Tuesday the Senate met informally in its last gathering of the calendar year as it reached the midpoint of its term. On a scale of one to 10 on its effectiveness as a body the Senate rated themseleves a 7.5. Ten of the 24 members of the Senate completed the survey.
The 2001-2002 Senate was marked by an air of anticipation in its earliest days at the end of the Spring 2001 semester. The student body elected a relatively inexperienced Senate body with only five returning senators including Grand Marshall Gil Valadez.
On September 11 the Senate met until nearly midnight in its longest session of the year in what many senators, students, administrators, and staff have called one of “the Institute’s finest moment.”
“Hands down [the greatest accomplishment of the Senate] would be the Senate resolution on September 11,” Class of 2002 Senator Arikpo Onda.
In that session the Senate passed a resolution condemning the terrorist attacks and calling for tolerance among all at RPI and within in the surrounding community.
At the beginning of the Fall Semester Valadez outlined five issues that the Senate would face in the upcoming academic year. Valadez cited prestige pricing—the annual 5.5 percent tuition hike—parking, sexual orientation issues, and increasing student activism. Other issues cited early in semester by Class of 2002 Senator Chris Gill were honor code revisions and judicial reform.
The Senate has taken up these issues within its various committees and has begun the legwork required to bring change in these areas, but has yet to produce concrete results. For example, the Academic Affairs Committee has formed a subcommittee on prestige pricing and has been quite active in meeting with administrators and pressing for answers. As of this time they have not produced a definitive document on prestige pricing at RPI, how this practice impacts students, or actions the Senate can take to combat the issue.
The Student Life Committee has had a much easier time demonstrating the work it has done on behalf of the student body. Chair of the Student Life Committee Arikpo Onda organized the student response to the move of DOSO from the Troy Building to Academy Hall. The result of their actions compelled Dr. Jackson to postpone the move until the end of the Spring semester.
The Judicial Reform Committee’s work is also not readily apparent to the student body, but they have been very busy behind the scenes in organizing and unifying three separate Judicial documents and regularly meeting with Interim Dean of Students Mark Smith.
The Campus Communications Committee has done much of the Senate’s work of improving its communications to student body. Particularly of note was the creation of a new Senate website. Vice Chair of the Senate Chris Mather said, “We’re continually trying to improve the methods [used to communicate with the campus].” Although the Senate launched a 20 days and 20 nights of student feedback initiative last month, the GM criticized senators for not being active enough in soliciting student feedback in the Senate’s last formal meeting .
According to senators who responded to the survey, one of the main areas the Senate can improve is bringing to light their current behind-the-scenes work. “The Senate needs to reach out to the student body for more feedback and more effectively communicate Senate on-goings and accomplishments,” said Class of 2002 Senator Liz Cotesworth.
The Senate has avoided many of the pitfalls of their predecessors. They approved the E-Board early in the semester without much controversy. They have also avoided the infighting and unguided circular debates that were also problematic in previous Senates.
At the opening of the session Valadez said, “Success will be gauged by the feeling on campus. I can’t predict what will happen. The challenge will be in knowing our purpose and not losing touch with students.”
