Student Life Committee Meeting: February 7, 2018
Facilitator: Stephanie Schneider
Note Taker: Laura Chipley
Attendees: Stephanie Schneider, Dana Prewitt, Jasmine Mitchell, Chris Notaro, Ricardo Morales, Laura Chipley
Agenda Items & Discussion Overview:
Chris Notaro discussed the EAB initiative
- Faculty portal features
- Student success center / resolutions for students getting the “runaround”
- How do we get the word out to students about the importance of getting advised?
o Outreach plans for SSC – social media, fact sheet for faculty to share in class, flyers
- Agenda items for remainder of semester
- Transportation issues o food o gender neutral bathrooms o student homelessness o transportation
- Next meeting will include new Dean of Students
Action Item/Task:
Laura / Ricardo will check in with Chris Notaro re; best time to come and film the Student Success Center -- Laura
Chris Notaro will send a factsheet re:EAB and student success center to faculty to share in class - Chris Notaro
Reach out to new Dean of Students to come to next meeting -- Jasmine
Speak to the Pride club to include them in plan for outreach re: gender neutral bathrooms -- Dana
Student Life Committee Meeting: November 9, 2017
Note Taker: Laura Chipley
Attendees: Laura Chipley, Rose Muzio, Dana Prewitt, & Jeanne Shimizu
Agenda Items & Discussion Overview:
Discussed and created draft agenda for first SP18 semester meeting:
• Possible people to invite:
• Advising department
• Advising - encouraging students to see an advisor
• Making sure students receive accurate information
• Student outreach for essential services: making students aware of resources for food, clothing
• Idea - Danielle Collins letters to students
• Gender non-specific bathrooms, showering options
• Person on campus in charge of Title IX
• Invite members from pride club
Discussed need to send agenda to admin.
Action Item/Tasks:
Nutritionist outreach - follow up. Dana never heard back when she reached out to Art. -- Dana [ASAP]
Co-chairs - invite administrators and make an agenda. -- Jasmine / Stephanie [ASAP]
Find students to invite from pride club. -- Dana
Investigate who is dealing with title IX. -- Rose
Student Life Committee Meeting: November 9, 2017
Note Taker: Laura Chipley
Attendees: Dana Prewitt, Laura Chipley, Kyrah Rodriquez, Jeanne Shimizu, Stephanie Schneider, Tammy Ehimwenma, Art Angst
Agenda Items & Discussion Overview:
Art addressed food services re: our questions
Communication/responsiveness to food services issues
o (AJ Morgan and assistant manager, Kenny) available to discuss any issues that arise, or one of the other assistant managers on the floor.
o Issues can also be discussed with food services advisory committee and feedback given via survey
o Re: healthy food: Mondos has fresh sandwiches, build your own sandwich in atrium, dining hall has vegan menu, vegetables, students can communicate preferences for specific food prep / needs.
o Re: limited times / hours – retail meals allotted as per meal plan rules must take the place of the cafeteria for after hours meals – caf hours can’t be extended.
o Re: take out eating options – logistically not possible. Discussions happening now re: hot food (like Whole Foods) pay by pound service.
o Dietician (Jessica Yeager) starting at college. Will be on campus – in cafeteria - TH 11-4 available via appointment.
o Re: cleanliness – improvements have been noted re: freshness of food.
o Moving forward students want to discuss more re: options for vegetarian, lactose intolerant students
- Re: advising, new EAB system will create a “paper trail” to document notes, who has previously advised student
o Possible Senate resolution – Senior audit, possibility of designated advisees
o Need for training for degree works. Also, degree audit is often incorrect.
o Students also complaining of getting wrong info from Advising office
- Transgender students and bathrooms. Diversity committee is working on faculty resolution for gender non-specific bathrooms.
- Next meeting set for Tuesday December 12
- Office 365 quiz / survey to create vote. Co-chairs will be elected via electronic vote.
