Student Advisory Board Meeting 3-8-09
Student Facilitator: Cait Patterson 10
In Attendance: Daniel Freije 11, Katrina Gonzales 12, Samia Hesni 11, Akosua Korboe 12, Peter Tang 10,
Muddasir Ayaz 11, Rasheda Vereen 10, Michael Muller 11
Arrived late: Aaron Nathan 10
Unable to attend: Brit Evans 11, Rebecca Oyen 09, Jodie Simms 09, Michael Belkin 11
Agenda Items:
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Transparency
CCE Values and Politics
o How do students perceive the politics of the CCE from the outside?
Use of Resources/Relationship with Career Center/Internship Programs
o FFA transition from Career Center to CCE
o Collaboration around ASIP
o Questions and discussion
Membership of Student Advisory Board for Next Year
o Review representative constituencies
Announcements: reminder that the SAB webpages exist, Reminder that the CCE General AB meeting is
on March 31, asked
Transparency
Katrina- student activites fund. Will allow for community service projects to come to CCE for funding.
Jointly meet – 3 BCELs, 1Bonner Fellow, 3 AAS members.
Molly – responsive to a couple of things. First, that AAS felt in regards to community projects, they
could use more guidance by CCE. Second, making the funding more widely available to everyone
Akosua – how is this the same or different than the Innovative projects
Karen – this is more for projects that aren’t necessarily innovative, but related to community
engagement
Cait – basically a CCE discretionary fund
Peter – is the amount $3-$5k?
Molly – when the senate decides on what they’ll spend, we will match it
Peter – not sure if the senate will be providing any funding
Jenny – Claire Jen told her the senate will provide $1,700
Dan – discusses the basics of the new BCEL drop in hours, in order to promote more awareness, the
BCELS are doing their BCEL work in the CCE office.
Samia – are you going to advertise it?
Cait – there will be a bigger/better sign and they will be doing a recycled paper mail box stuffer
Dan – Daniel Alter and he have been working with RC’s in regards to their public service projects –
Daniel is trying to get the freshman RCs to engage in CCE activities somehow
Cait – why don’t people get to know the CELs during orientation? Could a half hour be scheduled for
dorms to get to know CELs?
Holly – there are definitely chances for CCE to utilize orientation time for raising awareness
Cait – I think I went to website more before I was a student here
Dan – proposes having a meeting at the end of April 2009 with CELs, CCE staff and someone from every
student group. Idea would be short 10 minute presentation about CCE, then one by CELs, then a large
discussion together. Come up with ways that we can integrate the student groups with the CELs. For
instance, SACC could send people. Last year we did a survey, which was ok, but this year it might be
better to have a more representational, interactive way of forming ideas.
Sarah Barr – what would be your hope for an outcome
Dan – just the fact of getting everyone together with the CELs would be good. Another outcome would
be to actually come out of this with some specific ideas for campus activism.
Holly – Dan, after you came here last time, it came out that some individuals may not know what the
BCELs do.
Karen Lee – goes over the BCEL page and what the BCELs do.
Molly – I think that it’s a good idea that Dan had, but wonder if April is the best time
Dan – agree that April is not the best time, but sees it as an alternate to the survey
CCE Values and Politics
Dan – I think there is a perception that the CCE has a political bias, that the whole campus has a political
bias
Cait – I agree, but I don’t see anything wrong with it
Samia – its political in that it’s trying to advance a certain goal
Aaron – just because everything is political, doesn’t mean that everything is left/right. I brought it up
less because I thought it was a problem that the CCE has a political agenda, more than because I just
wanted to discuss it
Rasheda – I’m confused as to where this is coming from? Is there a fear of becoming involved because
there is an agenda?
Aaron – I don’t come at this with a left/right, I wonder how you integrate a service model onto a liberal
arts college atmosphere. More broadly what goes on here and what the goals of the college are.
Probably true that the CCE is prepared to answer all of these questions in a way I’m not aware of as “joe
student”
Danielle – like to go back to the question you asked the president at the last forum
Aaron – we asked what a liberal arts education is all about and were responded in a procedural way,
which was very satisfactory. What I wanted to hear is that we are here to educate people. The original
problem I had was that we talk about leading principled lives of consequence but we don’t talk about
what principles and what consequences are.
Molly – we actually discussed this topic at our advisory board meeting last fall and heard from many
faculty members that it was unlikely that now it would happen because academic freedom has been
emphasized. But I’d like to go back to the left/right issue.
Holly – there was a discussion of politics versus values in the last meeting. So perhaps we should also
discuss the idea of values at the CCE.
Rasheda – if the CCE is to the left right now, I wonder what the CCE would look like if we were in the
center
Aaron – if you are so ambiguous in order to get everyone on board, then you will lose people
Sarah – when I think about the internship program, I think it’s very open to all groups
Rasheda – I did the winternship program and felt that it was political, but it didn’t go exactly along with
my politics
Use of Resources/Relationship with Career Center, etc
Sarah – Gives introduction to CCE internship programs.
Samia – when you were describing how ffa changed, do you mean that it doesn’t have to be community
engagement related only?
Sarah – it doesn’t have to be just non profit, it could also be government, etc.
Peter – I noticed that there isn’t anything for people who are interested in government
Sarah – we actually just had an info session with the career center
Michael – I’m in ASIP and I just got a message about a government job
Cait – the government probably already has them and doesn’t have to go to ASIP, so it’s a matter of
going there yourself
Akosua – why can’t first years do FFA?
Sarah – explains that it is related to having experience with another internship or program because FFA
is considered the premiere program
Jodie – ask about the decision to have students apply for ASIP before they know what they are applying
for. It was hard to write cover letters when they didn’t know what they were applying to.
Sarah – we were slow to get the database that we needed, and also we didn’t actually know who were
going to have this year. So hopefully next year it will be easier.
Cait – the cover letters didn’t have to be detailed, more just like an essay or personal statement
Michael – I found that it was helpful for me to have to reformat my resume, which got me to the career
center
Sarah – part of why we did it that way is because we received feedback from sites that the materials
were good
Holly – we could be more clear about the cover letter next year
Peter – when this was brought before us, we were wondering why so many internships were blocked –
it would be helpful to know why it was designed that way. Just make it more clear that it’s not
competitive
Membership for Next Year
Holly – goes over what the make up is right now, and how the group was chosen and asks the group if
we think this is the correct way to organize things
Akosua – maybe have someone from ISA, International Student Association
Michael – possible a transfer student, we have someone named Marcella, TSA, Transfer Student
Association
Cait – what happens if you aren’t in your group anymore. I think it’s pointless to start all over again
Rasheda – I agree, it would not reach the goal
Holly – wants to know who wants to be in the board next year (everyone but Cait, who wont be a CEL
next year)
Akosua – what if there was a two year limit?
All – everyone agrees
Holly – We all agree to have the groups choose their own members, that individuals will step down from
board if you aren’t in the group anymore or if you’ve done two years
Molly – we like to reach all groups, but we also want to have some kind of consistency, seems like we
almost would want to have some at-large members
Wrap Up
Holly – wonder if anyone wants to be on an orientation sub committee
Sarah – the website will be a topic next time
Molly – In conversation with politics/values, Aaron raised a good question, does community
engagement belong in a liberal arts college? Would like to discuss what are ways to discuss that on a
campus
Karen – think that Dans idea could involve that subject
Danielle – will send out article by david foster Wallace at Kenyon College
Orientation sub-committee will be: Holly, Michael, Samia, Cait, Danielle, Jodie, Karen