The Chatham Student Government (CSG) meeting on Thursday, October 30, was fairly narrow in scope, centering for the most part on the topic of the recent Town Hall meeting.
Sarah Jugovic, Executive President, began the discussion by saying, “It was a new structure, but it worked well…[because] of all the leg work we put into it beforehand.”
She then opened the floor for suggestion for future improvement, wherein Chloe Bell, Class of 2016 representative, brought up the idea of having future meetings in a different, more informal setting, like Anderson. “People will be there for dinner anyways,” she said.
On the topic of having the administration there, Alex Waasdorp, Class of 2018 President, felt that it was good because students got to meet the administrators, and the administrators got to hear from the students, “especially with this being such a year of transition.”
Skylar Wilcha, Class of 2015 President, agreed, but felt that they took a bit long answering the questions, which meant that there was not enough time to address all of the questions.
Wilcha also pointed out that, “we need to hold them accountable in some way,” referencing the fact that they have been promising to “look into” many issues for years, but have never actually addressed the issues.
In regards to dispersing the information, one idea that was discussed was sending out a newsletter to the students with a recap of the Town Hall meeting. The newsletter would also address the questions that there was not time for and have messages directly from the administration about what they plan to do about the issues.
There was also discussion about holding a feedback session for the students.
In officer’s reports, Jugovic informed the senate that Zauyah Waite, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, intends to have an all campus update on the status of the coeducational transition.
Additionally, Jugovic said that they are compiling a list of Student Government contacts at institutions similar to Chatham, “specifically women’s colleges that have transitioned to coed,” to help with the process.
Jenny Schollaert, Executive Vice President, reminded the senate that the November Student Organization Forum meeting is an online meeting on November 4. She emphasized the importance of every organization contributing to every meeting, pointing out that failure to miss a meeting results in that organization losing the ability to receive Undergraduate Budget Committee (UBC) funding for the rest of the semester.
The Vice-President of Finance, Sam Elbaz, then gave a recap of the last UBC meeting saying that two organizations requested funds, but only one came to the meeting and was granted $1,500. This leaves $3,194 in the budget for the rest of the semester.
Another item of note was Wilcha’s update on the senior gift fundraising efforts, in which she informed the senate that there will be a 50/50 raffle at Chatham’s Thanksgiving Dinner.
There was also a brief discussion of the CSG’s awkward family photo booth at Chatham’s Eggnog, which will have a “rustic winter ski-lodge” theme.
The CSG meets every Thursday in the PCW room, and all meetings are open to the student body. Check MyChatham for times and any further information regarding these meetings.