GA Minutes 29 May 07

Statement of Support for Current Initiatives by the Inter-Fraternity Council and Mentors Against Violence
Sponsored by Lena Martinez-Watts ’08 and the Diversity and Community Committee

WHEREAS sexual assault is an equally shared concern of the Inter-fraternity Council, Student Assembly, the Mentors Against Violence program and the student body at large,

WHEREAS similar initiatives were independently conceptualized by both the inter-fraternity council and the student assembly leadership regarding effective means of addressing issues of sexual assault,

WHEREAS an educational program has been designed that seeks to utilize a peer-to-peer system of education regarding effective methods of sexual assault prevention,

WHEREAS the program has been designed jointly by members of the inter-fraternity council and mentors against violence with student assembly acting as a facilitator for the two organizations,

WHEREAS the inter-fraternity council has unanimously voted in support of the program,

WHEREAS the inter-fraternity council has unanimously voted in favor of implementing the forementioned programming into the pledge process of all incoming pledges,

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly supports and acknowledges the proactive steps that the inter-fraternity council and Mentors Against Violence are taking in order to improve and ensure a healthy campus climate.

GA Minutes 22 May 07

Resolution to Fund and Support the Expansion of Da$h to further Vending Machines
Sponsored by: Neil Kandler ’09, Mike Coburn ’10 and the Student Organizations Committee

WHEREAS the expansion of Da$h to additional vending machines has consistently been one of Student Assembly’s goals for the past few years;

WHEREAS many dorms and building without Da$h have already been wired correctly;

WHEREAS the expansion of Da$h has been in high demand with students;

WHEREAS Student Assembly has been in contact with the procurement office about expanding the Da$h program to further vending machines;

LET IT BE RESOLVED that Student Assembly allocate a minimum of $5000 and any additional funds remaining at the end of the year for the expansion of Da$h to additional vending machines;

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED that Student Assembly work with the procurement office and other interested parties to implement the expansion of Da$h in the most efficient and cost effective means possible;

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that Student Assembly seek additional sources of funding for the project;

LET IT BE FINALLY RESOLVED that Student Assembly seek to complete the project over the summer term.


Proposal to Renew Funding for the Course Guide Incentive Program
Sponsored by Corey Chu ’08 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 in the Fall 2007 term, the number of reviews submitted had recently declined;

WHEREAS the Course Guide contributions rely on students providing input for courses they’ll never take again while also competing with a faculty-administered course evaluation whose results are inaccessible to students;

WHEREAS in the first week of January 2007, over 2,000 students viewed the Course Guide, with an average of 40 courses viewed per user;

WHEREAS last term, the Academic Affairs Committee instituted an incentive program to raffle off a large quantity of small prizes to boost participation rates;

WHEREAS to obtain these incentives, the Academic Affairs Committee has arranged a deal with Everything But Anchovies to purchase 150 $15 gift certificates at a 50% discount;

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 a fifth of the reviews submitted to the Guide were for courses from previous terms;

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 Course Guide incentive program has stopped the recent decline in participation rates, receiving more reviews for Winter 2007 courses than courses for any previous term since Fall 2005;

WHEREAS with the current incentive program in place, those who would choose to contribute to the Guide contributed an average of 15% more reviews;

WHEREAS a quarter of the users who contributed to the Guide last term (a tenth of the reviews) received a gift certificate;

WHEREAS the Academic Affairs Committee can utilize the incentives themselves, as well as the statistics gathered, to promote the incentive program, thus further boosting future Course Guide participation rates;

WHEREAS on average, for a given Winter term, the Guide receives half as many reviews as it did the preceding Fall term;

WHEREAS the Course Guide received over 2.8 times more reviews following the Winter 2007 term than the preceding Fall Term;

WHEREAS continuing the Course Guide incentive program will allow the Assembly to assess the incentives’ potential for positive reinforcement as their novelty diminishes.

LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly allocate $1130.25 for the Course Guide incentive program:
-- $1125 in order to purchase 150 $15 gift certificates, and
-- $5.25 to print out 150 3.5¢ black-and-white thank-you letters to the winners.

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.

