The University has begun a search for a part time Sustainability Coordinator for a trial 6 month position.

A hiring committee composed of the student Co-Chair of the Sustainability Council, Zoé VanGelder, and Administrators from the Provost’s Office, Facilities Services, and the Office of the Vice President and Dean of Students, hopes to hire someone for the position by the end of the month.

This is a huge step by the university in making this campus a more sustainable enterprise. It would not have been possible without the continued efforts of the University’s Sustainability Council , a body made up of students, faculty, and staff.

Student support and interest, in the form of RSOs like the Green Campus Initiative and events like the Battle of the Bulbs, helped make this possible.

But this is only a first step, the University needs to continue to work hard to make this a greener campus. They could do more by publicly committing, from President Zimmer on down, to sustainability and sustainable practices. SG is going to be working hard with the Sustainability Council and GCI to push the University to make their commitment official.

Something kinda cool.  I know we all got an email about this but just in case you’re now browsing and bored:

http://lens.lib.uchicago.edu/

On that same note, and with much warning that this is a beta page which is meant to be viewed from firefox and not Internet Explorer, checkout the University’s Beta Homepage Redesign:

http://beta.uchicago.edu/

You can submit feedback here.

The Executive Slate will be proposing the following changes as part of its effort to revamp the Annual Allocations process.  See this post for more information.

Amend Section 2

2) The Annual Allocations Committee shall be comprised by the incumbent Chair of SGFC and eight members of the Student Association chosen by the Assembly.  Of the eight members chosen by the Assembly there must be four Voting Assembly Members and four non-Assembly members,with a minimum of two graduate and two undergraduate students.  Should a vacancy occur among the members the Annual Allocations Committee after the committee has been elected by the Assembly, the Student Government President, with the consent of the Annual Allocations Committee Chair, shall appoint a new student to fill this vacant seat on the committee.

Remove Section 7 and Add This Section as a new Section 5 (Bump everything else down)

5) The date(s) and time(s) of the Annual Allocations Committee informational session(s), hearing(s), and meeting(s) shall be announced in the campus media at least three weeks before the hearings are to take place.
a. Informational sessions shall be given by the Annual Allocations Committee Chair no later than two weeks before the hearings in order to acquaint RSOs with the process.
b.  Hearings shall be held prior to the Annual Allocations Meetings as an opportunity for RSOs to explain to the members of the Annual Allocations committee the reasoning behind their budgets and answer any questions the Committee may have.
c. Meetings will be held no later then eighth week of Spring Quarter and the committee will submit its proposed budget to the Assembly for approval.