Action Item/Tasks:
Arrange to speak with dietician about specific ways to amend menu to accommodate dietary needs. What her role will be. - Dana will follow up with Art to find her contact info. Deadline (ASAP)
Stephanie will talk to Chris N. re: advising issues, EAB and possible training needs for Degree works. - Stephanie
Can we consider resolution re: senior audit, possibility of designated advisees? Is there a protocol for when we send students to advising office.
Follow up with Rose re: student homelessness faculty resolution. - Laura
Office 365 quiz / survey to create vote. Co-chairs will be elected via electronic vote. - Laura will send email.
Student Life Meeting: 10/10/2017
Facilitator: Rose Muzio
Note Taker: Laura Chipley
Attendees: Rose Muzio, Laura Chipley, Jasmine Mitchell, Dana Prewitt, & Tammy Ehimwenma
Agenda Items & Discussion Overview:
- Discussed meeting schedule for semester – alternating T/W
- Discussed dorm policy issue with student rep.
- Discussed SLC Resolution on Confronting student homelessness
- Discussed last semester’s other issues (access to public space, dorm policy)
- Discussed advising issues (students not understanding req’s for graduation), parking, quiet study areas on campus, food
- Advising – inconsistent, not clear where to go, get different answers from different prof’s
- Flyer and email outlining advising procedure / present to senate need for more communication.
- Discussed food availability – often students come out of class and caf. Is closed / food options
- No consistently open food choices on weekends. Not allowed to have blenders etc in rooms.
- Can’t take food from dining hall. “To go” boxes from cafeteria.
- Ask Usama / admin. Re: food situation
- Discrepancy between what UP tells students re: temporary leaving cars vs. what happens in practice
Action Item/Tasks:
Laura Chipley - Send Doodle Poll for meeting (alternating T/W for Nov / Dec) saying that there will be a chair election and we need people, also to check out the meeting minutes on the lib guide. - Deadline (ASAP)
Dana Prewitt - Ask Omar to have someone from admin to come talk about food services. - Deadline (ASAP)
Tammy Ehimwenma - Bring issues of Resolution on homelessness, dorm policies to student gov. committees.
Student Life Meeting: 9/20/2017
In attendance: Rose Muzio Laura Chipley Jasmine Mitchell Dana Prewitt
Action items:
Rose:
- email Omar or Usama to find a delegate from admin
- email Tammy Ehimwenma and Caylen Joseph.(student reps) re:availability for next meeting
- follow up with Jillian re: draft resolution asking for emergency dorm housing for students
Laura:
- Get minutes template from TLRC to share with group
- post shuttle improvement recommendations on SLC lib guide
To do next meeting:
- Elect a chair next meeting. Meet at 2:40 in 3048 and ask students to come at 3pm, post election
- Next meeting suggested for either 10/10 or 10/11
Possible issues to work on Fall semester:
- Dorm guest policy
- Food on campus
- Shuttle service
- Access to public space
- Disseminating information about reserving space and for clubs - make it more accessible
- Student and campus security interactions
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
Meeting Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Present: Jillian Crocker, Jason Kaloudis, Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam
SGA survey and forum follow-up: Jason shared student complaints compiled from the SGA survey. We recognized complaints about food, cleanliness and rules/regulations which were addressed at the forum to Dr. Butts, invited administrators and faculty.
SGA has begun drafting a resolution to address issues with Resident Life only. The SLC wishes to address the following:
Access for commuters without a sign in
Opposite sex overnight visitor stays
Okenya has requested help from SLC to develop counter arguments which the administration may use. The committee began brainstorming counter arguments.
In response to the Res. Life guest polices
Upholding the mission of the college in creating a diverse environment for students.
Acknowledging the efficiency of the University Police and security when a problem arises.
The college well trained residence assistants to assist students with res life conflicts and concerns.
There is a judicial process in place when violations occur.
The college will be less likely to have unsafe situations occur if protocols were in place to allow opposite sex overnight visitation.
Research on how other colleges manage opposite sex overnight stays.
In response to public space restrictions (if pursued by SGA):
Emphasize the importance of identity development and community building through student gatherings.
