Senate Beat: Sept 19 2019
Senate tackles study spaces, chemicals, hazing, and student work
In the second Reed College Student Senate meeting of the year, elected student body officials spoke on various developments within the Reed community, with topics ranging from sustainability to student work.
In committee reports, Senator Billy Fish met with Reed College staff members to discuss making the Aspen Multipurpose Room and Trillium conference room available for students to book as study spaces. Fish, along with Greenboard representative Hayden Henderson, also spoke with Phys Plant on the ethical use of chemical sprays and pesticides on campus grounds. Fish is also scheduled to meet with Dr. Timothy Beecher, staff psychologist at the Health and Counseling Center (HCC), about changes affecting the structure of the HCC.
Student Body President Pax Lloyd-Burchett is starting a student focus group about the dissent policy. He’ll also be working in collaboration with several senators on a hazing policy, as the Oregon State Legislature passed a bill over the summer, Oregon House Bill 2519, that will require a hazing policy to be put in effect across campuses statewide this fall.
Student Body Vice President and liaison to the alumni Pixie Freeman stated that “alumni want to help with literally anything”, and reiterated that students seeking support should consider reaching out to Reed alumni via the Board of Alumni. Freeman also reminded the community that the Student Opportunity Subsidy (SOS) Grant is able to provide emergency funding to students who aren’t able to obtain it from other institutional sources.
As the theme of this week’s meeting was Student Work, Student Work Coordinator Kate Walford addressed the community, saying that there’s a “big focus this fall on reaching out to students, especially first years, with regards to finding work.” Another goal she highlighted is making more resources available to students, including information about finding jobs and student worker rights. There is a handbook in the works for student workers to be able to reference. The Office for Student Work is also focused on providing more resources to on-campus job supervisors in order to make guidelines consistent amongst different student jobs across campus. She would like to let the student body know that you can send feedback about student work or concerns to studentwork@reed.edu. This feedback is valuable for making student work equitable. You can also reach out to the student work address if you’re having issues with supervisors or other staff.