Bowdoin Student Government

a.      Mistakes: 4(ii) type, “international week” should read “invitational week”, Kristen’s first points are about Baxter house, and there is a spacing issue on the 3^rd page

b.     Vote on approval of minutes: Approval passes

a.      President: DeRay has a short report tonight. 

i.         He indicates that Dean Judd is here (as she sits directly to his right).

ii.        He mentions working with Bates and Colby.  Last year they talked about putting together a binder about the Student Governments at the different school and how they operate.  Bates has expressed interest to arrange this again, but the whole situation is “iffy” because they are… “iffy,” but that’s what’s going on in that area.

b.     Treasurer: Becca

i.                She notes that there was no meeting this week because of Fall Break, but there are upcoming events like Take Back the Night, etc.

c.      IHC President: Alex (presents later)

d.     Classes

i.                Alicia says that they are doing Homecoming-party-shopping and that they are planning a pub night sometime in November.

ii.               Bryce introduces himself and leaves it at that.

iii.             Ben says that they are in transition…Sam chimes in that they have been working on a lot for homecoming.

iv.             Clark states that pub night is planned for one week from tonight from 8-10.  They are also looking at sweatshirts for the class, hoodies or whatnot, but they are going to be extreme.

e.      IHC Representatives

i.                Torri mentions the upcoming Homecoming parties, especially the “Sun Never Sets in the Land of Cool” party, which should be great with DJ Darrel.  Alumni are invited.  We also gave $100 for the upcoming concert.  Senior weekend is under discussion and open to suggestions, and they are also discussing apparel.

ii.               Emily H. says that the party Torri mentioned will be at Ladd—it is also a red carpet event in addition to there being sunglasses—so it is all about senior superstars.

Torri interjects that they have officially decided on Sea Dogs—DeRay also takes this time to mention talking to Foster about alcohol and the new policies surrounding serving it at the senior party.

iii.             Kristen says that there is no meeting this week and that the security party went well.  A number of officers showed up and one stayed for a long while.  There is a poetry reading tomorrow at Ladd and Baxter is planning their November calendar and co-sponsoring a party on the 27^th.

iv.             Avery says that Helmreich and Mac had no meetings because of break and that Mac is excited about their Halloween art party.

f.      Community Service Council Leader: Emily K.

i.                There is work on getting the van certification classes up, but the problem lies in that the new scheduler is not certified.

g.     Residential Life Representative: Lynzie

i.         Lynzie says that they met tonight from 7-8 and talked about the avian flue preparation.  The health center came to discuss these plans, including those for the flu vaccination.  Last year it was reserved for people who were especially susceptible, but this year it is free for everyone.  It is next Wednesday, and the following Saturday and Tuesday in two hour sections from 11-2 or 10-12 on Tuesday.  Leftover vaccinations will go to the faculty and then to the community.

ii.        There was also discussion about educating impoverished schools and getting candidates for teachers.  (Rather Randomly) Tomorrow is Red Shirt Day.

Alex makes her report at this time.  She says that they are working on Homecoming and that The Spins are playing this weekend.  They are working on the stage and the microphones, and the classes are providing different things for the events afterwards.  Randy is excited about the security in the houses—he thinks the relationships are good.  She also starts to report for Emily about the Quinby flag football tournament for breast cancer.  At this point Emily enters and continues her own report, reiterates Howell’s plans

h.     Activities Board Representative: Rob is overworked (skeptical eyebrow raise).  He claims that the only advancement since last week is that the Pat McGee band is booked definitely.  They are working on setting up the stage and the lighting.  It is a free show on Nov. 10 and should be a lot of fun. 

The representatives introduce themselves, but their reports are saved for later.

a.      Dean of Academic Affairs: Dean Judd (introduced by DeRay as the Dean of Academic Affairs as well as a professor of music)

Dean Judd begins by explaining how the idea was introduced for her to talk to the BSG.  She feels like she has been here a long time, even though the school year began little less than two months ago.  She is here to answer questions and talk about issues that interest the group. 

i.                 Mike is wondering how Dean Judd feels about the credit/d/fail option and if there is discussion about change in that area.

