Caucus Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Committee Reports:
Alex reported on the Student Alumni Relations Committee you recently met with
the Alumni Board and the Homecoming Committee. They discussed getting together
work crew reunions where alumni would rejoin their old work crews for a day.
They also discussed having a limited number of current students join the Alumni
dinner. Alex also reported that during the Saturday Board meeting, he found out
that we have a 10% giving rate from our alumni.
Chandler reported on the Student Life Committee meeting in which they talked
about setting up the groundwork to talk about a campus pub next semester. There
was a Student Life meeting with the Board this past week at which the alcohol policy
was discussed and while the policy will not be changed for this coming year, the
board was receptive to it.
Andy reported on the Building and Grounds Committee meeting who met this last
Friday, April 23rd, and talked about the potential for expanding the Pole Barn by
FMTS. An alumni donated money in order to add a roof onto the side of the Pole
Barn where the Electric Crew was so that vehicles can be parked there and ladders
can be mounted. The concern, Andy explained, is that the long term goal is to add on
an addition, in which case, a structure may be built that will then have to be
removed to build said addition. Ultimately, a master plan is needed and the Long
Range Land Use Plan should be referenced. They also discussed the amount of FMTS
cars that are being parked in the Marriot parking lot.
Rachel reported on the Work Program Advisory Committee’s (WPAC) meeting at
which they discussed the Blacksmith Crew’s request that they submitted regarding
being able to get commission outside of work. The WPAC also met with two students
who are proposing that a new crew, The Environmental Activism Crew, be created
since the Spiritual Life Crew and the Peace and Justice Crew will be combining. No
decisions were made but it was agreed that while they would like to see something
like this crew, hesitancy surrounded the fact that the students proposing the crew
would be graduating at the end of next year. During the meeting, it was agreed to
assign four people to fill the Area Coordinator Positions. The Substance Use Task
Force also recommended that there be a crew that advocates alternatives to
substance use, thus, that responsibility would fall under the Ballfield Area
Coordinators responsibilities. WPAC also received a proposal for a Radio Crew. No
decisions have been made and the communication between an expected supervisor
and the students proposing.
Co-Convener Speeches:
The three individuals currently running for Caucus Co-conveners, Alex Howard, Jon
Speer, and Branford “B-Man” Hubbard, all spoke.
Alex explained that he has been a member of Caucus for a semester and is running
because he hears “a lot of brilliant ideas on campus everyday” and would like to
“give a kick in the ass towards working on those goals”.
Jon stated that he has been attending Caucus on and off since he came here () and
thinks that it is “one of the best parts of Warren Wilson” and he loves how the
students have a voice and he wants “strengthen that voice – be a part of it.” He also
stated that he wants his crew to work towards his favorite part of Warren Wilson
and that means being on Student Caucus.
B-Man explained that he is applying for Co-convener because he is looking to move
to different crew after having been on dining for two semesters. He stated that he
attends Caucus regularly and actively voices his opinions. He is interested in
obtaining a leadership position as he has taken on many leadership roles in the past
such as leading game night here on campus, the Green Team that worked to reduce
electricity at his High School (they even won $7,000!), and Future Leaders of
America (also in High School). B-Man concluded by letting everyone know that he is
available for questions via e-mail or telephone.
*Applications for those interested in running for Co-convener or being a representative
on a committee are due on Friday, April 30th, and elections will be held next Thursday
and Friday, May 6th and 7th. The committee openings are listed with descriptions on
the inside page.
Updates and Reminders:
The Dean of Service search committee will be brining two more candidates to
campus. Deb Meyers will be visiting on Monday, May 3rd and Corey Landstrom will
be visiting on Thursday, May 6th. An open forum will be held on each of those days at
4:00PM.
Area Coordinator applicants will also be visiting campus over the next few weeks.
