The second SGA meeting of the academic year took place on Wednesday, September 11th at 8:00pm in the Moore Community Room (ASAC 100). This meeting was the first to be led by the SGA’s new Executive Board, President Kate Henriques, Executive Vice President Ben Mitchell (who was voted into the board during this meeting), and Financial Controller Patrick Wickstrom.
During the student body comments section of the meeting, some complaints were brought up about recent events. One such complaint was about a keying issue taking place in the Wheelock and Rita Bole parking lots, more so the former. Veteran’s Club representative Kyla Smith sparked the conversation, speaking as a victim of the keying. She said she had spoken with Public Safety for an hour about ways to solve the problem and catch whoever is responsible, with her best idea being to invest in a security camera for the Wheelock lot, not unlike the one installed by Whitelaw/Crevecoeur overlooking the Stonehenge parking lot. Other students commented about the new laundry system installed in the residence halls, showing confusion over the price change and how the system works. Erin Rossetti cleared the air for these concerns, specifying that the price for each machine has increased from $1.25 to $1.50, which is still cheap compared to the laundromats in town and at other colleges. The new system works via Bluetooth, and as Rossetti specified in a recent email to the student body, it comes with $5.00 of credit toward the machines if you register. Contact her at erin.rossetti@northernvermont.edu if you have more questions.
The reports and presentations segment brought in a variety of people to discuss concerns around campus that were brought up in the previous meeting. The first presentation was by Jonathan Hutchinson and the Climate Consensus to talk about the Climate Strike taking place on Friday, September 20th. This will coincide with the Global Climate Strike and is being held to raise awareness of climate change and demand the government to act against it. The strike will begin at 11:30am, and any classes taking place during the strike will try to work things out so students can attend. The march will begin on campus and make its way through town. The police will be in attendance, too, so the event remains safe and family-friendly.
The second presentation was given by Mike Stevens, the Director of Facilities at the Physical Plant. He answered questions about the notorious soap dispensers and plowing troubles that may be caused by the new brick path in the Veteran’s Park. Beginning with the soap, Stevens clarified that the university didn’t spend any money on the dispensers; they were provided free of charge. The only money the school is spending on the dispensers is to replace the soap. These dispensers are much more than just an aesthetic departure from the old ones, they solve a leakage problem the old ones had and use soap that’s cheaper to purchase. In short, the dispensers were an economically-sound investment, not the senseless waste of student money that it was rumored to be. Moving on to plowing, students were concerned that the new brick paths would be more difficult to plow and that ice buildup would make travel around campus more difficult, especially for those with mobility issues or disabilities. Stevens explained that the brick paths were designed to hold less runoff, thanks to the nubs between the bricks allowing more drainage space. These paths will also be plowed as normal, and this year there are 7 new recruits on the maintenance team who are trained to perform snow and ice removal more quickly and efficiently.
Finally, Mike Dente, the Chief Technology Officer, did a presentation. He was here to discuss the disappearance of the 24-hour lab, as well as other technological changes on campus. He started by going over what the OIT department changed over the summer, and what they plan to accomplish during the academic year. Some highlights from the summer include the switch to Canvas from Moodle, upgrading all the computers in the MBI lab, and upgrading the wireless access points in Rita Bole for quicker Internet. IT plans to upgrade the wireless coverage outdoors and make general upgrades to the infrastructure around campus this school year.
Afterward, Dente brought up the 24-hour lab and cited several reasons behind its downsizing and relocation. The big points were regarding budget cuts and return on investment, as the labs are financially difficult to maintain. He made a point that the grand majority of computers in the labs on campus sit idle for most of their lives, and that there are simply too many computers that aren’t being used. Dente cited studies performed with Labstats software, which is capable of showing how many computers are used at one time in a lab and when they are in use, to make his claims. By studying the 24-hour lab during the Spring semester of last year, he concluded that, at most, six computers were in use. Dente said that there were never more than three of them being used at once past the midnight hour. With that evidence, it was easy to conclude that the lab didn’t need to be 24-hours or have as many computers. Dente decided to reduce the number of workstations to eight, which could all be held on one table. The lab room is quite big, so only having one table of computers in there would be a waste of space, which is why the lab is being moved to the Peer Resource room in the theatre lobby by the Standard Gym. This means the lab will no longer be open 24 hours.
Dente is also currently working on modifying an app from Labstats called Labfind, which, as the title implies, will help you see when computer labs are open and what computers are available for use. He’d also like for it to show when classes are being held in the labs, and where certain equipment like color printers and scanners are located. Finally, he plans to talk with Public Safety about allowing the labs to stay open until 11pm for the convenience of the students since that is also how late they stay open on the Johnson campus.
Moving forward, the general budget is estimated to be $32,000, which is now at $29,000 since $3,000 of that total was later allocated to the Adventure Program. This already excluded the $10,000 set aside for the program. The 10% Committee is taking suggestions for things to allocate their budget for this year. Some of the requests included building a structure on campus for all of the Pokémon Go players among the student body, as well as Kyla’s earlier request for a security camera in Wheelock’s parking lot. If you have a request for the committee, email Jonathan Davis at jonathan.davis@northernvermont.edu.
In the discussion and action items section of the meeting, the Intervarsity Club was disbanded due to a lack of presence on campus. Another election was held for the SGA Executive Board, which was for Executive Vice President. Ben Mitchell was the sole candidate for the position, and so he won with a majority vote. The Adventure Program made a funding request to cover the academic year. The SGA suggested $13,000, which would fund Zip Lining, White Water Rafting, Ski/Ride in New England, Rock Climbing, Backpacking, and Facility Improvements (focusing on the Gravity Well and trail maintenance), as well as $100 extra dollars for any additional fees. This includes the $10,000 allocated to the program from the previous year.
\As for other business, a couple of important dates are coming up that students should be aware of. The Meeting with the Presidents, a mandatory date for club presidents, will be held on Tuesday, September 24th at 11:30am in T202. The Meeting with the Treasurers will be on Tuesday, October 1st at the same time and location of the president’s meeting. The next Lyndon Open House will be on Friday, September 20th. Finally, a Q&A with the Executive Team of Lyndon will take place on Thursday, September 26th at 11:30am in the Burke Mountain Room.
Finally, we have club and committee updates to share. The RAs have a few events coming up soon. Lauren’s Declassified School Survival Guide will be on Monday, September 23rd in the Whitelaw/Crevecoeur lounge, and Cooking Safety & Sushi Making will be on Thursday, September 26th in the Rita Bole lounge. CAB has all sorts of fun things coming up, as well as an open spot on their Executive Board if you are interested. They will be hosting Nickelodeon Jeopardy in The Hive on Thursday, September 19th, and Bingo on Saturday, September 21st in ASAC 100. Keep an eye out for more events, which will show up in your NVU email and on postings all over campus. The Twilight Players are looking for people to play zombies in their upcoming “Night of the Living Dead” show, so contact Gianna Fregosi at gianna.fregosi@northernvermont.edu if you’re interested.
The meeting concluded at 10:43pm. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 25th, at 8:00pm in ASAC 100. We hope to see you there!