Today I sat in on a Social Justice Coalition meeting with Vice President/Dean of Students Kim Goff-Crews, Vice President of Administration/Chief Financial Office Nim Chinniah, University Secretary David Fithian, and Assistant Vice President Bill Michel.

This was about the latest response from the Administration to the Social Justice Coalition (read here) on last year’s proposals (read here). College Council voted last year to support these proposals, although we haven’t talked to Social Justice since then.

The meeting was relatively productive, I would say. Topics included:

• Sustainability in the University, more specifically the role of the part-time Sustainability Coordinator and the new Assistant VP for Facilities, Steven M. Wiesenthal.
• Diversity, specifically the possibility of hiring a part-time person dedicated to LGBTQ support. We also talked about minority hiring and the work being done by Deputy Provost Ken Warren, with whom the Slate met with last quarter.
• The role of a Socially Responsible Investing group to oversee the University’s investment decisions.
• And Student Representation on the Board of Trustees.

On the first two agenda items there seemed to be a lot of agreement between everyone in the room. We need to do more on both Diversity and Sustainability and the Administrators seem to have plans to make that happen.

On the subject of Socially Responsible Investing there was very little progress. David reported the Board of Trustees felt the University needed to honor its commitment to the Kalven Report (PDF). For change to happen, the Board would need to see the Faculty reexamine Kalven and either reaffirm the 1967 Document or create something new. Until that can occur, it’s unlikely they would be ok with this type of Committee.

The other subject which was touched upon is the student representation to the Board of Trustees. Like we have reported, this is kind of a non starter with the Board given the Faculty, Alumni, or Staff don’t have a vote. But there is hope! The two Liaisons are working to attend other Board committee meetings than just the Student Life committee, something which will hopefully happen at their Spring Meeting.

Another note which the meeting really highlighted, for me, is where SG isn’t following through with its communications efforts. The Social Justice Students didn’t really see us as transparent or open, especially regarding our interactions with the Board. While I’ve been really happy with how far we’ve come, it definitely reminded me how far we need to go, specifically in supporting the Liaisons to make sure our interactions with Trustees are as open as possible.

Interested in Social Justice or Student Government? Utilize le comments.

To members of the University community:

After many hours spent reading, discussing and evaluating, the UnCommon Fund Committee has finished deliberations on the proposals submitted by both undergraduate and graduate students. The UnCommon Fund, in its second year of a two year pilot program, has grown from last year’s New Initiatives Fund into a $60,000 grant making fund, made up from $40,000 of the student activities and $20,000 from ORCSA. Proposals were judged on certain pre-decided conditions including proof of concept, uniqueness and originality, strength of budget presented and affect on students and the community.This year’s UnCommon Fund saw a great number of passionate and interesting proposals. Undergraduate and graduate students alike sketched their ideas for new and diverse improvements to student life at The University of Chicago.The Committee would like to, at this time, announce the recipients of the UnCommon Fund.In no particular order…

Oyá, Obba, Yewá: Death through an Afro-Cuban Lens:

Submitted by graduate students led by Elizabeth Perez, the proposal is for an original theatrical performance by Afro-Cuban singers, dancers, musicians and visual artists. “It aims to address societal fears about dying and present new cultural perspectives on death using the three main Afro-Cuban deities of the cemetery.” It also interweaves testimonials on Hurricane Katrina and inner-city community relations in order to “inspire us to rethink our responses to dying, catastrophe, and violence.”

Vermiculture Workshop:

From the Sustainability Council and Green Campus Initiative, this proposal will host vermiculture compost workshops and provide vermiculture compost kits to 60 participants of the University during Earth Week.

Max Brooks Event:

The Zombie Readiness Task Force’s proposal will bring Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide and son of the acclaimed Mel Brooks, to campus for an uncommon lecture.

Recording Studio:

A joint endeavor of the acapella community on campus, equipment will be purchased for groups to record and mix cds in open environments such as Rockefeller and Bond Chapels.

Cinco de Mayo:

The ladies of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc., will be organizing an event to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a mariachi band, dancers, and awesome food.

SPLASH!:

After an outstanding kick off this past fall quarter, SPLASH! will come back next year with more opportunities for UofC students to teach creative and uncommon classes to Chicago high school students.

Lascivious Ball:

HYPE will bring back this time honored tradition next year on Halloween for not only a huge extravaganza, but also an exploration of sexual awareness.

