SGA Formal Meeting Minutes
March 11, 2012
Executive Board Report
Justin: Faculty meeting this week on Wednesday. Laura and Justin will be talking about
academic negligence. Laura would like to thank Lori and Kelly for the work they have been
doing for Women’s Appreciation Day.
Laura wants to remind everyone that if you are a woman on SGA please send Laura your
information for the pamphlet by Tuesday if you are interested.
Learning Differences Task Force had a great first meeting. The dean’s office seems overwhelmed
right now and understaffed but they seem to be enthusiastic about the force’s ideas. Faculty
training for Learning Differences may be an idea that is put into action. Further research will be
done by meeting with Dean Kletzer.
At our next informal meeting, we will be discussing the Multicultural Literacy Class held during
January. Bring your thoughts about this to the next meeting.
Justin wishes everyone running for SGA for next year luck.
Laura and Justin will be attending the NESCAC SGA Summit on March 30 with the 2012-2013
SGA presidents.
Ray: Ray has been working on elections. Ballots will be out tomorrow at 9 am. It will stay open
until Wednesday at noon. Ray will announce the results as soon as he gets them back, and runoffs
will start Thursday morning and stay open Friday at noon. These results will also be announced
immediately.
Jess: See committee update at the bottom of these minutes.
Lane: SGA will be providing coffee next week in the library from 8 pm to midnight on Monday
– Thursday. This will be happening again during Finals week. Lane had a few great conversations
with a few people about transparency of the finance committee and what exactly we are funding.
Lane will begin emailing the finance committee agendas out to prescouncil, before or after their
Monday meeting depending on what works. The second Spontaneous Fun Day will be underway
for planning soon.
Sam: Katrina Danby had her baby… it’s a boy, very exciting. Housing numbers will be assigned
on Wednesday of this week. Witnesses will be present to make sure these numbers are
randomized.
Morgan: All new dorm presidents have been provided with a door tag to be hung on their doors.
Email from Jess should have come about updated meeting schedules, most of our meetings have
been switched around.
Old Business
Motion 1: Nate Bard of West Quad proposed that Nirvana be approved as an official campus
club.
Time was yielded to Tommy Kader who is proposing the club. Nirvana is the transcendental state
where there is neither suffering nor sense of self. He wants the club name changed so that it is not
necessarily from a spiritual standpoint. He came up with the idea last year when trying to find a
balance to deal with the stress of a busy student athlete life. He discovered yoga and meditation as
a way to deal with this and has realized this is a great way to help Colby students become aware
of thought processes that help your ability to concentrate and as a result become better at
whatever they are trying to achieve.
Jack Mauel asked if they have a schedule in mind. Tommy replied that there would be a morning
session and two sessions in the evening. He will be taking charge of running it for the first few
weeks.
Ginger Brooker recommended that he contact the health center. One of their counselors runs a
meditation session already.
Phil Hussey moved the question and Kelly Ling seconded it.
Roll call vote on the motion was passed.
Motion 2: Jonathan Sommer of Williams proposed that the Express Poetry Club be approved as
an official campus club.
Time was yielded to two students who discussed the aims of the club. The idea behind the club is
to allow people to find ways to express themselves beyond the traditional styles offered in an
academic setting. Many people on campus are very talented and could benefit from learning new
methods of expression. The club would hope to bring open mic night to campus where poetry
could be read. They would like to bring some acts to campus, not just spoken word but many
styles of poetry. The club would like to branch out to the Waterville community and have
workshops at local schools, as well as performances in Waterville at places like Selah Tea.
Monica Davis asked what kind of funding the club would require, especially for events.
One of the club’s proposers replied that they would require funding to bring poets to Colby. In
addition, they may need funding for transportation to get to locations off campus for events.
Justin Rouse asked if they had yet reached out to the English Department. Many faculty would be
interested in helping out and funding could be found through the department.
Kelly Ling moved the question. Roll call vote was clearly passed.
Motion 3: Cole Yaverbaum of the Class of 2014 moved that SGA recommend that the Physical
Plant Department approve the placement of stickers that read “turn me off” on all light switches
that currently do not have such stickers.
Wayne and Cole were talking with Renzo Moyano, from Enviroco, who is interested in this issue.