GA Minutes 15 May 07

Proposal to Fund the 2007 Student-Faculty Brunch
Sponsored by: Franklin Obi ’09, Ian Rorick ’10, and the Academic Affairs Committee

WHEREAS the Student Assembly feels that it is of the utmost importance to foster good relationships between faculty and students;

WHEREAS good student-faculty relationships enhance learning in the classroom and strengthen the Dartmouth community;

WHEREAS last year the Assembly organized a three-hour Student-Faculty Brunch in which 500 people attended it;

WHEREAS this year’s Brunch will take place on Sunday, May 20th during Green Key Weekend, and is expected to have roughly 450 people attend it;

WHEREAS this year’s Brunch’s total cost will be around $4186.40, costing roughly as much as it did last year;

WHEREAS the budgetary breakdown of the Brunch is the following:

Food--------------------------- $3118.00 ($5.50/person + tax & gratuity)
Location Set-up/Cleanup--- $670.00
Ad in The D------------------ $72.00
Entertainment---------------- $50.00
Invitations-------------------- $276.40
Total Estimated Cost (max)- $4186.40

WHEREAS Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt is in full support of the event and has pledged to allocate a significant amount of funding for its implementation.


LET IT BE RESOLVED that the Student Assembly allocate $750 towards this year’s Student Faculty Brunch. The brunch in its entirety will cost $4186.40.


Statement for Support for Current Initiatives for the Community Action Network
Sponsored by Lena Martinez-Watts ‘08 and the Diversity and Community Committee

WHEREAS student assembly resolved to support the creation of the community action network on (DATE) in response to the numerous acts of discrimination which negatively affected the overall climate of the institution,

WHEREAS Student Assembly further resolved to continue to initiate programs and offer its support to students who have been confronted by acts of intolerance,

WHEREAS the Student Assembly has met with the Campus Climate Committee to discuss proactive steps to achieve such goals,

WHEREAS the Student Assembly supports and acknowledges the proactive steps that the administration is taking in order to improve and ensure a healthy campus climate,

WHEREAS the community action network is a joint initiative requiring both administrative and student body support,

WHEREAS the Dean Sateia provided funding for chap-sticks labeled with appropriate contact information for students who have been affected by a biased incident,

LET IT BE RESOLVED that members of Student Assembly fulfill their portion of this commitment through the allocation of up to $2000 to purchase first aid kits labeled with contact information for the community action network,

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED that the first aid kits be distributed to the incoming class of 2011 during orientation week.


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

WHEREAS sustaining a rich culture of undergraduate teaching is important both to Dartmouth College and to 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 will soon be choosing a professor as this term’s recipient of the award;

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

Resolution to Allocate $3,000 for the Diversity of Thought Picnic
Sponsored by: Lia Cheek ’09, Lena Martinez Watts ’08 and the Diversity and Community Committee

WHEREAS the research done on minority faculty retention suggests that many minority faculty members do not feel as if they are a part of the Dartmouth community,

WHEREAS the inclusion of faculty as part of the larger Dartmouth community is beneficial to both students and faculty,

WHEREAS the recommendations of the Minority Faculty Recruitment and Retention report recommended that outreach from student communities would help to strengthen the Dartmouth community overall through increased minority faculty retention,

WHEREAS intellectualism is a commonality shared by both the minority faculty and the student community,

WHEREAS networking with minority faculty allows minority students to interact with successful individuals with similar background to their own,

WHEREAS research suggests that faculty are largely unaware of events and sentiments on campus which affect their students,

WHEREAS there is currently no forum in which minority faculty members can interact with the student community as individuals outside of their role as faculty,

LET IT BE RESOLVED that Student assembly support the Diversity of Thought picnic, and allocate up to 3,000 dollars to implement this event.


Resolution to Fund the End-of-the-Year Student Assembly Banquet
Sponsored by Raymond Rodriguez ’09 and the Executive Committee

WHEREAS the SA banquet serves to bring together all Student Assembly members and recognize their hard work and achievements throughout the past year

WHEREAS the SA banquet happens every year at the end of the Spring term

WHEREAS this year’s end of the year banquet will happen on Thursday May 24 at 6pm in the McLane-Fahey Common Room

WHEREAS the event will be catered and outstanding members of the Assembly will be recognized

LET IT BE RESOLVED that Student Assembly allocate up to $1500 for the end of the year SA Banquet.