SOFC Presentation
Student Bursar Natalie Jin ’18 presented spring updates for SOFC. Following the vote that took place at the end of the fall 2017 semester, the e-board retreat policy, as well as the numbers justification policy, will be fully effective in the spring 2018 semester. New initiatives for this semester were announced as well. First of all, SOFC will no longer be referred to as “SOFC” but rather as the CG Treasury as part of an initiative to rebrand the organization. This rebranding includes the creation of a new website to provide information in a more streamlined and presentable format. Jin also announced that the Treasury will be undertaking efforts to change the GP review process, particularly in regards to the allocation of funds for House Councils. Jin and the Treasury will move to an “amount per resident” policy to “ensure equity across all campus dorm life.” The current application, which must be completed every two years, does not account for turnover and is fiscally inefficient. With a total of $275,000 to allocate and approximately $320,000 applied for, the Treasury cut GP Organizations for the 2017-2018 school year on average 14 percent. College Government organizations, such as the Bursar’s Office, SBOG and SOAC account for the majority of the applied funding breakdown (59.1 percent). Non-CG GP organizations, such as the SHEs, Upstage and The Wellesley News, received 30.6 percent of funding. House Councils received 6.8 percent of funding and Class Councils get 3.5 percent. With a record number of applications for Spring Budgeting Applications and Requests, the Treasury is working to solve the logistical and financial issues that involve both GP and non-GP organizations.
Elections Committee vote
Two senators, Sarah Sansón Hernández ’21 and Faiza Aslam ’19 were elected to serve on the Elections Committee for the upcoming College Government elections. The elections, which will occur in the week before spring break, adhere to a new schedule that was approved by Senate last week and is reflected in the CG Constitution. CG hopes to provide ample time for incoming cabinet members to be trained by their predecessors to ensure a smooth transition. Hernández and Aslam will be responsible for running a “seamless and smooth election season,” according to an email from CG Vice President Karen Su ’19.
Discussion of stress culture leads to talk about grade deflation at Wellesley
In the coming weeks, Senate hopes to discuss the issue of stress culture and student life at Wellesley. The opening discussion concerned grade deflation, in which which Dean of Students Sheilah Horton said that there is no Wellesley ‘grade deflation policy,’ and that the policy in place is supposedly meant to ensure the fairness of grades in class and keep faculty accountable for grading students fairly. However, students expounded that since the policy was established in 2003, it has become a source of competition and stress because students come to see themselves as immediately disadvantaged in small classrooms. Students also mentioned that they feel compelled to take classes off campus at institutions such as MIT to achieve grades that they otherwise would not be able to earn at Wellesley due to this policy.
