Last Tuesday at the Student Senate’s meeting, the Senate addressed a multitude of business items. It addressed issues ranging from committee reports to several motions that were passed regarding both an absentee landlord policy, as well as in response to an e-mail sent out last week to the student body from Vice President for Information Services and Technology and Chief Information Officer John Kolb ’79 and Vice President for Student Life Eddie Ade Knowles.
The meeting began with the Finance, Facilities, and Advancement Committee’s report. Senators Dan Horvath ’08 and William Jones ’11 were able to report on an Institute finance meeting, commenting that RPI had a better-than-expected budget, and that the endowment as of September 2007 had been $827 million.
The Committee on Judiciary and Student Rights reported meeting with Paul Meyer in the Dean of Students Office regarding potential revisions in the Student Handbook. Outside of technical grammar, no changes have yet to be proposed and none have been proposed by either Secretary of the Institute and General Counsel Charles Carletta or Knowles.
Winterfest, hosted by the Committee on Student Life, will be held on February 23 from 12 pm to 5 pm outside of Commons. Plans for Winterfest include two ice skating rinks located on Freshman Hill.
The Community Relations Committee reported that the City of Troy is looking to implement absentee landlord legislation similar to that of Schenectady. The motion read, “We, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Student Senate, as agents of change, will identify student concerns, address significant student issues, and work together with the Institute and the surrounding community to enhance the Rensselaer experience of today and tomorrow; Whereas the problem of absentee landlords with off-campus housing is a significant student issue; Whereas we need to work with the surrounding community to enhance the Rensselaer experience of today and tomorrow; Therefore, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute hereby supports the creation of legislation to combat absentee landlords by the City of Troy in an effort to better the lives and environment of not only Rensselaer students, but also to enhance the surrounding community.” This motion was passed in a vote of 14-0-0.
Senator Michael Zwack ’11 said, “This motion is only the beginning of efforts to combat absentee landlordism for RPI students. Very soon, we want to launch a new off-campus housing database, mailings to Troy landlords, as well as many other strategies to help students with housing—a part of student life that shouldn’t be such a hardship.”
The Academic Affairs Committee is in the process of discussing an honor code being implemented at RPI, and reported that Provost Robert E. Palazzo had approved a budget for a forum on academic integrity. The committee is also in the process of discussing mandatory advising meetings, of which it generally disapproves.
Lastly, Senate/Executive Board Liason Amy Moise ’08 reported that the appeals process for the Union budgeting had finished and “gone well,” and that the E-Board was in the process of deciding on an activity for next year.
The last order of business brought forward a motion regarding a response to the e-mail sent out to the student body by Kolb and Knowles. The Student Senate passed a motion reading, “Let it be hereby resolved that the Student Senate supports continued and expanded efforts aimed at informing students of their rights and responsibilities, but asks that a balanced perspective—one which effectively evaluates biases present in communicated materials—be employed in such future communications with the student body. Let it hereby be further resolved that the Institute take steps to facilitate a broader and more sophisticated understanding of the various interests involved in copyright issues by promoting dialogue amongst students faculty, staff, and administrators.” It was passed in a vote of 14-0-0.