Help with retention rates:
Allowing students to gather organically can create a better campus life.
Students content with the campus life and spirit may be more likely to stay.
Recap of SGA Forum: Members of the committee spoke extensively
Res Life polices:
An extensive discussion amongst members took place on these two major topics from the forum.
Safety issues were brought up by the administration in response to many of the Res. Life policy concerns of students. Members discussed the residence halls entrance rules but it was clear a few on the committee were unfamiliar with them. A tour of the campus was suggested and agreed upon. This would allow the committee to physically see how the Residence Halls function.
Public space:
A specific situation involving a student gathering was referred to. Students gathered by the Clark Center tennis court were told to disperse by UP. The event was considered a party because of music playing. Committee members expressed an interest in making the use of public space a separate resolution. At the moment students must reserve public space through Suzanne Markgreen. They can do this as individuals but this information is not well known. In addition to this, the request can take up to 30 days to fulfill. SLC agreed this curtails the use of space and restricts spontaneous gathering. These strict polices on the use of space have direct effects on the student experience here at Old Westbury.
Next meeting: Jason will reach out to Shui and get back to the committee on a tour date.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, October 25, 2016
Present: Jillian Crocker, Jeanne Shimizu, Omar Estrada Tores, Jason Kaloudis, Okenya Williams, & Andrise D’Haiti
Jason welcomed everyone and introduced himself as the newly elected chair of the SLC.
Student Forum: Jason asked the SGA reps about what time participating SLC members should arrive at the Recital Hall. Okenya mentioned there being a class in the Hall ending at 2:30pm, so room set up will begin as soon as the class leaves. Jason offered to assist SGA in setting up the room. Okenya said that in addition to Dr. Butts, various department heads and other staff members will be in attendance. Jason inquired about the student survey Okenya had emailed SLC earlier. Okenya said the survey was already distributed to students and their answers compiled by hand. Jason asked if SLC could obtain copies of these answers and copies were made and distributed to the meeting attendees. The survey answers will be used to help set the agenda of the Student Forum. Departments specifically mentioned in survey answers will be attending the Forum to help address issues relating to their respective departments. Additional survey answers were received and will also be shared with SLC. Jeanne and Jillian offered some suggestions to SGA regarding time constraints for speakers and proposed ideas about meeting moderation in order to increase productivity. Discussion of Student Forum promotion followed. The Forum flyer has been approved and can now be posted campus-wide. The event will be promoted in The Current and student eblast. Jillian suggested everyone try to promote the event in their classes. Jason said he would create a new tab on the SLC libguide titled "events" to promote the Forum by posting the flyer there with links to the SGA website. Jillian also suggested creating small group focus groups to follow up on the issues addressed at the Student Forum.
Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, November 15 @ 2:40PM in the PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, October 4, 2016
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, September 19, 2016
Present: Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam, Jason Kaloudis, Youngjoo Kim, Jillian Crocker, & Jeanne Shimizu
New SLC members were introduced. Rose reviewed the various issues SLC addressed over the past academic year including communication with students, transportation, the Residence Hall Guest policy, Faculty Engagement in the Residence Hall, voter registration, and ongoing concerns such as academic advising and upcoming plans to hold a townhall meeting. In support of this review, Rose presented the Annual Report she drafted for the Student Life Committee, which describes in detail what actions SLC took to address the above mentioned issues. In addition to the report, Rose presented her "Student Life Committee Resolution on Voter Registration", which was decided to be submitted to the Executive Committee/Kathy Greenberg. (Ed. - In response to the annoucement in The Current regarding campus voter registration activities, the resolution will be withheld for the time being while Rose communicates with Stacey DeFelice to determine the frequency of such events as such a resolution may be redundant.)
Election of Committee Chair:
A group discussion was held regarding who might serve of SLC Chairperson for 2016/2017. Rose has ably served as Acting Chair during the 2015/16 academic year. Jillian suggested a delegation of commiittee projects to each member to lighten the load of whoever serves as chair. The discussion ended with Jason agreeing to further consider the prospect of serving as chair.
