At Student Council’s Tuesday meeting, University President Teresa Sullivan spoke to members regarding plans for the University’s bicentennial celebration and explained the Strategic Investment Fund in more detail.
Sullivan first spoke to Student Council about plans for the bicentennial celebration. A commission to plan the bicentennial events will be announced on Oct. 6 of this year, and will deal with three main areas of responsibility, Sullivan said.
“They’re going to seek to engage all our constituencies, to find appropriate ways for us to commemorate the bicentennial event and to help us envision the next two hundred years of the University,” Sullivan said of the commission.
Sullivan said the University will be looking for students who are interested in those areas of focus. Students can nominate others or themselves for the commission online.
The rehabilitation of the Rotunda — a $56 million project — has also been part of the preparation for the bicentennial, Sullivan said.
“The restoration has been really spectacular,” Sullivan said.
After discussion of the bicentennial, Student Council continued to discuss the Strategic Investment Fund, focusing on opportunities for student involvement and the issue of educating the student body on what the fund really is.
Student Council President Emily Lodge, a fourth-year Batten student, said she is worried many students are still uninformed on the fund and its functions.
“Student Council, hopefully within the next week or so, can do a lot of education as to what exactly the fund is,” Lodge said.
Lodge gave a brief presentation to the members giving more information on the fund itself, as well as Student Council’s proposed plan for student input. Sullivan also helped to clarify some details during the presentation.
Lodge explained that although the fund contains $2.3 billion, the University will only be able to invest money earned on interest each year, which will amount to about $90-100 million.
Sullivan gave some clarification as to the nature of the projects in which the University intends to invest that money.
“‘Strategic Investment’ suggests that this is not something we do on an everyday basis that we’re just looking to do better, but really something that is transformative,” Sullivan said.
Investment proposals for the fund will go through stages of review, evaluation and assessment before being put into action. The final step before a proposal receives funding is an assessment by an advisory committee.
Lodge said Student Council’s plan for student involvement in the process, pending BOV approval, is to add a student advisory committee to give feedback and recommendations to the advisory committee.
“As far as the student experience, which we are all living right now, I think we could provide a lot of recommendations as to what we think is right,” Lodge said.
Sullivan acknowledged the desire for students to play a role.
“I think the board members understand that students would like to be actively involved in this process,” she said.
After Sullivan’s remarks, Student Council continued to discuss plans for student involvement in the fund. One member expressed concern as to whether a Student Advisory Committee was the best method of collaboration.
Brett Curtis, third-year Curry student and representative body chair, said although the student advisory committee may not be a perfect system, it would still allow for some student input, which was left out entirely from the original SIF structure.
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