Senate Beat March 18
A Pre-Spring Break Public
Senate gathered for the last Public before Spring Break, with the theme of “Spring Break, so let’s finish early”, according to Student Body President Zenger. Much of the committee updates amounted to “a lot of nothing”, in the words of Senator Mack Marsaw. Nonetheless, this week saw a few important updates, calls for survey-related action, the fruits of a five-hour Appointments Committee meeting, and the resignation of two Renn Fayre Czars.
Zenger opened the meeting with her updates, first covering academic success and support. The liaisons contacted Morgan Luker, Associate Professor of Music. In a recent faculty meeting, Luker announced a proposal to change the academic advising to include professional staff. In their email, Head Treasurer Kiana Cunningham-Rodriguez, the other academic success and support liaison, stressed the value of advising. Cunningham-Rodriguez stated, “Your advisor makes or breaks your Reed career." Senate reached out to Luker in the hopes of partnering with the Academic Success Committee to ensure that the new system provides students with the support and resources they need.
Following Cunningham-Rodriguez’s report, Zenger shared Hum110 and Paideia updates. The Hum 110 committee has reached out to students who had complaints or grievances surrounding the curriculum but has yet to hear back from the students. Zenger stressed that Senate is committed to addressing these issues, and encourages anyone with concerns to reach out. On the subject of Paideia, both Zenger and Cunningham-Rodriguez explained that conversations surrounding Paideia funding, which currently comes from Senate, are on the table. Although no decisions or changes have been made, Senate is working with the administration to evaluate where Paideia funding should come from.
Vice President Margot Becker then provided updates on commencement and Renn Fayre. Becker encouraged seniors to vote for the selection of commencement speaker, stressing the hard work that the commencement committee put into developing the list of potential speakers. With regards to Renn Fayre, Becker announced that she would begin to coordinate the rocky relationship between Renn Fayre and the HCC, as they navigate a partnership with White Bird, a clinic specializing in substance abuse and mental health, for medical support throughout Renn Fayre. She further noted her ongoing coordination with Conference and Event Planning to set up the Dome for Renn Fayre. While the Dome’s structure was left to imagination, Becker expressed great excitement for the structure’s construction.
COVID Liaisons Ana Quintana-Bernal and Wani Pandey then provided updates on COVID policies. Quintana-Bernal stated that the liaisons are seeking the COVID Risk Assessment Group’s (CRAG) input on spaces opening up for student use, with the intent of giving students more places to study or spend time. Pandey then explained that the COVID liaisons sent an email to CRAG on behalf of Senate expressing hopes that the mask mandate on campus would be kept in place for the rest of the spring semester. Pandey also mentioned that a petition with the same intent would soon be released to the student body, and Pandey urged students to sign it, citing that there were only five weeks left in the semester and many people would be traveling through spring break, and highlighted that the long-awaited return of Renn Fayre could only happen if cases stayed low and students kept testing.
Head Treasurer Kiana Cunningham-Rodriguez then gave updates on student teaching consultants. Five of twenty five Hum 110 classes this year piloted the presence of student teaching consultants to offer support to students taking the class. Cunningham-Rodriguez stated that after meeting with the consultants, many of them expressed excitement and support for the wider adoption of the program. She went on to elucidate plans to receive feedback from the professors and students involved in the classes and expressed excitement about the prospect of having more consultants in the coming years.
Cunningham-Rodriguez moved on to provide finance committee updates, noting that two allocations had been made. STEMGEMs requested $797 for events and goodies, and they were approved for $357.46, but, because they had rollover funds of over $400 dollars, they essentially received full funding. Noughty ball also made an appearance at finance committee, asking for $301.31, and they received $298.81. They deducted approximately two dollars because Noughty Ball asked for about $17 in printing costs, exceeding the $15 cap. Cunningham-Rodriguez is extremely passionate about the $15 printing cap. Both these allocations were voted on and unanimously approved.
When the microphone was passed to Senate Secretary Miles Sandford, he stated, “Hi, I’m Miles. I take notes.” But his skills don’t end there. Senate excitedly showed off Sandford’s spreadsheet creation skills, and encouraged anyone who needs a great spreadsheet to “hit up Miles”.
Senator Arley Sakai then gave updates on Title IX. The Title IX committee met with Chris Toutain, Reed’s Title IX coordinator, and asked for feedback on the survivor support fund. Sakai explained the results of the meeting, stating, “he was like IDK, and I was like, we all DK!”
Senators Lennox Reeder and Jefferson Ratliff then urged students to complete the CPC (Computing Policy Committee) surveys sent to their Reed emails. Reeder stated that the CPC sent out a survey on computer use, and encouraged students to answer it because it would inform library renovations and funding for technology resources, including chargers, laptops, and iPads for student use. Ratliff stated that the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) released the Campus Climate Survey, and asked that students complete it so that the OID could receive more information on students’ experiences on campus.
Appointments Committee Chair Arley Sakai then provided the committee’s updates after a busy week. After the Executive meeting held on March 13, an email requesting all Renn Fayre Czars to attend a mandatory meeting to discuss working situations and dynamics was sent out. The email urged for resignation if a Czar failed to attend. Two Renn Fayre Czars then sent in their resignations. No other information was given regarding the Czars’ reasons for resignation. On the other hand, the fruits of a long Monday meeting were six new hires. Sakai formally recommended these hires for KRRC positions: Declynn Brian for Station Manager, Alles Catalan for Sound Engineer, and Kaymiss Soto for Record Librarian. The committee also appointed three members of the Restorative Justice Coalition: Cassie Minicucci to begin immediately, and Gavin Leonard and Serena Bohra to begin next semester. All of these motions passed unanimously.