Next Meeting:
Oct 4 - common hour in the P.E.L. conference room. SLC will meet to elect chair and further discuss plans for the coming Townhall Meeting.
Announcements:
Rose mentioned P.E.L. will host a debate viewing in the Cyber Lounge of the Student Union on September 26.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, May 5, 2016
Present: Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam, Jason Kaloudis, Youngjoo Kim, Jeanette Adelson, & Andrise
Directive: There are SUNY mandates pertaining to voter registration located on the SUNY website. All SUNY colleges must participate in voter registration. SUNY provides best practices and mandates. Rose asked for recommendations on how to "vigorously" promote voter registration here on campus. OSSD provides voter registration, which is a SUNY mandate. Jeanette suggested that the Registrar and or the Bursar could be involved in voter registration due to the high volume of students they serve. Emma recommended that Student Affairs could offer voter registration at least twice per semester. Rose suggested that an info sheet of some sort be distributed to students at orientation. Rose also mentioned she had spoken with Sarah about how students actually learn about the process of requesting to use public space on campus and was told they find out about such policies through the student clubs and e-board (for clubs). Rose asked if outside of clubs, how stdents might learn about these policies. Jeanette said she knew only of this process being described through student clubs. Rose mentioned that she intends to include in the SLC annual report an announcement in "Student Connecitons" on how to officially request permission to use public space on campus as individual students and information on how students can register as voters, especially considering that this an "institutional responsibility".
Townhall Meeting: There hasn't been such a meeting in several years. Regarding issues to be addressed: Student Advising. Improved training of academic advisors appears to be needed as well as mandatory meetings with academic advisors when a major is declared with an faculty member in that department. Jeanette suggested the possibility of offering peer advising, which she has done unofficially in the past herself. Jeanette said some students might be more comfortable seeking advice from their peers. Rose said this could possibly be made into a student work/study position. Rose also suggested the possibility of the Tutoring Center offering peer advising as well. Rose addressed the need for advising to also include "pep talks", encouragement, and motivational speeches. Jason mentioned the critical importance of first working to change the negative perception that many students have of the current state of academic advising on campus. Rose said she has officially booked the MPRs in the Student Union for October 25 and 26 this coming fall and preparations for the meeting should be the first item on SLC's agenda once we return next academic year. New SLC memebers will be contacted once election results have been made available. A chair will also be elected in early September.
SLC officially adjourned for the summer.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, March 17, 2016
Present: Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam, Jason Kaloudis, Jeanette Adelson
Rose said she will be meeting with Kate Velsor to discuss SLC and what can be done in order for the committe to be more productive.
SGA Townhall Meeting
Jeanette reported that there was still no official date for the SGA Townhall Meeting. Rose asked about the students' level of interest in such a meeting. Jeanette said she's noticed an overall downturn in student activities and diminishing interests. Emma inquired about whether students would attend such a meeting if it were to be done without SGA.
SLC Townhall Meeting
Rose proposed that SLC initiate a townhall meeting ourselves but doing so will require a good amount of plannning and promotion. Times of the year to hold the meeting were discussed and mid October to early November seem to be best. Requesting a room well in advance will be necessary. Various locations were considered, including NAB1100, Natural Science Building, and the Rotunda in the Student Union. A time and date would need to be set. The question was raised about whether or not administrative staff should attend. Students might be more comfortable addressing committee members about their issues. Emma asked about follow-up action following the meeting in terms of possible faculty resolutions or partnerships with other committees. Jeanette suggested possibly partnering with campus Greek organizations. Rose said that we need to set an agenda and there needs to be two dates (i.e. Tues/Wed) and to check the academic calendar to avoid conflicts. Rose suggested looking into the last week of October next fall, specifically 10/26 and 10/26. Emma asked about offering refreshments, which might be an added draw for students.
