By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
Officer Reports
President Andrew Lemon ’24 stated that there are only two meetings left, with the meeting next week being a transitional one. Student Concerns will also be in a transitional phase, with President of the Student Body-Elect Michael Woods ’25 working with Lemon this week. He also commended the College Life Advisory Committee (CLAC) for its work planning the Big Spring Blowout Event and informed everyone that Servo will open at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 5 for the first day of finals.
Vice President Geoffrey Meadville ’25 reminded all senators to dress business professional for the next meeting as inductions will take place for all new senators. He also opened up the ballot for Student Senate awards.
Parliamentarian Woods shared that election season has officially concluded.
Treasurer Alfredo Roman Jordan ’26 provided a budget update. The Student Senate has allocated $86,584 in total.
Director of the Office of Student Activities and Greek Life (OSAGL) and Student Senate Advisor Jon Allen gave updates about Springfest, which is occurring this weekend. Events will include an Earth Day Fest, Holi and International Food Fest.
Guest Speakers
Student Advisor Caroline Gill ’24 and member Riley Meyers ’24 of the Honor Commission gave an update on the revision process of the Honor Codes. They began by discussing their various meetings with college administrators.
With Executive Director of Counseling and Wellness Krista Dhruv, they came to an agreement that a student found to have violated the Honor Code will be able to meet with a counselor or PEEP to learn about time management and lessening stress as a part of the Honor Commission initiative for restorative justice. Furthermore, the Honor Commission has already begun using Counseling and Wellness Services at its Preliminary Conference level and all meetings will stay confidential.
Assistant Dean for Student Accessibility Theresa Hoover discussed how the Honor Code will work for students with accommodations within the Honor Commission. They assured that the Honor Code and Commission do not influence to change or affect any student’s Verification of Accommodation Letter (VAL). However, currently, there is no testing center able to accommodate all students, thus students with VALs tend to be in unmonitored environments. Hoover recommended including a section in the Honor Code to mitigate any potential distraction while accommodating all VALs.
Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Jeanne Hamming met with the Honor Commission about what the Provost’s Office can do to help. She stated she wants to remove Preliminary Conferences altogether, have hearing boards be 15 minutes or less, add an investigative officer role to the Commission, have an external audit of the Honor Commission and instate an anonymous reporting system within the new code.
Gill and Meyers then went over some of the proposed changes, which they emphasized are subject to change.
First, the policy around proctoring could potentially change. The revised Honor Code would allow faculty to proctor exams only if they stated they would do so in their syllabus and adequately communicated that to students. Additionally, the code urges them to discuss with students their decision to proctor if there are issues with it.
The second change would be to add Independent Conflict Resolution Conferences for smaller, less egregious cases where it is evident that both parties agree that a violation has occurred.
87% of faculty stated that they would prefer to handle less severe cases with the student rather than having the additional stress of a Preliminary Conference. The Honor Code will outline key questions that will be asked in the Preliminary Conference or Hearing Board and Gill has been attending cases to examine which situations would be the most progressive for this new conference style.
The last change would be the addition of a brand new AI policy. The proposed revision would give professors autonomy for how they want to include or ban AI in the classroom. However, their rules must be stated on their syllabus in specifics, or else the Honor Commission will not process a case for an AI violation.
Lastly, Gill and Meyers provided a timeline for the revisions. Currently, the faculty are reviewing the Honor Code Survey Result PowerPoint that the Senate viewed at the beginning of April and they have the opportunity to meet with Gill during Office Hours or can fill out a form to submit feedback. The Honor Commission is continuing to collect student feedback via the CUB table from noon to 4 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday and is hoping to have the Honor Code revisions completed and audited by the end of this summer. They will propose the revised Honor Code at the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester, where it will then have to be approved by the Student Senate and the Faculty Senate.
They then opened the floor to questions.
Roman Jordan questioned how anonymous reporting would work with possible fake reports. Gill answered that the standard of evidence would still be the same, emphasizing all of the information the Honor Commission looks at when reviewing cases. An anonymous report will still have to provide clear and convincing evidence for it to be reviewed.
Some students expressed their dislike of possible proctored exams. Gill stated that the proposed revision they presented was the best they would come up with, as there has been an absurd spike in Honor Code violations and this will hopefully mitigate that. Additionally, it does not mean that all exams will be proctored and will be a discussion between students and their professors.
Lemon asked if the Honor Code statement that students write on exams or assignments will be the same. Gill answered that it would stay the same.
Senator-at-Large Carl DeMarco ’25 asked how long an Honor Code violation stays on one’s record. Gill answered that it stays for five years.
Committee Reports
CLAC will not meet this week due to the Student Senate and Panhellenic Council event happening on Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. on Stine Lake.
Club Reports and Announcements
Passover Seder is happening in The Atrium on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Listeners & Performers have a show at the Painted Turtle Farm on Friday as a part of Earthfest from 5 to 7 p.m. They also have their showcase on Saturday at Waldo’s & Co. at 7:30 p.m.
Student Concerns
Lemon provided updates on previous student concerns. Pertaining to the possible laundry assistance program, Dean of Students Jeff Foster said that there is not a specific program for that, but Mosaic Cupboard does provide needed items to students along with the Student Emergency Fund. Foster is open to discussing other options as well.
The Student Senate is compiling an Opinion to show support for the previously proposed Finance and Economics majors.
New concerns included the benches in the Tennis Courts being in poor shape and changes to the Bullet Hole next semester.
It was confirmed that in addition to opening later, the Bullet Hole will only be accepting Dining Dollars. Dining Services felt that students who go to Bullet do not want a meal but get things because they want to use their meal swipes. They felt that this change would help alleviate excessive purchasing. Additionally, they are planning for the amount of meals lost to be compensated with Dining Dollars. Changes will be made to other dining areas, as Servo will have takeout options and Commons will have more breakfast options. There will also be a fresh food vending machine in Bullet that will be open 24/7.
Many students were very upset at these changes. Lemon asserted that he will have further discussions with Dining Services about these changes to pass along students’ feelings and concerns.
Budget Requests
SANGAM requested $1,600 for their Holi celebration. The Budget Management Committee (BMC) recommended $800. The Student Senate allocated $1,000.
The International Club requested $600 for its Senior Night, of which the BMC recommended $100. The Student Senate allocated $100.
New Business
Chair of the Opinions Committee Dominic DiLuzio ’26 presented two new Opinions. The first gave support to the Faculty Senate to revisit the Finance and Economics major. It passed with unanimous consent.
The second Opinion urged the College to own its laundry machines, as its contract with Caldwell & Gregory expires in the near future. It also passed with unanimous consent.
Academic Affinity Group Leader Belle Pedersen ’24 urged to have a longer discussion regarding the students’ lack of faith in the administration, especially with the recently announced changes to the Bullet Hole.
Ultimately, the Student Senate decided that there is little they can do this semester because of the limited time left. However, President-Elect Woods promised this would continue to be worked on next academic year.
April 23, 2024
Dining options should be as flexible as possible by allowing meal card swipes and longer hours. Many of these kids are involved in sports and music and leave early, get back late etc. and need to be able to get food on campus.
April 23, 2024
This blows chunks.
April 23, 2024
Dining options should be made more flexible not restrictive. Students involved in sports do not have full control of their schedule and often need to use Bullet Hole with meal card swipes. Servo should expand hours.
April 23, 2024
Dining options should be more flexible. My son is involved in sports and he already had a difficult time with the availability of food. Now it’s getting more restrictive? This decision should be revisited!