PPD has not been cooperating with him on these signs. Enviroco is willing to put the stickers on
switches themselves but they have not been able to find approval and would like SGA support.
Monica Davis moved the question with a second from Jack Mauel.
Roll call vote was clearly passed.
New Business
Phil Hussey brought up reopening the keg funding conversation. He is looking into writing a
motion for next week regarding when SGA can fund kegs. If you’re interested in this issue please
contact Phil.
Claire Grady has noticed that the new, stronger exit signs are already being installed in the
apartments. This is a great thing and she thanks Lane and Nick for facilitating this change.
Justin Partridge asked about keg funding in the history of SGA this year. Lane replied that we had
discussed this in the fall and Morgan sent out a survey about it showing majority support for SGA
funded kegs but we need to hash out details so that we can talk to campus life.
Laura said that we technically committed the motion. Keith and Erika had taken on the motion
but they took the committee in the direction of Registered Parties and this was left at the altar.
Justin Rouse and Laura talked with Jim Terhune about ITS and the problems with internet on
campus this year. Jim suggested they talk to Doug Terp, who is involved with this kind of thing
on campus. If anyone has any anecdotes about the struggles they’ve had with ITS this year
(including internet concerns), it would be great to bring up in the meeting with Doug.
Wayne Kim brought up the changes in Foss, where Sodexo is moving towards vegetariansm.
People have been concerned because there is a changing culture at Foss with no more 6 pm rush,
more crowds in Bobs and Dana etc. Wayne has put out a survey about these changes. Computer
Science department, Sodexo and Dining Services Committee are working on creating a Dining
Services app.
Emma Suojanen is meeting with security about Safe Rides. She is not clear on the policies…last
weekend her roommates could not get back to their off campus house and were stuck on campus
at 3 am. She would like to talk with security about their protocol. If any one is interested talk with
Emma.
Kelly Ling addressed that every flood light in Sturtevant was torn down this weekend. Since they
are plastic this was inevitable.
Justin Rouse asked if Dining Services is considering making healthier meal plan spa options.
Within the survey this is mentioned so this issue will be addressed.
Lane addressed the issue of not being allowed to leave recycling outside if you live off campus.
She would like to create some kind of drop off location on campus for off-campus students to
bring their recycling. Kelly Ling suggested that she talk to Joe Klaus.
Wayne has been emailing with Terry and Joe Klaus but they have not been responding.
Sam has talked with Joe about the Foss issue. Joe replied that Foss used to have a more vegan feel
and this old culture had been left behind as meals were moving towards the direction of pulled
pork and other meat options. They are not moving away from meat completely, but probably
more towards chicken and turkey options than red meat. Joe would definitely be interested in
student feedback on these changes.
Claire Grady clarified that they changed the Spa because not enough people were getting the meal
plan and it was too costly to have many ingredients for these meal options, and that is why meals
tend to be simple and unhealthy.
Monica Davis suggested that if meat is being phased out of Foss to a certain degree, maybe we
could get rid of Meatless Mondays. Wayne understands that athletes have issues with meatless
Mondays but Dining Services is adamant about keeping it.
Wayne has been talking to athletes who come back late from practice to Dana and find that there
is not much food left. They would like to talk to Dining Services about making sure there is food
left for these athletes and they have as many as options as possible.
Laura suggested that instead of having fries as part of the meal option they should let students
choose two fruits in place of the fries.
Jack Mauel is concerned with the small stirfry servings in Dana. He would like these servings to
be bigger. This question was directed at Wayne and Dining Services Committee.
Andrew Fabricant of Drummond addressed that Sodexo may want to give leftovers to staff, who
would appreciate this food since they may not be able to afford enough food on their own.
Andrew is willing to talk to people who are interested in what happens to food leftovers.
Cole is interested in the leftover issue as well, her ASB meetings always have extra food left
over.
Andrew is wondering if SGA could have influence in the food left over issue.
Kelly Ling moved to adjourn and Claire Grady seconded it. The meeting was adjourned at 7:42.
Committee Update
Academic Advisory Committee (Laura Maloney):
The AAC has voted to bring the academic negligence warning system
proposal to the faculty meeting this Wednesday. If passed, the system
with be an electronic reporting system for instances of academic
negligence so that professors will be more informed to report instance
of academic dishonesty.