Overnight Guest Policy
Jeanette met with Shui and he said the RHA is the committee that would most appropriately address changes to this policy but students can also voice their concerns directly to him. Jeanette also described the "Roommate Agreement" - what it is and how it works. Jeanette also reported that the dorm WiFi issue should be resolved by the fall start.
Other Issues
Academic advising, class availability, parking (Jeanette says parking complaints are down due to Veronica's efforts), food (what's the status of Chartwel's contract and what committee is addressing this?). Rose advised Jeanette on what SGA can do relating to the upcoming presidential election. She mentioned issues such as voter registration, absentee ballots, polling places, etc.
Know Your Rights Workshop
SLC will help advertise this event when promotional materials become available.
*Next Meeting: Scheduled for Tuesday, April 28.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, March 1, 2016
Present: Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam, Jason Kaloudis, Jeanette Adelson
Financial Aide: Rose said that things seem to be improving. She mentioned recently having called Financial Aide and there is now a call center system in place unlike the previous situation in which phones would just keep ringing with no answer. Rose also said the Administration presently seems quite amenable to making desired changes.
Student Opinion Survey: Jason submitted to the committee the 2015 Student Opinion Survey with the accompanying student narratives as both contain useful information for SLC. Rose asked Jason to scan these documents and have them distributed to the committee members via email. (Documents were scanned and emailed later on 3/1/16). Rose also asked everyone to review the surveys and narratives to find issues the committee might be able to take action on.
Residential Hall Policy: Rose asked about the status of the overnight guest policy and who specifically to inquire with about it. Rose asked Jeanette is she would reach out to Shui to ask if there is in fact a function committee addressing this issue.
Faculty Engagement Sessions: Emma mentioned that she has spoken with Jodi Cadrinal (Writing Center) about the possibility of offering a citation/plagariam presentation tentatively next semester as part of the ongoing Faculty Engagement sessions.
*Next Meeting: Scheduled for Thursday, March 17.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, Feb. 2, 2016
Present: Rose Muzio, Usama Shaikh, & Jason Kaloudis
Financial Aid Dept.
Rose asked Usama the perennial question - why is it so difficult to get someone to pick up the phone at Financial Aid. Usama explained Financial Aid falls under Pat Lettini's purview and that he would reach out to Pat to inquire about this ongoing issue.
Shuttle Bus
Usama mentioned that he is currently working with Greg in order to make the campus shuttle buses more user friendly.
SLC LibGuide
Jason explained what the SLC website is and what it's used for to Usama.
Residential Hall Policy
Rose raised the continuing issue of the residential hall overnight guest policy. Usama responded by explaining that students are currently being engaged regarding potential changes to residential hall policies, which might also include changes to actual visitation/overnight days as well. Usama believe the current administration may be amenable to policy changes.
SLC Committee
Jason inquired about the status of the other faculty members assigned to the committee. Rose said the President of the Faculty Senate has been contacted in order to fill replacement slots.
Rose asked about scheduling for the next SLC meeting. Jason said we should offer a couple options to determine which date works best for members. Rose said she would poll the students about possible meeting dates: Feb 23 or Feb 25.
Usama suggested posting the SLC Talk flyer on ORCA.
SGA Townhall Meetings
Rose asked Usama about SGA Townhall meeting and indicated they haven't held one in a year. Rose said she is aiming for a joint SLC/SGA Townhall meeting sometime around mid-March.
Campus Food
Usama addressed campus food issues as he personally eats in the cafeteria 5 to 7 times per week. He said a wide variety of food choices are available contrary to the "pork, pork, pork" statement. Usama mentioned the food is typically of good quality and has personally made suggestions when food service is off. Usama also suggested reaching out to A.J. (Chartwells) about the possiblity of SLC randomly testing the food at no cost.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, Dec. 1, 2015
Present: Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam, Jeanette Adelson, Omar Torres, Jason Kaloudis, Fernando Franco, Evan Rufrano, Michael Cernuto, Angela McCortele, William Kimmins, Greg Riverio, Tim McGarry, Veronica Gerosimo
Regarding the faculty members on SLC who have not yet participated on the committee this year, Rose will initiate contact with them to determine if they are still interested. If they are not, Rose will contact Kate in Faculty Senate to find replacement members.
