Hi all—
A few updates regarding winning Ideafest projects and next steps for the ad hoc committees that CG will be forming to see proposals through.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to read through the CG Senate minutes from this past week, I encourage you to do so. In the campus-wide e-mail, you’ll find a PDF that contains all eight of the winning Ideafest proposals, their estimated budget, as well as what each team hopes their solution can offer for improving the campus life of Wellesley students.
As a quick refresher, here’s a list of all winning proposals and a few lines explaining what groups hope to accomplish by the end of spring semester:
Breathing Space- better utilization of central outdoor space; proposal writers recommended setting up a seating area in the Academic Quad as well as providing a map of outdoor spaces particularly conducive to relaxation and interpersonal interaction.
Charge it Up- charging stations in the Leaky Beaker in addition to portable computer chargers that will be made available in various libraries around campus.
Give a Token, Take a Token- a token sharing system in which individuals will be able to fill and take from jars of bus tokens located in residential halls around campus.
Putting the STUDENT back into the STUDENT Center- an idea that involves creating more accessible and student-centered spaces in the student center; the proposal suggests setting aside charging stations and creating a student lounge, complete with items such as a chalkboard paint wall, a hammock, and a microwave.
Science Center Sanctuary- a “happier, brighter, and more relaxing Science Center”, by strategically placing items such as bean bags, pillows, keurigs, yoga mats, screen dividers, and more light sources for students.
Tap That!- a technology initiative to look into an online bus token payment system as well as an app to deliver better estimates of bus capacity and location.
Textbook Lending Library- a system for reusing and checking out expensive textbooks and course material.
Turn Up for the Tassel- a cap and gown loaning program for graduating seniors to make graduation regalia more accessible and inclusive.
And now that we have these ideas, CG is looking for individuals to serve both Chairs as well as ad hoc committee members-at-large. For those of you wondering “what are ad hoc committees?”, here’s what you need to know. Ad hoc committees exist solely for the purpose of tackling matters of interest to CG and the student body that don’t fall directly within the purview of our already permanent, preexisting CG Committees. Senate as a body is able to constitute as many ad hoc committees as it sees fit to address the various needs it has identified. Through Ideafest, the entire campus body was able to generate eight phenomenal solutions—ideas that require not only continued work and follow-through but also an official reporting structure that will allow both Senate and campus to monitor them. I believe that ad hocs are a perfect system for CG to be working efficiently on a host of projects at a time while also maintaining the necessary transparency and communication to keep all of campus involved and informed.
Ad hoc committees can be as large or as small as necessary (though, for something like this, we’d likely be shooting for 5-6 individuals each committee). These temporary project-based groups must also be composed of both seasoned members of CG as well as students-at-large with a passion for seeing the charge of the committee through. My CG team and I will be making sure that each Ideafest ad hoc committee, over the course of this semester, is connected to a host of resources (both institutional and informational) to help them get their project off the ground.
If any of these Ideafest proposals are particularly appealing or exciting to you, please don’t hesitate to shoot me an e-mail. We’d love to have you. I’ll also be hosting three Ideafest “Where Do We Go from Here?” info meetings this week to touch base with ad hoc committee members, so we can begin identifying some necessary next steps and goals for making these solutions a reality. I look forward to seeing any one of these days:
(1) Thursday, Feb 4, 5pm @ Lulu Wang resource room (located outside the CG/Bursar’s Office)
(2) Friday, Feb 5, 12:30pm @ Lulu Wang resource room
(3) Sunday, Feb 7, 7pm @ CG/Bursar’s Office
Until next time,
Adeline