(Reply: The honest answer is that this topic has not been at the top of the charts, so she doesn’t know her feelings.  The faculty committee aims to think about issues, so this may come into the conversation later)

ii.               Carolyn remarks that Dean Judd’s predecessor set up the new, much more extensive distribution requirements and wonders what her thoughts are and whether they might be changed.

(Reply: The way the system works, it comes down not to just the person before me, but it is the result of a long faculty discussion.  Last spring when I was talking about coming there was a lot of discussion about what goes into those requirements.  From outside looking at them they seem to reflect the 21^st century version of the “Offer of the College.”  All these things help to navigate a student after college—it is a way of thinking through aspects of this.  The bottom line is that they will be tweaked, and there is a built-in obligation to evaluate the arrangement in three years.  Everything about the new system came through for the class of 2010.  Next year we will talk about of the first year seminars are working in ways that are teaching students to write and think critically in the ways they are intended to.  Are they changing the way students track into their majors?  Also at the time of evaluation they will ask whether or not the requirements are doing what we want them to.  The curriculum is never finished—it will always evolve and change.

iii.             Ben says that he was struck by the fact that the requirements must be met within the first two years.

(Reply: If you map out the first two year, you may find that there is an overlap in things usually taken anyway and the requirements.  It is not to leave people without choices, but to encourage people so that they are not left in their senior year having to take classes that are not at all in their focus of choice.  It is not meant to be rigid, and you will notice that there are many choices within the core curriculum.  Also, there is no language requirement, which means that advising needs to be good about thinking about languages in terms of study away plans—it is about working with advisors and making choices.

iv.             Emily H. asks Dean Judd to explain the reasoning behind the Exploring Social Differences requisite (the conversations behind it, the motives, etc.)

(Reply: That conversation was mainly about what a liberal arts student needs to leave the school with—how one should be able to go out and be a leader in a number of different situations and be able to navigate in worlds other than what we know.  It should include the ability to think about difference, about what diversity really means and how and why it is valued.  That was the motivation—deciding what kinds of courses would make that happen—for students to engage intellectually in these areas.)

The question is raised as to whether or not requirements would be added to the last two years of college in addition to the first two.

(Reply: No, because the idea of tracking is to leave flexibility in later years for double majors, independent study, etc.  The hope, however, is that by pushing students to take unfamiliar courses early on, it may encourage them to take others outside their regular options later.

v.               Sophia refers to the dean’s mention of the offer of the college in terms of being at home in all lands, and wonders what discussion was involved in reaching an agreement about the foreign language requirement.

(Reply: The motivation was twofold: (1) These requirements rarely motivate students who don’t want to learn to actually learn another language.  They instead create ways to get around them or satisfy them with the least pain possible.  (2) The foreign language faculty has said they don’t want tons of students in language classes who ndon’t want to be there, as it prevents those who are committed to the language from being able to learn.  Without a requirement, people know that they can explore new languages—the idea is to encourage, but requiring can be counter-productive.

vi.              Torri mentions talking about what goes into the major programs.  She asks if Dean Judd has heard faculty voice opinions about the topic, but she recognizes concern with the available class choices.  For example, in the English department there are few modern literature courses.  Most of the research is on old literature and it does not seem to be updated.

(Reply: There have not been one-to-one faculty discussions about what needs to be done in topic areas.  The level is more like thinking about the requirements, talking about what majors at Bowdoin ought to be (philosophically), and then talking about managing in specific departments.  For example, a meeting of the Swedish department could be an internal conversation about moving the language toward integrated reading and spoken versions.  They could then move toward changing the perception of their teaching or changing the major requirements.  Changes can also come from the office, where they ask what other schools are doing (like Amherst, Williams, and the Ivies).   A lot of it is about getting the very best faculty.

Torri follows this by asking about the process if someone wanted to express a change that they would like to see.