Shuttle Bus
Rose mentioned she spoke to another faculty member who uses the bus and discussed several of the problems that person observed. Angela McCortele (SGA Commuter Rep) also described some problems with the bus schedule. Transportation Services explained how the timing and planning of bus schedules is done with an emphasis on making schedules as convenient for users as possible. Rose asked about lateness of busses and the possibility of tracking it. Transportation Services described 107 traffic as the cause for many delays and warned of coming delays due to holiday traffic. SGA reps and Transportation Services discussed the possibility of implementing a bus tracking system/App and its associated costs and benefits. Transportation Services said the bus schedules will continue to be modified going forward but there is an expectation of reducing the number of bus runs. Omar mentioned two thirds of the student population are commuters. Rose emphasized the need for assessment. Transportation Services said that assessment is being done regularly and also announced the purchase of four brand new vans (replacements) and one brand new bus which is expected to arrive mid/late December. Emma mentioned that people don't know how or even who to contact regarding transportation issues. Greg Riverio said that people should contact him directly at Transportation Services and is available 7:30am - 4:00pm via phone or email. Bus schedules will be updated with Transportation Services contact information. Transportation Services also said complaints recieved overall are down in the past few years. Complaints which are received are used to inform making needed improvements.
Faculty Engagement Initative
Rose raised the possibility of hosting a workshop specifically addressing citation and paraphrasing sometime during the spring semester. Jason addressed some of the issues involved in hosting a workshop such as this and suggested coordinating with Jodie Cardinal at the Writing Center for this initiative. Omar said two separate workshops might be needed.
SLC Talk Flyer
Jeanette Adelson produced and has already begun to post a flyer to promote the 'Suggestions' component of the SLC website. Rose said everyone on the committee should print out copies of the flyer and post it in their respective areas.
Next Meeting
SLC will meet next on February 2, 2016 in the PEL conference room, NAB 3048.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:40pm -3:40 pm, PEL Conference Room, NAB 3048, Nov. 3, 2015
Present: Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam, Jeanette Adelson, Omar Torres, Jason Kaloudis, Fernando Franco, Evan Rufrano
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
2.:45pm -3:45 pm, Student Union room 303, Oct 13, 2015
Present: Rose Muzio, Emma Antobam, Jeanette Adelson, Omar Torres, Jason Kaloudis
1. Personal introductions of those present.
2. Election of committee chair to be postponed to next meeting. Rose will continue to administrate in the interim.
3. Obtain the names of the other five student appointees/reps for the committee.
4. Set committee priorties for the coming year:
a. Student Union hours
b. Residential - Overnight Visitation policy
c. Co-ed floors in dorms
d. Shuttle bus service
e. Library issues
f. Procedures for student grievances
5. Review of SLC libguide - how it might be used and promoted, specifically to obtain student input.
Minutes taken by Jason Kaloudis
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
12:00-12:50 pm, Student Union room 331, Feb 27, 2014
Present: Jessica Blair, Antonia DiGregorio, John Friedman, Youngjoo Kim, Lillian Park, Usama Shaikh (guest), Keri Springett, Kevin Perry, and Earl Thomason
Residential Life
We invited Usama Shaikh (Director of Residential Life) second time to further discuss about concerns raised by students regarding residential life at the last meeting.
· Student’s view
o Overnight guest of opposite sex should be allowed and overnight guest policy for the same sex should be applied to opposite sex as well, considering large LGBT community in the residence hall.
o More freedom should be given for social interactions among hall members (party involving a large group of students and use of study lounge as social gathering purposes).
o Having to escort guests in and out of the room seems unnecessary.