Winter Arts Festival:

Submitted by Sliced Bread, but supported by many other arts groups on campus, the Winter Arts Festival will be an opportunity for The University of Chicago Community to participate in arts and crafts, exploring their own creativity. There will also be performances and showcases from affiliated groups on campus.

First Responder Equipment:

The University of Chicago First Responder Corps (UCFRC) will be purchasing equipment to start teams of student responders, as well as continue their training sessions.

Lunar New Year:

The Asian Students Union will be putting together a celebration for the Lunar New Year, including decorating the Reynold’s Club, dance and performances, and celebratory food.

Due to the breadth of outstanding proposals submitted, not all were able to be funded. The Committee discovered other opportunities for events and improvements that the Fund itself could not cover. However, that doesn’t mean that these events will not come to life. We would like to extend our congratulations and support to Bobby Zacharias, whose Stone Carving Exhibition will be funded and held by ORCSA. The event will bring a renowned stone carver to the University for a lecture and exhibition on the quads.

The Committee was also presented with an outstanding proposal from students for Renovating the Midway Ice Rink. The proposal outlined the ways in which the Midway Rink could be renovated to meet specifications for ice hockey to be played competitively by undergraduate and graduate students on campus, as well as rejuvenating the rink for all other university and community members. This proposal was extensively discussed and supported by members of the Committee. However, we felt that we did not have enough resources to provide sufficient funding for this capital improvement venture. While we could not support this proposal monetarily, we support their idea and wish them the best of luck in finding avenues for funding.

The UnCommon Fund Committee would again like to extend congratulations to all groups involved in this process. We look forward to seeing these plans in action.

-The UnCommon Fund Committee

Amanda Steele, Chair

Huiying Chan

Scott Duncombe

Ben Field

Sharlene Holly

Ryan Kaminski

Jay Kim

Devika Persaud

Maria Sierra

CORSO Meeting
March 11th, 2008
Minutes

Attending: Adama Wiltshire, Sharlene Holly, Matt Kennedy, Kathryn Benesh, Christian Brockman, Jay Kim, Tal Kopan

I. RC Party Discussion
1. Need to get free stuff to give away - t-shirts, cups, pens, etc
-get it organized & ordered over spring break; forms in to ORCSA next week
-should try to get more useful freebies - bottle-opener keychains?
-need to give out t-shirts beforehand as advertising
2. Emailing RSOs - few responses yet
-list of performers for the event - cultural RSOs, acapella groups, etc
3. Other activities
-caricatures (FOTA?)
4. Other items to address
-list of businesses, organizations willing to fund/work with RSOs
-try for at least 20 names
-Dakota has some information already, needs help organizing
-volunteers to help set up before the event
5. Publicity
-print flyers in Reynolds Club - large, letter-size, quarter-sheets
-table tents, chalking, emails, Facebook ads
6. Budget: $3000
-what name to apply for funding under?
-$1500 on Chipotle
-maybe it would be better to have a variety spread
-would need to advertise clearly the presence of decent food
-sampling from local restaurants, food companies
7. Scheduling / facilities
-could only get Hutch at 8pm, need more time for set-up
-Friday night might be better - or other spaces?
-facilities concerns about root beer kegs

II. Beats and Pieces
1. Purpose is outreach to children on the South Side
-creating a step team, holding steel drum classes
-brings the community together, gives kids something positive to do
2. Focus is on art, but we will be bringing our skills to the community
-short term plan is to get workshops, classes started
3. Questions
-Do you have connections to an outside service organization?
-yes: partnerships with schools, March of the Dimes, others
-Where are you going to have the museum?
-would like to eventually have a dedicated space; for now talking to UCSC about using their facilities
-Where are you thinking of getting funds from?
-grants, Uncommon Fund, donations
-Note: you could talk to FOTA, DuSable, Woodlawn Initiative
4. Discussion
-sounds like a great idea, maybe a little too ambitious/broad in scope?
-we shouldn’t punish them for aiming high, there aren’t any other complaints
5. Motion to approve: (4-0,0) PASSED

While this isn’t headline-worthy, its certainly blog-worthy.

Starting March 24, students enrolled in Ph.D. or J.S.D. programs will no longer be limited to three renewals of their library materials.  When the Library conducted a user survey last spring, we received several comments indicating that our three renewal policy was not serving dissertation writers well.