Trustee Report:
Both Gideon Burdick, the current student representative serving on the Board of
Trustees, and Melanie Kemp, the student representative who will begin serving in
the fall of 2010, attended the Board of Trustee meetings, which took place Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday (April 22nd, 23rd, and 24th). Gideon reported on the meeting,
highlighting the “thick” items. Sandy brought up the fact that he wants to build a
Sustainability Conference Center and while it is pretty preliminary, Gideon
encouraged Caucus to talk about this with him. A Strategic Planning Advisory
Committee was created that will be comprised of the team leaders from the
Strategic Plan Committees and a couple of student representatives.
On Friday afternoon an executive session was called at which point everyone
besides the “real trustees” had to leave the meeting. Upon returning, they were
informed that they were to vote on a Strategic Plan and Shared Governance
Committee. The Strategic Plan was passed with a unanimous vote and $200,000 was
allocated for working towards next year’s goals. This committee will be made up of
students, staff, faculty, trustees and Sandy who will serve as the chair (meaning he
will not be able to vote). The committee is looking to be filled as soon as possible
and therefore, those serving will need to be present throughout the summer. The
committee will report directly to the Board of Trustees. The shared Governance
document needs everyone’s approval in order to change it and comments ranged
from many in favor of Student Caucus rather then Staff Forum. Gideon assured us
that as soon as he gets a better idea of what the committee will look like, he will let
us know.
Clancy mentioned that he has just finished writing his Senior Thesis on this topic
and informed Caucus that Sandy wants to move to a vastly different governance
structure (representative rather then shared) and that everyone should e-mail
sandy or talk to him in person and voice their opinions and concerns to him before
such changes are made.
Gideon continued to explain the Saturday events. Committee reports were given. It
was announced that budgeting for the Fall of 2010 has been secured for 925
students and Richard is shooting for 930. The college’s Elmsley bequest is $500,000.
$200,000 is going to the follow through of Strategic Planning, another $200,000 is
going to a cash reserve at the end of the year, $50,0000 is going to maintenance, and
$1,000 will be held. It was announced that the average size for a graduating class is
less than 100, although this year it is 140. There were two proposals for renaming
buildings on campus. There is talk of changing the name of the Chapel and
Fellowship complex to the Olar Spiritual Center. This came from a group of alumni
who, after Fred Olar (a former chaplin) passed away, decided that they would like to
rename it in his honor. The renaming is contingent upon a specific amount of
money. The other building that is considering being renamed was Ballfield A. It
would become the Elmsley Dorm. Six faculty members received seven-year
contracts: Lou Weber, Sam Scoville, Ben Fienberg, Dean Kahl, Laura Lengnick, and
Steve Williams. Three faculty members received three-year contracts: Catherine
Reid, Kathryn Burleson, and Leah Leitson. The Alcohol Policy was also discussed and
the question of how it would be perceived by off campus visitors weighed heavy on
the Board.
Overall, the take home message was to let Sandy know how important shared
governance is to the student body, the staff, and the faculty.
Student Caucus Constitution Revision:
Having begun the revision process a few months ago and gathering feedback from
Student Caucus, the Constitution Rewrite Committee gave a slideshow presentation
of the proposed changes.
Most of the changes that were made had to do with changing ordering, fixing
grammatical errors, rephrasing, and simplifying as well as clarifying.
The largest change that was made and the change that Student Caucus felt most
strongly about had to do with guidelines concerning gaining and losing voting
membership. The constitution rewrite committee proposed that membership
always carry over from semester to semester, that there would not be any quorum
necessary for the first three meetings of each semester, and that an individual need
only attend two out of three meetings in order to gain membership. A loss of
membership would be determined after four absences in one semester.
Clancy expressed his concern regarding the fact that quorum would remain the
same while the voting membership standards are changed to allow for a potentially
larger membership body.
Another topic that aroused members was that of changing the eligibility
requirements for running for Co-convener. Some people felt that student
representation of the entire student body should be open to the entire student body
because it reflects the student body. Others felt that someone running for Coconvener should have attending at least one meeting prior to taking on such a role,
and other felt that they should have a greater understanding of shared governance
meaning that they should be a member first.
Voting on the constitution was postponed till next Tuesday’s meeting.
…So come to next Tuesday’s meeting! That’s Tuesday, May 4th at 6:15PM in Canon!!!