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Student Council
March Institution Reports
Bowie State University
 Congratulations to Bowie State University men's basketball team on winning the 2013
CIAA Championship.
Frostburg State University
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Frostburg State University will participate in “Enough Is Enough,” the national campaign
to end campus violence, from Monday, March 25, through Friday, April 5. Each day will
have a different theme. Events, workshops and information will be offered throughout.
All events are free and open to the public.
FSU President Dr. Jonathan Gibralter spoke to our senate regarding new residence halls,
police stations and what students should expect with the constriction of the CCIT
building.
In the beginning of the month we held elections for the 2013-2014 administration, we are
beginning to plan for the transitioning of administrations.
The senate is considering their stance on a bill pertaining student hunting firearms and
being registered via campus police in light of recent school tragedies.
In light of the pleather of leadership opportunities at the university, the Department of
Student and Community Involvement has partnered with the SGA to host motivational
speaker Joe Urbanski, and discuss retention of student leaders.
President Bennett has invited representatives from ARAMARK food services to the
March 28 senate meeting. The representatives will talk about changes students can expect
in the Fall semester and concerns, they would like food services to address.
The BURG Peer Education network recently launched their “Believe in Frostburg”
twitter page where students have been able to share their positive experiences with the
university on the widely popular social network. If anyone is interested in seeing the page
twitter search: @BelieveinFSU
Salisbury University
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The Madeline G. Perdue Foundation, who was started after the passing of Madeline, a
former student athlete at Salisbury University. Her foundation donated $540,000 to the
SU Foundation which in turn will be given to the women’s basketball team.
PACE (Public Affairs and Civic Engagement) will be hosting a mayoral and city council
debate on March 26th. The mayoral election has been a heated one between our current
mayor and Joe Albero, a candidate who has plans to change many things in the city of
Salisbury if elected. PACE is an organization that works to make students more
politically active and encourage them to vote.
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SGA will be hosting our 9th annual ‘Big Event’ on Saturday, April 20th. This is an event
that we hold in order to strengthen the University’s relationship with the community and
also to help students connect with community members. Student organizations and
individuals go out to residential areas to rake leaves, wash windows, and do any kind of
yard work the community may need. Last year we had about 500 students sign up, so we
are hoping for the same turnout.
The Student Activities office is beginning SGA Elections for the upcoming Executive
Board on March 25th. The Elections Committee will begin campaigning for the election
itself on March 25th and 26th and candidates will campaign from March 27th through
April 5th.
Towson University
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Towson University Men’s baseball and soccer teams have officially been cut following a
decision by our president, Dr. Loeschke.
University President Maravene Loeschke has been named to a list of Maryland’s Top 100
Women. The list, compiled by The Daily Record, a Maryland-based business and legal
newspaper, was released March 5.
New ambassador program via the Office of the President has started. The program’s goal
is to promote components of student philanthropy that President Maravene Loeschke has
said she wants to implement at Towson.
Towson’s science building, Smith Hall, will receive a $156 million expansion within the
next two years, in which the building will roughly double in size. Officials plan to reduce
the energy use in Smith Hall by● anywhere between 15 and 20 percent once the
renovation is completed, according to the project’s outline online.
The Towson SGA has altered their policy affiliating student groups. Student groups now
affiliate through the university’s Office of Student Activities and their budgets are
handled exclusively by the SGA.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
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In recognition of Women's History Month, speakers from House of Ruth Maryland,
Dress for Success, and Baltimore Outreach Services joined the University of Maryland
for the Women Helping Women Succeed event on March 5th. Donations of women’s
business clothing will be accepted until April 1st.
More than 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumni submitted entries to name the
University’s new book store, which will beging construction in the SMC Campus Center
in April and should be completed by September, just in time for the Fall semester. The
winning name is Seven Scholars, which was chosen by a committee of students, faculty,
and staff.
As part of a year long series on civility, UMB is hosting a presentation by P.M. Forni,
PhD, director of the Civility Project at Johns Hopkins University and the author of books
on considerate conduct and how to handle rudeness, on May 6 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in
the Elm Ballrooms of the Southern Management Corporation Campus Center.
The USGA hosted a State of Sustainability Town Hall on March 20th to guage student
interest in sustainability issues on campus.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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UMBC is currently hosting community forums with candidates for to fill the Vice
President of Research and Dean for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences position. The
community is invited to review each candidate’s application, hear from each of them, and
ask any questions. A form is sent out to participants in order to ascertain the general
opinions. We’ll be doing the same process shortly for Athletics director. A member of the
student government is working on finding out if students are represented on each of the
selection committees.
UMBC has hosted separate forums on the smoking policy for staff, faculty, and students.
Originally, they planned on having smoking areas in residential areas only, but there was
major pushback from the commuter community. They are now working on designating a
location in the academic area and another in a residential area. Parking lots will be
smoking zones so that people can still smoke in their cars. The planning committee is
encountering a problem with finding a location that is 25ft from any pathway since the
campus is on the smaller side. Next week there will be another forum for the entire
community.
The undergraduate Council recently removed the requirement that the last 30 credits of
one’s undergraduate career must be completed at UMBC. This will allow students an
extra opportunity to study abroad. The policy recommendation is going to the Faculty
Senate for approval.
Our SGA applications for elected positions are in! Candidates will be announced on
Monday, and the campus is getting very excited about campaign season.
The Student Government Association is partnering with local businesses to bring a bike
share program to UMBC. Much progress has been made in this area, and the bikes should
be available for borrowing shortly.
Our new Fee Review Board has been hard at work. They created a survey with
information about each of the student fees and have asked students to comment on each
individual line item. The survey has over 600 responses and they are currently working
on compiling a report. They’ll hear presentations after the break where they will have a
chance to ask questions and do outreach before making a final decision.
University of Maryland, College Park
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We are working very hard on increasing mental health services on campus. I set up a
media strategy to get the attention of University Admin. I wrote an Op-Ed in the school
paper about the need for more mental health services. The second day, presidents of two
related student groups wrote a joint letter. On the last day, we had a student struggling
with getting appropriate help write a letter. I got a lot of feedback from administrators,
and it looks as though more funds will go to mental health.
We are working with the Associate Provost to find ways to incentivize faculty to write
open source textbooks. We are now looking to see if there are state monies available.
We are about to launch WTFumd. This will be a social media campaign where students
can directly tell us what they would like to see fixed at UMCP.