The issue came before the Library Student Resource Group (http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/about/studadv/) last quarter, and the students on this group endorsed changing the policy for those writing dissertations.  On January 24, the Board of the University Library approved changing our policy to allow unlimited renewals by students in Ph.D. or J.S.D. programs but reaffirmed the three renewal limit for other students.

In other words, this change only affects students with a Registrar registration status of “3″.

So congrats Ph.D. and J.S.D students.  Got a problem with this or incredibly thankful?  Use the comments.

-Scott

Minutes from the March 6th Assembly #6 Meeting are posted here.

Minutes from the March 11th SGFC meeting are posted here.

If you were at GC’s Open Forum with the Provost on Graduate Funding on Monday, you know Provost Rosenbaum mentioned the University’s Annual Report. The latest Annual Report I could find was the 2005-2006 Report. If you scroll down towards the end, you can see the University Balance Sheets (pages 32-52) and other general financial information. I am looking for the 2006-2007 report and will get more information as soon as I get it.

Petitions Are Available NOW!!!!
Petitions are Due: 5:00 PM on 4/7/08 at Sharlene Holly’s Office Reynolds Club 2nd Floor, Room 205
Candidates Meeting: In the evening of 4/8/08
Elections Open:  9:00 AM on 4/22/08- 5:00PM on 4/24/08
Announcement of winners: ~6:00 PM on 4/24/08

To learn more about these positions, see the Constitution and the Overview page.

Executive Slate - A President, Vice President of Administration, and Vice President of Student Affairs run as a three person team. They are the executive branch of Student Government and represent all 15,000 students in the Student Association. To qualify for the ballot, collect 300 signatures of registered students. Download a petition.

Undergraduate and Graduate Liaison to the Board of Trustees - Two students who attend all Board of Trustee meetings at the University. They generally sit in the Student and Campus Life Committee Meeting. They also organize bringing trustees to campus and are a member of the Executive Cabinet. To qualify for the ballot, collect 200 signatures of registered students. Download a petition.

College Council - Four members are elected from each class year in the College. These members represent the College in Student Government’s legislative body, the Student Assembly. College Council members can also be elected by the Assembly to sit on the Student Government Finance Committee (SGFC), the Committee on Recognized Student Organizations (CORSO), and the Program Coordinating Council (PCC). To qualify, collect 30 signatures from students in your year. Download a petition.

All Petitions are due

April 7th at 5 PM

to Sharlene Holly’s Office (Reynols Club 2nd Floor, Room 205)

I was one of a handful of undergraduates who attended Monday’s Open Forum with Provost Rosenbaum.

Overall, I was really disappointed with the way that the provost addressed the numerous questions that he received about graduate student’s position in the budgetary process. He continually referenced the fact that he has to make decisions about university priorities: crumbling buildings, security, three gymnasiums south of the Midway, etc.  However, what I think gets to the core of the issue is that the issues of graduate student funding have an immediate effect on the lives of hundreds of people.  These are students in their mid or late twenties, thirties, and beyond, who have chosen to sacrifice the ability to almost certainly make significantly more money in the private sector for the opportunity to engage fruitfully in the life of the mind.  Shouldn’t this sacrifice and dedication to the intellectual principles of the university warrant more than a hand-wave as a passing gesture?  Don’t current graduate students constitute a meaningful part of the campus environment in which we all engage?

While I applaud the efforts of the administration to speak publicly about these issues, I urge them to consider the transparency of their decision making process, and their faltering rhetoric about institutional priorities.

The Shuttle will run on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of finals week. Registration is now open. The times are:

O’Hare Thursday 9:00 AM
Midway Thursday 9:00 AM

Midway Friday 5:00 AM
O’Hare Friday 6:00 AM
Midway Friday 6:00 AM
O’Hare Friday 8:00 AM
Midway Friday 8:00 AM
O’Hare Friday 10:00 AM
Midway Friday 10:00 AM
Midway Friday 2:00 PM
O’Hare Friday 12:00 PM
Midway Friday 12:00 PM

O’Hare Saturday 6:00 AM
Midway Saturday 6:00 AM
O’Hare Saturday 7:30 AM
Midway Saturday 7:30 AM
O’Hare Saturday 9:00 AM
Midway Saturday 9:00 AM
O’Hare Saturday 10:30 AM
Midway Saturday 10:30 AM
O’Hare Saturday 12:00 PM
Midway Saturday 12:00 PM
O’Hare Saturday 1:30 PM
Midway Saturday 1:30 PM