Tuesday, February 27, 2007

GA Minutes 27 Feb 07

*Passed Legislation*:

Statement in Support of the Recommendations of the Professor Recruitment and Retention Task Force
Sponsored by:, Yuki Kondo-Shah ’07 and the Diversity and Community Committee

WHEREAS In 2003 President James Wright pledged institutional support for increasing the diversity of faculty;

WHEREAS the Student Assembly members believe that a commitment to a diverse faculty is an integral part of College’s mission;

WHEREAS the SA Task Force on Recruitment and Retention supports the ongoing efforts put forth by the College for recruitment and retention of faculty;

WHEREAS the SA Task Force on Recruitment and Retention has found areas in need of improvement;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the members of Student Assembly support the following recommendations:
• Streamlining hiring processes and making them collaborative in nature
• Improving “branding” and advertising strategies
• Re-energize Administrative Commitment
• Continue Housing Policies
• Increase Departmental Diversity
• Design Formal Faculty Mentorship Program for Junior Faculty
• Initiate Campus Dialogue

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED that the Diversity and Community Committee follow through on the recommendations with the administrators and update the General Assembly.


Proposal to Fund Course Guide Incentives Program
Sponsored by Corey Chu ’08, David Nachman ’09, and the Academic Affairs Committee

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee oversees the SA Professor/Course Guide in conjunction with the SA Web Team;

WHEREAS the Course Guide helps students choose courses by providing them with feedback and ratings from previous students;

WHEREAS the efficacy of the Course Guide is contingent on having a large number of reviews, which are submitted by students upon the completion of the term;

WHEREAS the number of reviews submitted has recently declined;

WHEREAS since the Fall 2001 term, the Course Guide would receive on average roughly half the number of reviews every Winter term as compared to the Fall term preceding it;

WHEREAS the Student Assembly has previously given away iPods as an incentive to complete course evaluations;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee believes that giving away a larger quantity of smaller prizes is a better approach for course evaluation incentives;

WHEREAS course evaluation incentives raffled based on the number of reviews submitted would encourage students to fill out evaluations not only from this term, but for previous terms as well, thus improving the Course Guide’s reviews on a whole;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee seeks to purchase 150 $15 gift certificates, valued at $2250, from Hanover restaurants as incentives;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee informed Hanover restaurants of its proposal and asked the restaurants for discounted gift certificate rates;

WHEREAS the owner of Everything but Anchovies offered the Student Assembly a 50% discount, the largest discount offered by any restaurant contacted;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly allocate $1125 in order to purchase 150 $15 gift certificates;

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED that the Academic Affairs Committee coordinate the random and fair distribution of gift certificates to students who complete course evaluations.


*Tabled Legislation*:

Motion to Amend Article III, Section III of the Bylaws of the Constitution of the Student Assembly
Proposed by Jaromy Siporen ’08 and the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee

WHEREAS any amendment to a motion made during debate permanently changes the legislation if accepted by a vote of the Assembly;

WHEREAS Article III, Section III A-D of the Bylaws currently reads:
Section III. Motions Pending
A) After the Chair introduces the motion, the sponsor(s) will make a presentation outlining the motion and discussing the benefits and supporting evidence behind the motion. The Chair shall have the discretion to set a limit on the time of the presentation; however, the time allowed shall not be less than 2 minutes. After the sponsor’s presentation is complete, members will have the opportunity to ask questions about the motion to the sponsor(s);

B) After questions have been answered, any amendments to the motion will be considered. The sponsor of an amendment will speak in favor. Then, one speaker will be allowed to speak in opposition. After the opposing speaker has finished, the amendment will immediately be voted on;

C) After all amendments have been considered, the Assembly will debate the motion. The first speaker shall be a member opposed to the motion. If there is no member willing to speak in opposition to the motion the Assembly shall move immediately to vote on the motion;

D) If, and after a member has spoken in opposition, the President will compile a speaker list of everyone wishing to speak on the motion. No Member may change his or her position on the speakers list;


WHEREAS Article IV, Section II, C of the Constitution reads:

C) No legislation may be brought to the Assembly without prior approval of a Standing Committee;


WHEREAS an amendment to legislation during GA that is not germane could be construed as new legislation and therefore bypasses Article IV, Section II, C of the Constitution.