Old Article

Article VIII: STUDENT ACTIVITIES FEE DISTRIBUTION –

ANNUAL ALLOCATIONS COMMITTEE

1. The Annual Allocations Committee shall allocate funds to Recognized Student Organizations (RSOs) on an annual basis.  The Finance Committee (SGFC) shall allocate funds amending the annual allocations as well as to new RSOs throughout the year.
2. The Annual Allocations Committee shall be comprised by the incumbent Chair of SGFC and eight members of the Student Association chosen by the Assembly.  Of the nine voting members, there must be a minimum of two graduate and two undergraduate students.  Should a vacancy occur among the members the Annual Allocations Committee after the committee has been elected by the Assembly, the Student Government President, with the consent of the Annual Allocations Committee Chair, shall appoint a new student to fill this vacant seat on the committee.
3. The incumbent Chair of SGFC shall chair the Annual Allocations Committee.
4. The Annual Allocations Committee shall have the power to allocate up to 60% of the amount estimated to be available for distribution from Student Activity Fee Funds.  The Summer Finance Committee shall have the power to allocate 3% of the same amount.  Any remaining funds may not be allocated until the Assembly is seated in the Autumn Quarter.
5. The proposed budget submitted by the Annual Allocations Committee shall be submitted to the sitting Assembly and shall be final unless amended by a majority vote.
6. Appeals procedure:
   1. Each appealing organization shall have two minutes to state their case, plus time for questions from the Assembly.  If the organization does not receive a majority of the vote, the appeal is terminated.  If the organization receives a majority of the vote, the Annual Allocations Committee Chair shall have two minutes to state the case of the committee plus time for necessary questions from the Assembly.
   2. After such time an immediate vote on the appeal shall be taken.  Should the appeal fail, the next course of action is to appear before SGFC in the Autumn Quarter.
7. The date(s) and time(s) of the Annual Allocations Committee hearing(s) shall be announced in the campus media at least three weeks before the hearings are to take place.  An informational session shall be given by the Annual Allocations Committee Chair no later than two weeks before the hearings in order to acquaint RSOs with the process.  Hearings shall take place no later than the eighth week of Spring Quarter.
8. RSOs with outstanding loans will not have access to the Annual Allocations process.  The Annual Allocations Committee shall not have the power to forgive such loans.  Should an RSO with an outstanding loan desire to take part in the Annual Allocations process, the RSO may petition for permission to participate, and such petition must be approved by a 2/3 vote of both SGFC and the Annual Allocations Committee.
9. The Annual Allocations Committee shall allocate funds in accordance with all SGFC Guidelines.
10. Before Annual Allocations funds are transferred to RSO accounts on or after June 30, ORCSA shall supply Student Government with a record of all RSO balances, positive and negative, that exist as of June 30 before the application of Annual Allocations funds.
11. Organizations with negative account balances as of the date that Annual Allocations Budgets are due to be submitted shall be required to submit, along with their budget, a statement explaining their negative account balance and the organization’s plans for raising funds sufficient to erase such deficit.

The Executive Slate would like to announce that it will not be forming an Ad-Hoc Committee on Funding, as had originally been planned in the fall.

After holding several publicized RSO forums (see past post), the Slate and ORCSA experienced lackluster attendance and input. Without the support and input from RSOs, the proposed reevaluation of the current funding model could not proceed as planned.

Instead, the Executive Slate will be amending the SG By-Laws to make Annual Allocations a better process. The first by-law change will mandate that of the eight elected students for the committee, four must be Voting Members of the Assembly and four must NOT be Voting Members of the Assembly. This change will put more Non-SG members on the committee and thus increase student input into the process.

The second By-Law change would create a third type of Annual Allocation meeting, called a hearing. Hearings, which would happen after the normal, mandatory Information Sessions but before the actual Committee Meetings, would be an opportunity for RSOs to sign up and advocate for their budgets in front of members of the Annual Allocations Committee. These will not be mandatory but will give groups a chance to speak about their budgets to the committee if desired. These will take place before the submission deadline, thus allowing RSOs a chance to modify their budgets at the Annual Allocations suggestion.  Read the by-law changes here.

We are also commissioning Eckhert Consulting to evaluate the past three to five years of student activities data to see if we can spot an emerging trend which would help us better advocate for changes in the funding model or the Student Activities Fee (Currently: $65/quarter for Undergrads and $45/quarter for Grads).

Finally I’d like to point out that just because the Executive Slate failed to build support and interest for this project does not mean any Assembly Member or Student couldn’t put together a proposal for a test project which would create a new, separate funding body. This project would have to be rigorously examined by the Slate, ORCSA, and the Assembly. Given the SG/ORCSA interest in Ad Hoc, I’m sure these organizations would be very willing to work with the interested parties to make something work.

The first step would be to talk to many of a certain category or type of RSO about what this body would look like, how it would allocate funding, its relationship to the central SGFC/AnnAl fund, and what restrictions it would place on groups which apply.

Another avenue would be for the group to instead write a proposal for the Uncommon Fund and ask the committee give funds so it can allocate funds in a new and creative way.

Comment here or send an email to me if you’re interested in either of these options (or on being on Annual Allocations). The Executive Slate wants to see change that makes life easier and better for RSOs but, unfortunately, we just can’t be the ones driving that change this time around given what happened in the fall.