· Shaikh and colleagues’ view
o Respect residential hall as residence, not a place for large social gathering or party.
o Willing to negotiate and give more freedom to socialize, however, too many incidents happened in the past which could have led to detention of students and loss of residency by university police.
o Safety concerns regarding room capacity.
o Respect and responsibility among residents would lead to ideal environment where safety aids, RA and DA are only there to guide and offer help not to control.
o Budget needed for changing sliding door and hiring someone who can check ID at the door 24 Hr/day.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
12:00-12:50 pm, Student Union room 331, Jan 30, 2014
Present: Antonia DiGregorio, John Friedman, Youngjoo Kim, Lillian Park, Stephanie Schneider, Brian Schwirzbin, and Keri Springett
Honor code
Professor Lillian Park will prepare a draft of honor code and bring it to the next meeting. This will be brought to the faculty senate for review. Relevant issues include how to enforce honor code, how to increase awareness of honor code among students, and how to be consistent in penalizing academic dishonesty. One suggestion includes using Blackboard Turnitin service once available on campus.
Residential Life
Students feel that there is too much policing in residence halls. Especially, atmospheres on Thursday evenings are unwelcoming with the setups at the entrance of the New Academic Village where there are desks with safety-aids sitting and asking questions. Roles of safety aids, RA (residential attendant), and DA (desk attendant) should be reconsidered. Individual residential hall should have different types of policing. Also, there is a safety concern with sliding door in New Academic Village. SLC will invite Usama Shaikh, Director of Residential Life, again to discuss further on these issues.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
12:00-12:50 pm, Student Union room 331, Dec 4, 2013
Present: Rollie O. Buchanan, Antonia DiGregorio, Youngjoo Kim, Lillian Park, Stephanie Schneider, and Usama Shaikh (guest)
Students from SLC had requested to speak with Usama Shaikh - but there were no students who attended the meeting.
SCL met with Usama Shaikh, Director of Residential Life, and discussed about overnight guest policy.
· Only same sex is allowed to access after certain hour with authorization due to safety and ownership of residents.
· Currently, residence hall is monitored during Fri to Wed 10pm-2am and Thr 10pm-3 am hours.
· Budget is needed to have more police supervision; however, extensive policing might offend interpersonal residential life & culture.
· Study lounge is closed on Th/F/Sa nights from 10pm to 8 am due to minimal usage for studying during those times. Instead, there were incidents of inappropriate usage of study lounge such as partying and drinking.
Mr. Shaikh did dicuss what are his limitations because of his budget. There are certain aspects of the residential halls - he agreed to meet with the committee again this spring.
Professor Lillian Park presented necessity of having student honor code at OW. She will write draft of honor code and present to faculty at large. Having honor code at every syllabus and enforcing it at the faculty level will reduce plagiarism and cheating tremendously. Currently, college does not have a standard procedure for punishing violations.
Present: Jason Zhu, Lillian Park, Stephanie Schneider, Rollie Buchanan, Mike Kinane (Guest), Keri Springett, Nick Savva, Camilla Swasey, John Friedman, Youngjoo Kim, Zoe Campbell
SLC met with Mike Kinane, and revisit our conversation from last semester, and also discuss the new Email system.
Mr. Kinane did a presentation on the new Gmail Email system, and demonstrated new features. The move to Gmail will be completed in 2 steps
The next discussion was about the new website
Discussion about the OW's emergency phone line
SLC will meet with Computer Services & staff 10/8 @12 in rm G122
Present: John Friedman, Antonia DiGregorio, Jason Zhu, Alyssa Heinsohn, Keri Springett, and Marc Seybold, Chen Hui Cao, Alexander Sartakov (Computer Services)
SLC met with Marc and his staff to discuss student computer services. Students brought issues to their attention - lack of computer labs with classes being held in the labs, math learning center, and the library renovation.
Other issues that were discussed - the network consistently going down. The student computers in library were down for a week. The library faculty and staff did not have for computers or phone for 2-3 weeks(some still donot work).
Another issue was the lack of staff and the hours that the labs in NAB are open. Students would like to have access to the NAB in the early morning andweekends.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
12:10-12:50 pm, Student Union room 321A, Sep 24, 2013
Present: John Friedman, Antonia Degregorio, Jason Zhu, Rollie O. Buchanan, Alyssa Heinsohn, Keri Springett, Evelyn Ortiz, Nick Savva, Youngjoo Kim, and Marc Seybold (invited guest)
Agenda
Student Union does not have functioning labs.