LET IT BE AMENDED that Article III, Section III of the Bylaws of the Constitution be amended to add the following, directly after clause B:

C) All amendments to legislation shall be germane, being related to the legislation at hand, applicable, and pertinent. If questions arise about whether or not an amendment is germane, the Parliamentarian of the Student Assembly shall make the final judgment.


LET IT FURTHER BE AMENDED that the rest of the clauses in Article III, Section III be re-lettered as needed;

LET IT FINALLY BE AMENDED that upon ratification by majority vote of the Assembly membership, the by-laws shall be updated by the Secretary of the Student Assembly and that this change shall have continuous effect.


Proposal to Fund the Profiles in Excellence Award
Sponsored by David Nachman ’09, Corey Chu’08, and the Academic Affairs Committee

WHEREAS sustaining a rich culture of undergraduate teaching is important to both Dartmouth College and the Student Assembly;

WHEREAS the Profiles in Excellence Award reflects the Student Assembly commitment to developing the relationship between students and faculty, and has been awarded each term since the fall of 2001;

WHEREAS the award recognizes outstanding teaching by professors;

WHEREAS the winner of the award is chosen by the Academic Affairs Committee from student nominations;

WHEREAS the Student Assembly holds award dinners each term for the winner of the Profiles in Excellence Award;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee has chosen Professor Marlene Heck of the History and Art History Departments as this term’s recipient of the award;

LET IT BE PROPOSED that the Student Assembly allocate up to $600 for the Profiles in Excellence Award plaque and dinner.


Resolution in Support of a More Effective Presidency
Sponsored by: Josh Jacobson ‘09 and the Student Organizations Committee

WHEREAS students complain constantly about the effectiveness of the current student government;

WHEREAS there are no specific plans to reorganize Student Assembly and make it more effective;

WHEREAS any reorganization of SA is likely to suffer from the same bureaucratic failures as the current Student Assembly;

WHEREAS the inherent conditions of student government at Dartmouth, such as a constantly changing leadership, taking class during service in Assembly, lack of time, lack of incentive, and lack of public support make it nearly impossible for any Student Assembly to effectively advocate and create change on behalf of the students at Dartmouth;

WHEREAS Student Assembly fails to complete the majority of the projects it begins in any given year;

WHEREAS many of the projects students care most about fail year after year due to the factors named above;

WHEREAS in the last election and throughout this year students have clearly expressed their desire to see drastic change in Student Assembly;

WHEREAS Student Assembly has trouble maintaining itself and suffers from decreasing membership within each year and has a high member turnover each year;

WHEREAS Student Assembly has failed to significantly improve its structure in the past;

WHEREAS if the President of Student Assembly only concentrated on improving Dartmouth many more projects could be completed;

WHEREAS it would add accountability to all of the executive positions which they have severely lacked in the past;

WHEREAS the President could focus on improving the Assembly for the future;

WHEREAS the current President (and current and past executives) has had to relieve himself from some of his duties due to overload;

WHEREAS the President could better communicate with and even travel to other schools to coordinate programs and learn how to improve Student Assembly;

WHEREAS many of the projects that Student Assembly attempts have a large impact on all Dartmouth students;

WHEREAS the completion of these projects would greatly enhance the undergraduate experience at Dartmouth;

WHEREAS many members of the administration are in support of this resolution and have already verbally committed to providing a stipend for the Student Body President and providing housing for the year of service;

WHEREAS many other Student Governments (71 percent) provide stipends for their Student Body President;

WHEREAS there is a precedent for students continuing to pursue their various college activities after finishing classes;

LET IT BE AMENDED that Article XII: General Election, Section VI read:

All undergraduate students of Dartmouth College in the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classes of a given academic year who are in good standing with the college, who plan to be in Hanover or its environs all three terms in the next academic year, that is fall, winter, and spring terms, and who plan to not take classes or hold a full-time job are eligible to bid for the office of President and Vice President in Assembly elections for the following year;

AND WITHOUT CHANGE:

All undergraduate students of Dartmouth College in the Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior classes of a given academic year who are in good standing with the college, who plan to be in Hanover or its environs all three terms in the next academic year, that is fall, winter, and spring terms, are eligible to bid for the office of Vice President in Assembly elections for the following year;


LET IT FURTHER BE AMENDED THAT this is not to take effect until the election for the 2008-2009 academic year or until a reasonable stipend and housing for the President is procured and approved, whichever is later.

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