(Reply: This would have to start with the chair of the department.  Some departments also have student reps.  The conversation could be taken to my office, but the first thing I would say would be to contact the department chair.

vii.           Alex womders how the office feels about awarding credit hours in terms of time spent in classes and in other environments, like the classroom for education classes (sometimes 36 hours) and the lab for bio classes (sometimes 5 hours per week).

(Reply:  How classes are measured as far as what counts as a credit course does get looked at, but the reality is that it always seems like someone else is not working as hard as you are.  Like in my music theory class, if students are not engaged in some way every day, they cannot obtain the skills.  We do watch for that, like hidden prerequisites, hidden requirements, integrated labs, etc. but the disciplines are different.  The faculty says the same thing.

viii.         Kristen asks what her idea for the ideal involvement on campus is, in terms of the student body.

(Reply: Tomorrow morning there will be work in setting up an advisory board so that I can have coffee with people who want to talk.  It is a chance to meet with Bowdoin students—I fear that my department is somewhat hidden? (nods, etc) very invisible to students, but this is a way to reach the departments and a resource for students.

ix.             Emily G has a friend who is pre-med and wondering why there are no sublevel classes in the humanities, whereas there are in math and sciences.

(Reply: It probably has to do with the history of the numbering patterns, so I don’t have a good answer for that one.  It also may have to do with the fact that people come into sciences with very different preparation for that area in a way that they do not in the humanities.)

x.               Clark inquires as to the dean’s general plans for the first year.

(Reply: There are three big items: (1) Learning how to support the faculty in terms of lifestyle, research opportunities, and teaching.  Also making sure that we attract and keep the best faculty in the country. (2) Looking at how to make the variance between the classroom and the rest of life less strictly separated.  This has to do with advising and preparation—making sure students think about advisors and visa versa.  (3) Has to do with the role of the arts without the exclusion of other things.  In May the new music hall should open with new practice rooms and pianos (some 9’ Steinways!).  There is all new equipment, concerts that are planned, etc.  Also, the art museum should open in October with a program about opening doors to the campus.  Dean Judd is also looking forward to reorganizing her office—in terms of structure—working on major and faculty issues and communication.

xi.             Dustin wonders if, with boundless resources (which he is aware is unrealistic) what two departments Dean Judd would add.

(Reply:  I’m going off the Orient record here as the following is speculation.  It would not be about free-standing departments, but about working with relationships between them to let us work in ways that address new areas.  For example, figuring out how to teach Arabic and Hebrew so as to support medieval studies and so on—or how to create resonance between bio and chem for a strong biochemistry background.

xii.           Ben wonders of she sees progress in the future in this area

(Reply: In the immediate future, no.  We need to figure out how to teach them [the above languages] as well as talking about this issue.   The departments don’t have endless resources (as Dustin mentioned earlier) and they are already stretched to the max.)

xiii.         Dean Judd makes her exit after introducing her daughter (Hannah & Sarah, in 4^th and 6^th grade) and mentioning that she also has a high school senior.  She hopes BSG found her visit entertaining in some fashion.  Follow-up questions can be sent in e-mail.

b.  Student Organizations: Steph says that about 30 clubs have checked in so far, which means that a lot still have to.  We will start drawing the whip to try to get them checked in by a certain time.  This is an exciting process—the committee is getting a packet of who is checked in so far, and there are face-to-face meetings.

c. Facilities: Will says that the shuttle contract will be signed for Friday and all taken care of.  It will run next week.  Break went well, but there were calls about the taxi not showing up.  He passes around a signup sheet for light bulb solicitation tomorrow afternoon in half-hour shifts.  It is easy and fun.

(Ben notes that the taxi is a month and a half late and wonders if this affects the $9000 rate)

The delay was not easy to handle, but the service was provided, etc.  Dustin says that if this is the sentiment, they could look into renegotiating.)

d. BSG Affairs: Dustin says that the attendance policy is the important thing and that next week there will be plans for how the whole year will be handled.  For now, though, the focus is attendance.