Loss of computer labs for students in the NAB.
NAB labs should be open by 8am.
Computers in library are slow, and not enough working computers.
There is no computer assistance/ technician in the library.
Student Union does not have functioning labs
· SU is in the process of repurposing computer labs.
Loss of computer labs for students in the NAB
· Individual departments close the lab upon faculty requests for scheduled activities, which limits students’ computer usage time. It would be better to post a note at the door or to give a gentle notice at the beginning of the class.
· Students are upset that they do not have access to NAB computer labs, when classes are not scheduled.
Computers in library are slow, and not enough working computers
· Since all computers on campus use ‘Think Client’, it should work the same; however, computers in the library are much slower and freeze often times than computers in NAB.
· Marc Seybold asked students to inform staff members at the help desk.
· There are only 35 computers in the library.
General issues related to computing services
· Computer labs are closed on weekends due to limited staffing (~21 staffs total on campus).
Resolution: hire proficient staff with competitive salary
· Wi-Fi is not working often times due to allowing any Wi-Fi device on campus (700-1000 Wi-Fi devices/day).
Resolution: bring in outside company to clean up Wi-Fi problems
Things to focus on at the next meeting with Marc Seybold
· Increase availability of computer labs for students.
Minutes of the Student Life Committee Meeting
12:00-12:50 pm, Student Union room 331, Sep 12, 2013
Present: John Friedman, Antonia DiGregorio, Jason Zhu, Lillian Park, Youngjoo Kim and 5 students
Agenda
Computers on campus, Website, Email transition Update, Campus Safety during Renovation, Parking
Computers on campus
Computer labs in old academic building are closed due to planned moving to NAB.Computers in the library are not up to date with current software and internet is slow. The loss of computer labs for students in the NAB. No computer assistance and not enough computers in the library.Plan to bring Marc Seybold in for the next meeting to discuss the issues.
Website
School website should have been changed since Jun of 2013 according to Michael Kinane on Feb 14, 2013 SLC meeting. School website currently has many broken links with search engines not properly working. Incorporate shuttle bus schedule on the website. Internet is down frequently.Plan to bring Michael Kinane in again.
Email transition update
School email is transitioning from Outlook to Google.
Campus safety during renovation
Library construction is taking much longer than planned.Construction related noises, dusts and fumes. Construction is taking place during 8am-3pm and students have limited space for quiet studies. Plan to bring William Kimmins in.
Parking
Parking is still difficult even after 2 weeks since the beginning of the school. Not so much issue when parking by the gym or old academic building but there is safety concern at night time when parking in remote areas on campus.
Other issues not on the agenda
Student Life Committee
John Friedman and Antonia DiGregorio will serve chair and co-chair, respectively. Youngjoo Kim will serve as secretary, respectively.
Website for SLC was created by Antonia DiGregorio (http://libguides.oldwestbury.edu/slc) / Facebook /Twitter.
· Equal numbers of faculty members and students needed to be present according to the bylaw (need more students present at the meeting).
· Members are recommended to attend Town Hall Meetings to listen to students’ concerns.
· Consider reducing meeting frequencies from every two weeks to once a month.
Library
Late fees will be notified via email in near future. Sometimes students receive not very accurate information with late fees. Plan to get scanners in the library.
Financial Aid
Student loan process could be better. Course registration for the fall will be canceled when financial aid has not arrived by Aug. Plan to bring in Ms. Dowd during the semester.
Residential life
Respect others especially during midterm and finals week. Smoking free campus is planned to start in Jan 2014. Need to advertise and let the community know.
In addition:
· SGA and Catalyst representatives were advised to bring up the issues discussed today at their meetings.
· Catalyst representative will find out accurate number of student enrollment for 2013-2014.
· Registration without obtaining PIN from advisor is working well.