Student Council met Tuesday to approve its financial plan for the 2014-15 academic year and hear from student leaders. The $93,024 budget, which was proposed and discussed last week, was approved through voice acclamation at the end of the meeting.
Spacing Concerns
Council addressed the difficulty many students have faced in attempting to reserve rooms in University buildings. Members discussed their frustrations with being bumped out of reserved spaces, being double booked and not being able to reserve space for events and meetings, especially during recruitment season.
Student Council President Jalen Ross, a fourth-year Engineering student, said Council could get more involved with the SOURCE — the website used to reserve academic spaces — to help resolve reservation problems. He suggested Council begin to identify high-priority rooms.
New Safety App
Council representative Rachel Murphy, a third-year College student on the Safety and Wellness Committee, spoke about her efforts to get the University on board with a mobile app called LiveSafe to help students navigate potentially dangerous situations.
“It’s used when you feel uncomfortable but don’t necessarily want to call the police,” she said. “It’s currently being used by Virginia Tech, Longwood and JMU.”
Murphy said the similar app currently being used at the University, TipSubmit, is not very effective.
“LiveSafe allows [students] to be a little more discreet,” she said. “It’s really important that people feel that they can anonymously report [a situation].”
The app features a button which students can tap to contact University Police.
Board of Visitors Preparation
Fourth-year College student Meg Gould, the student member of the Board of Visitors, addressed Council about her relationship with the Board of Visitors, which meets this Wednesday through Friday.
“My goal on this governing body is really to act as the student sounding board for issues that might concern specifically students,” Gould said. “I attend as many meetings as I can.”
Gould said she serves as a resource for student questions and concerns regarding the Board’s policies and hopes to improve dialogue between students and the Board.
“[The Board] really can’t understand the student experience as well as you can,” she said.
Gould said committees will be discussing the definitions of diversity and multiculturalism, the meaning of security and the unevenness of student experience.
Some council members questioned the consistent absence of a graduate student as the student representative to the Board. Gould said this was likely a result of the longer time undergraduates spend at the University.
Honor Presentation
Honor Committee Chair Nicholas Hine, a fourth-year College student, also spoke to Council, addressing the Committee’s current concerns and projects.
He said the Committee is working on internal procedural reforms, including the request of a psychological test as part of an honor defense, continuing outreach to faculty members and commissioning a survey through the Education School to research reporting tendencies.
“The survey will help inform our understanding of disproportionate reporting,” he said.
Student Council meets on Tuesday evenings in the Newcomb South Meeting Room.
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