-Scott

Tonight I met with the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMSA) Student Advisory Board as the SG liaison to that group. We talked about the possibility of a new funding body for cultural groups that would be an analog of the Community Service Fund for Community Service Groups (CSRSOs). While SG will not be driving this initiative forward, we want to make it known to all groups that they can think outside the box and envision new possibilities of funding paradigms and SG will be happy to work towards such organic, RSO driven projects and see that they are executed. IT’S YOUR MONEY!!!!

We also talked about ways that Student Government can advocate for issues with the administration and brought up some issues that were of concern to students on the Advisory Board, specifically the issue of hiring faculty of color. While the administration has recognized the problem that is exhibited by a homogeneous faculty and taken action by appointing Kenneth Warren as Deputy Provost for Research and Minority Issues, they have yet to make this a strong institutional priority. I recognize that this is an important issue and hope to bring it up in future Cabinet meetings this quarter.

Finally I spoke about the UnCommon Fund and the opportunities that this pot of money represents to students for any and all kinds of projects that impact student life. The possibilities are endless!!!!!!

-Matt

The University just announced that Treasure Island has just signed the lease confirming it will replace the Co-Op when it closes around January 20th, with a goal of opening the store by the end of Febuary.

Treasure Island, a locally owned grocer, plans to make major renovations to the store, while maintaining operations throughout the remodeling.

All current interested Co-Op employees will be interviewed this week for a position at the new store.

To read the University’s full statement, click here.

And just to remind you, there are other shopping opportunities in Hyde Park while we transition, most importantly the new Hyde Park Produce, which will be opening its doors at its new at 1312 E. 53rd Street location.

• Harper Foods, 1455 E. 57th Street, 773-363-6251
• University Market, 1323 E. 57th Street, 773-363-0070
• Village Foods, 1521 E. Hyde Park Blvd. (Village Center), 773-288-8180
• Market in the Park (Regents Park), 5050 S. Lake Shore Drive, 773-734-3687

Grocery delivery services include:

• Irv & Shelly Fresh Picks (organic and local produce delivered weekly to your door), www.freshpicks.com, 847-410-0595
• Peapod (online grocery shopping and delivery), www.peapod.com, 800-573-2763

A detailed map with shopping alternatives can be found on the web at oca.uchicago.edu.

We had an incredibly successful run of the Airport Shuttle this Fall Quarter with nearly 670 people signing up.  SG was forced to upgrade to larger shuttles which could handle up to 50 people per trip.  Even with this change, there still were some students on the waiting list which will lead us to next quarter running more shuttles.  

The shuttles costs $2,880.00 of Student Activities Money, which comes out to about $4.30 per rider, a number which is similar to the rate at which most events on campus are funded at.

Thank you for all volunteers who helped out and rode the shuttle.  We will be announcing the two winners of the Free American Airlines Tickets shortly.

A survey will be conducted to see if there are any changes which need to be made to this service for the end of Winter Quarter, the results will be posted here.

-Scott

The University will be hosting some consultants it is hiring to work on Security on Campus. They will be meeting with students from 12-1:30 on Thursday. Students interested should e-mail Meghan Hammond.

The A-Level Return Study Break was a huge success!

300 Mini Burritos and 300 Energy Drinks were distributed in about 30 minutes, that’s a burrito every 6 seconds. Impressive stuff. If you are still craving, there will be ANOTHER Chipotle give away on Wednesday as part of COUP’s Winter Fesitival: Kuvia/Kangeiko. It will take place at Noon in Hutch.

We have the signatures showing support for the A-Level and a video documenting the occasion (which will be posted soon). Thank you for everyone who turned out and for all the people who volunteered to help mark the return of this beloved tradition.

-Scott

PS - Read Maroon Coverage here.

We have ordered:

300 Burrito Halves (Chicken, Steak, and Vegetarian with some Vegan [or without cheese])
300 Assorted Drinks (Red Bull, Rockstar, Arizona Iced Teas, and others)

Want to guarantee you have  something to eat?  Volunteer to help out (just comment on this post).

-Scott