Dean Horton announces update on demonstration policy procedure

“Last semester, Provost Shennan, myself and Carolyn Slaboden met with a group of students that you all had put together and refined the document,” Dean Horton said of the progress on the creation of a protest policy for the college. Last semester, a committee was formed to review the policy, which had been pulled after the initial version received significant backlash from the student body. “We were really ready to put it out there for further feedback,” Horton added, but said that the administration decided to wait for an additional review process by the Task Force on Speech and Inclusion before the document will be put out for final comment within the next month.

Camellia Awards nomination season begins

Horton also announced that the nomination forms for the 2019 Camellia awards have opened. These peer-nominated awards, which are given to students who consistently exhibit leadership qualities, are open to the entire student body. The deadline to submit a nomination is Mar. 18, and the award ceremony will be held on May 3 at 4 p.m. in Alumnae Ballroom. There are ten potential awards, each relating to a specific leadership trait, such as resilience in leadership, creativity, inclusivity and community involvement. Previous winners are not eligible to be nominated again in the same category they have previously won, but are eligible for other categories.

Student Bursar Gina Scorpentini proposes amendments to SOFC functioning

Gina Scorpentini, the student bursar for the 2018-19 academic year, suggested multiple amendments to the functioning of SOFC. Currently the student bursar position turns over between years at the same time that budget reimbursements are due, and the new student bursar is often required to take on a massive task without any preparation. Scorpentini suggested moving the turnover date for the student bursar back two months, which would allow each year’s student bursar what she called a ‘built-in apprenticeship period’ to learn from their predecessor.

In addition, Scorpentini put forth a resolution to continue changing the way that SOFC handles student organization budgets. If this resolution passes, all student organizations will be required to meet with the student bookkeeper before submitting their budgets. Failure to do so will carry a penalty of a 25 percent cut to the organization’s budget. By creating these rules, Scorpentini hopes to cut down on unnecessary budgeting by organizations — last year, $196,000 of allocated student organization budget money was left unspent, she said — and to help allow organizations with less money to get what they need for the events they want.