The survey aims to increase transparency between students and Title IX and will be administered by Rankin Climate, an organization that serves higher education institutions through climate assessments. Data collected from this survey will be used to restructure and generate new policies, programs, and resources that align with student needs. The data will also allow Carnegie Mellon to compare its resources to those of other institutions.
At the end of the survey, students will be asked if they would like their email to be recorded in order to participate in a lottery, providing an additional incentive for participation. A Nintendo Switch, AirPods, a coffee machine, speakers, and a limo tour of Pittsburgh are among the prizes participants could win if they decide to enter the lottery. Participation in the lottery is completely voluntary and information provided in the lottery will not be associated with survey responses.
The survey will be open to both undergraduate and graduate students attending Carnegie Mellon campuses in the United States from March 10 to April 2.
The meeting ended with committee updates:
The first to speak was the Academic Affairs committee chair, Zach Berger, who announced the near completion of the syllabus registry. Berger then discussed the committee’s interest in hosting more focus groups and launching surveys to provide the university with student feedback. Lastly, Berger announced that freshmen are welcome to discuss their thoughts on Core@CMU every Wednesday at 5 p.m. in room 319 at the CUC.
Next to speak was Dani Moreno, the Advocacy committee chair, who announced the committee’s trip to Washington D.C. that same day. The committee will meet with representatives from Hawaii and New Jersey.
After that, Mahitha Chaturvedula, the Business Affairs committee chair, spoke on promotions, initiatives, and improvements around campus. The committee is working on promoting the shuttle bus system on campus through pamphlets that highlight the various routes you can take with the shuttle bus system.
The committee has also been working with the athletics department to buy new gym equipment and machines to replace old ones. Chaturvedula announced that CMU Libraries approved providing all of Carnegie Mellon access to “The Washington Post,” to be in effect after spring break, and the University Communications and Marketing team approved providing Canva Pro subscriptions to Carnegie Mellon students, which will come into effect in August.
Lastly, access to the “New York Times” newspaper is being renewed. The “New York Times” provided the committee with quotes for a one-, two-, three-, and four-year renewal plan. During the meeting, a vote was held regarding what renewal plan to select, and the four-year renewal plan was chosen. The committee added that access to “New York Times Cooking” and “The Athletic” could be made available but quotes for adding each will need to be investigated and voted on first.
The Campus Life chair, Thomas Xiao, did a recap of the event “Skate the Night Away,” which was held on Feb. 16. The committee saw 105 people register for the event, though only 40 people attended due to a blizzard which caused buses to stop working.
Kyle Hynes, the Finance committee chair, provided a brief summary of how the special allocations budget was allocated throughout the academic year. Of the $45,600 in special allocations, $32,000 was allocated during the first half of the semester and $13,000 was allocated last semester. Changes made by the Joint Funding Committee (JFC) are going to change the amount of money the Undergraduate Student Senate receives in special allocations. If you would like a say in how the Undergraduate Student Senate spends its budget, the Finance committee hosts its meetings on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. in room 319 at the CUC.
The last to speak was the Operations committee, led by their chair, Sanjeev Naiek. The committee discussed senate week, of which each member is working on organizing a different day. On March 25, s’mores and sundaes will be available for consumption.
The committee has also been reaching out to student organizations — specifically, cultural student organizations — that can provide food. Each student will receive 2–3 tickets that they can use to buy said food. on March 27, the inflatable obstacle course will be back on the College of Fine Arts Lawn. Snacks, lemonade, and live music will also be present for the event. The committee is also working to provide students with picnic tables for more outdoor seating.
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