General Congress - 9/21/15!
!
1. President Knapp!
a. What is the role of Student Congress?!
i. Student Congress member are to be advocates between Students and
Administration, Faculty, and Board of Trustee members.!
ii. Student Congress Members are to speak for the students of Hope College: bring
needs to the attention of the people who can act on it.!
iii. Congress members can be those who anyone (Board, Faculty, Administration, other
Students) can turn to with questions, concerns and ideas. !
b. Committees and Boards!
i. When you’re sitting on a committee or a board, voice the opinion of the students! You
know more about the students than anyone else on the committee - speak up!!
ii. You have to do your homework, be well prepared, get to know the others sitting on
the board (especially the chair), have courage and speak up, even if it’s the minority
opinion, ask questions, talk to your peers, get the student opinion and share it.!
c. What are the goals for this year?!
i. Implementing the strategic plan-Mary Remenschneider (remenschneider@hope.edu)
is the director of implementation of the strategic plan, if you have any questions
about what and how we’re doing, direct these to her.!
ii. The work we’re doing with improving diversity is the top of the list. We are looking at
what we can do to make this College a community where everyone can thrive.
Students from different ethnic, economic and cultural backgrounds may feel barriers
and we want to eliminate those barriers. There is work to do, and we are training
every employee of the college on how to make Hope a place where every student
can reach their full capabilities.!
iii. Evaluating the leaders of the campus, developing a stronger leadership team, getting
the people of Hope on track with the plan - making sure we start at the top and work
down through the school.!
iv. “We will be of the six best value of Liberal Arts schools” - we are more affordable
than comparable quality schools, we are increasing scholarships, keeping tuition low,
and raising opinions to make a Hope degree carry more weight/be worth more. !
v. How can we better serve students? !
I. Perhaps hold a ‘town hall’ type meeting - you are the voice of the residents under
your title - find out what they have to say!!
2. Attendance!
a. Name tags - taking your name tag is your way of signing in.!
b. 50/50 policy - If you have an activity that overlaps with Congress meetings, we ask that
for each Congress meeting you miss, you miss one of your other activity as well. !
c. Always email Rochelle if you are going to miss a meeting - rochelle.miller@hope.edu!
3. Committee Updates!
a. Proposals for new student groups - Handball and Better Drinking Culture!
4. No Task Force Updates!
5. Appropriations - If you’re interested in joining the committee, apply by Friday!!
a. Appropriations is led by David Daniels, a committee of about 8 students. $500,000 is
distributed to Student Groups - Appropriations makes these budget decisions. Ad Hoc
requests are reviewed weekly, Budgeting Distribution is in the Spring (two-three weeks
of larger commitment)!
6. Old Business!
a. Construction committees - Bultman planning finished, Apartments planning on pause!
7. New Business!
a. Sara Duhr - (STEP Program) has reached out to us about the It’s On Us Program, the
national program is holding a week of action across the country. These are held to raise
awareness and educate students on how to be an active bystander. Sara has asked us
to sponsor an event - we are running an event, sign up if you’re interested! Contact
Alison or Andrew if you have questions.!
8. Faces to know slides - Important people across campus.!
9. Next Two Weeks — General Congress will not be meeting (9/28 and 10/5).!
10. Break out into Task Forces - Spreadsheet shared with you for your Task Force and
Committee assignments.