            Mike says that $950 was spent last week because one issue was tabled, but $550 was spent on the Colby bus and $400 as well.  Overall budget now $16258 and…no spending tonight!

e. Student Affairs: Carolyn says that Homecoming is this weekend.  Alumni Relations has the polar bear, but we will see about getting it.  The pics will be at the game, as this was the most popular spot before.  Volunteers are needed for the polar pics and decorating the union on Friday afternoon.  Decorations include a banner and balloons.  Stickers are available for the alumni, which should be given out at the game and at the registration table.  There is no revised draft for the Midnight Breakfast proposal, and next on the agenda is NameTag Day.

b.     Attendance Policy

i.                 Dustin offers a “brief refresher” as to what was discussed before break.  An absence is defined as missing more than ½ hour of a meeting.  After two absences, there is a warning in some capacity (frighteningly ambiguous) from BSG affairs and the option to explain the missed meetings.  After the 3^rd absence it will be considered before the group and the student may be removed with a 2/3 vote, or 17 members.  Appeals are possible at any step in this process by emailing an affairs member as to the cause of the absence.  He lists the reasons that excuse absences and says that they are not limited to this list and that BSG is the ultimate appealing body in any case.  There is no firm answer as to what happens to a representative when removed from the body.  It will be discussed when and if the situation arises.

ii.               Carolyn thinks it’s a sound policy and that it makes sense.  It sound reasonable and she has no objections.

iii.             Policy Passes unanimously

c.      SAFC Policy: Four members are here to basically present an overview of what they do, so that hopefully BSG approves the budget and roles.  There are $570000 in funds every year, and groups come on a weekly basis to ask for funds.

i.                 Jeff says that the process is simple, conducive, and that it is designed so that everyone on campus can figure it out.  To start, submit budget two weeks in advance of the meeting so that the group can review numbers and edit.  (They submit requests in the Student Activities Office) When they come in, we sit down for 10-15 minutes and describe the event/activity, costs, and break down every dollar and cent so that we know where it is going. There are no arbitrary numbers—they are all exact numbers with addresses, sources, etc. After they leave the meeting, we debate for minutes or hours, getting down to minute details and talking about the significance of all money.  In two days we send out emails with summary of what went where, telling how much will be received and why, breaking down amount. The funds are then available in their account.

~Becca clarifies that the club treasurers are those that come in.  They are also required to go to a nuts-an-bolts session so that they understand the process.

ii.               Francis says that the rules for funding organizations are in two books, the yellow (for club sports) and the blue (for student organizations).  It is based on the circumstances around the proposal, how it will benefit the student body, and how complete the proposal is.

iii.             Arden says that the group basically has two books, but that the set of guidelines is not necessary strict.  They are generally standards that clubs must hold to.  For example, they are allotted $800 for a conference (one per semester) $50 for meeting snacks. We usually don’t fund things like color copies because little things can save money if everyone is held to same standards for these small amounts.  The two week rule goes up to one month for a speaker of $2000+ The rules have been made over 8 years; they are manipulated and expanded each year.  Personally, Arden thinks they are good—they are always changing, and the idea is always to keep things fair and equal.

iv.             John shares his favorite budget for the year, which has been from the Communal Bike Club.  At the end of last semester this new organization came to us for the first time. Their plan was to buy 30 used bikes, spray paint them yellow or red, and distribute them around campus so that people in the club can use them with the combo. Originally they came in with a messy budget without real plans, and they were asked to come back with examples.  They came back, we debated, and we ended up passing approval.  I enjoyed working with them and learning the process.  The same questions we asked about security of the equipment, etc. are asked to groups like WBOR.

~Torri wonders if SAFC does research to know if the plans they present are the most cost effective ones.  Do they investigate prices?

         (Becca replies that they do not personally do this research.  Rather, they trust that the treasurer is making every effort to do this.  If they suspect that the budget could be lower, they ask them to negotiate down or the table the proposal if it could be cheaper.)