Athletic Advisory Committee (Morgan Lingar):
I. Discussion of issues with baseball times Originally Friday baseball games start at 4pm, but they
have started running into some problems. Two games went into darkness last year, 1 game on
Friday and 2 Saturday—if a game does goes late on Friday, it is moved to Sat., in which team
already has 2 games scheduled. The issue here is more that other teams are unhappy with our start
times, So we approved the 3pm games against Trinity and Bowdoin, as long as AAC/faculty
member talks with team. II. Lane McVey discusses a letter SGA received by student security
member about visitors on campus. • Marcella says that the issue is that our facility is not secure,
anyone can walk into team entrance. • Passes are available for approved entrance III. Marcella
discusses SAAC Honor Code that Morgan Lingar worked with Tom Burton to put together Zalot
says it will not mandatory that people sign it. Morgan says we hope that captains ask as leaders,
so it’s not coming from adults, but students IV. Findlay discusses Faculty Liason program This is
a required program. Most teams that do not have liasons have new coaches and/or the connection
between faculty/ coach wasn’t working. We are looking into finding a faculty member to help
organize the program, and holding a luncheon for recommended faculty members.
Library Committee (Jess Russo):
I. Strategic Reorganization
The library will be undergoing a major reorganization of its staff for the coming school year
focusing on engaging with students (no more reference desk: more personal, longer research
consultations will be available), and the use of new technology to facilitate library effectiveness
(more digital material, student published journals available online, efforts to make it easier for
students to understand how to use digital library services)
II. Library Storage Facility
In an effort to create much needed study spaces for students. the library will be constructing a
storage facility to store the majority of the library's books. 200,000 volumes will remain in the
library. Book deliveries from the facility (which will be located near the Gardens on Washington
Street) will occur twice a day. All of the bound journals will be moved to the facility, with copies
of all journal material available digitally). Students will be allowed to visit the storage facility if
they wish to browse more effectively.
III. Miller Renovations
Renovations on Miller will ideally begin in the summer of 2013, to be continued over two or
three summers. In addition to cosmetic updates that will improve the overall appearance of the
library, the Writer's Center will likely be moved to the main floor, as will ITS and a Center for
Arts and Humanities. 100+ study spaces will be created.
IV. Print Release Station
The print release station, although students are still getting used to it, has led to printers
functioning much better with much fewer breakdowns during library hours. A few kinks in the
system are still being worked out, like the use of the Colby Card system which occasionally slows
down the system with accounting errors, and also "Bad" PDFs that have special characters and
cancel the print que. Within the next couple of months, this system should be working as
smoothly as possible.
V. Retiree and Alumni Data Base Privileges
Currently, Alumni lose access to their Colby email and thus to all library digital materials after
one year. A new policy is being considered for retired faculty to also lose these privileges after
they leave Colby. Possibly the reasoning behind this is to protect sensitive material from leaving
the bounds of the Colby community. Faculty however are not supportive of this idea since many
of them do unofficial work for Colby long after retirement and to help past students. Losing
these privileges would hinder such efforts.
VI. Miscellaneous
The Library would love to work more closely with SGA. They are interested in potentially setting
up a once a month meeting with the SGA co-presidents to discuss student concerns and needs.
Library management has been interested in building a cafe in the library. They believe this would
increase student-faculty interaction, which has died down since the construction of the Diamond
building, where many faculty members now do their work. Unfortunately, due to competition
from the spa, this idea may not come to fruition but library staff is still pushing for it-- or at least
a coffee cart.
Dining Services Committee (Wayne Kim):
The committee sent out a survey for the Colby Community to get back feedback on overall dining
experience, recent change to Foss, and whether pursuing a smartphone dining hall app which
would show the weekly menus and allow more accessible feedback is viable.
Off-Campus Study Committee (Claire Grady): We met this past Thursday and voted on GPA
petitions. We approved all of them with some stipulations. We will be meeting again the first
week of April to rank full year petitions. If you are a language student or applying to Dartmouth
you don't have to petition. 14 students are applying to Dartmouth this year so that will impact the
number of available spots for full-year petitioners.