Student Town Hall Tatianna Ivy Moise ’21 announced the formation of a student coalition to promote the discussion of ten campus-wide issues including student housing and maintenance, academic support, dining services and staff, physical, mental, and emotional health services, accessibility and disability services, student leadership and student financial services. According to Moise, who presented with Catrina Chen’21 and Tyler Vargas ’21, the coalition is slated to host a town hall Wednesday, September 23, in the Academic Council Room in Green Hall. The presenters said that the town hall is a space for all Wellesley College students to voice their concerns directly to the senior leadership of Wellesley College, and that they are scheduled to present a list of solutions to the issues they see on campus. While the students emphasized that the recent issues with student housing was not the main focus of the event, Vargas mentioned that the housing situation mobilized the students the most.
Housing Discussion Helen Wang, director of residential life, spoke on the current housing situation that impacted about 20 students at the start of the fall semester. Wang described the incident as a “confluence of many small factors” that occurred due to a manual uploading error during the switch from Banner to Workday and water damage in Munger from a rain storm that happened right before the start of the semester. Additionally, Wang said that the issue was as a result of the school not being able to provide enough singles to students, rather than a lack of housing. Wang also stated her desire to form a student advisory board to advise on issues regarding housing at Wellesley in the future.
New Organization Management Software Presenting on behalf of Dean Horton, Dean Bate announced that a new software, WeEngage, would be used for campus organization management. The platform centralizes information regarding general organization information, upcoming events, and contact information, while also providing organizations a way to inform students about themselves. Students can access the website through wellesley.presence.io, and administration is currently working on creating an app.
Active Construction Dean Bate also reported ongoing construction in Billings Hall and the Stone Center as part of the administration’s accessibility plans. The construction in Billings Hall to build an elevator that reaches all four floors is scheduled to continue through fall semester and winter break. Additionally, the school is spending the next four weeks adding an accessibility ramp to the front of the Stone Center. Traffic will be diverted to the side entrance.