~Torri also questions the loops with the blue book rules and wonders if there is not a way to have more firmly established rules instead of randomly set ones.

         (Becca responds that it is less that they are loose, but more the fact that there is an overarching rule that the circumstances may call for exceptions.)

~Ben mumbles one of the longest and most incoherent phrases ever in BSG history, then begins his questioning.  He wonders if there is ever discretionary funding awarded to groups, or if they can ever pay groups back for money spent when there was not time to appeal to the group.

         (Becca responds that they do not do reimbursements under any circumstances.  Planning ahead is important because it also means that more people will probably be able to come to the event.  Exceptions are made to the two week rule.  A large portion of the funding every year goes to operating budgets of groups—those that aren’t event-by-events, but rather that function continuously.  Jeff adds that the main problem with discretionary funds is that it is impossible to see where the money actually goes.  It may be spent on something either not allowed or not necessary, a common example being beer.  Arden chimes in that it is also a hazy area because it is hard to decide who get discretionary money and how much they get.)

~Lynzie wonders if they ever find that they have lots of money toward the end of the year that they end up overspending on things that may otherwise not get funded.

         (Becca replies that they try to distribute it, but that there are busier times of the year.  It has never been a problem, but they do like to have a cushion.  An example was when the lawyer was needed last year.)

DeRay wonders if there is a rollover estimate

         (Becca says that it depends year to year, and that there are also changes with the management turnover because there are changing views as to how much should be carried.  Their view is that they have the money to spend and that groups need it.)

~Dustin asks how and when the blue book changes.

         (Becca says that it is typically reviewed at the end of the semester.  They list things to change and vote in committee.  Examples are when things get unrealistic, like the price of a dinner or gas.  They have also talked about setting a DJ price.)

~Charlie inquires as to the role of Allan Delong.

         (Becca says that he is hands-off, but that he comes to meetings and is available to answer questions that they can’t.  He informs them from an administrator’s point of view about precedence.  Jeff says that they think of his as the ultimate dictionary, as he knows everything about logistics.)

~Emily H wonders how effective the two-week rule is in the case that a budget needs to be revised.

         (Becca says that they are willing to work over email if time is an issue, or they may be asked to push back the event.  They make few exceptions to the two-week rule)

~Torri asks for clarification—does the rule book change at the end of the semester?

         (Becca claims that is officially changes once or twice a year, but that changes are voted across the board either way if exceptions need to be made.)

v.      DeRay asks people to note the proposal and understand what it means.  Dustin has a concern about making changes.  He wants it to be make clear and known when things are amended.  Torri agrees.  The body is in agreement that there is no vote here, they just want to be informed of changes.  Vote on policy Vote passes unanimously

a.      Darfur Resolution: DeRay mentions his meeting with Barry and the fact that there is discussion around campus about the group.  He wants to make sure that the body is clear as to what their statements mean.

i.                 Clark says that he met with Barry yesterday morning to talk about what is going on because Allan Delong suggested that it would be a good way to share where this originated from, what is happening, etc.  Barry sees this as an activism issue, separately from how we see it.

ii.               Dustin says that from the perspective of where we are as a body, we may want to think in the coming weeks about possibly passing a referendum or taking further action with this idea if the sentiment and support is still there.

iii.             Torri says that it seems that there is support on campus.

iv.             Carolyn agrees with Dustin that we should have a follow-up statement or some kind of resolution instead of adandoning it in the hands of Barry and the trustees to make it happen.  We could also push this to another area of campus to encourage someone else to take action instead of opening the slug-gate to BSG.

v.               Sophia thinks a follow-up is important but is wary of making demands of the administration in terms of the structure of he committee.  Voting to approve and support is one thing, but she doesn’t think we should be pissing anyone off.

vi.             DeRay: Don’t worry about angering them.  Barry’s main concern with this issue is in terms of activism and making Bowdoin a place where students are involved and active.  If this exists, then the standing body seems extraneous.

vii.           Charlie mentions that a Darfur coalition does exist.