Everybody’s rockin’ the vote
One of the best things about this great institution is that itempowers us, the students of SMU, to make a positive impact on theuniversity culture, environment and community as a whole. Alongwith my fellow members of the 91st Student Senate, I encourage eachof you to step up to the challenge of making a difference here onthe Hilltop. Of course, there are many ways to do this, andI’d like to take a moment to share some of those withyou.
The Annual Revision Process for the Student Code ofConduct
There is, arguably, no document that more directly affects thelives of SMU students than the Student Code of Conduct. Accordingto the code, “The writing of the student code involvesstudents, is for students, and is the expression of the studentbody’s relationship to the rest of the University.”Likewise, Student Senate is entrusted with the responsibility ofoverseeing the annual process of reviewing the code for anypossible changes or revisions necessary. We are currently in theprocess of accepting code changes, and I encourage you to submitone if you think there is something that should be changed oradded. The Student Code of Conduct may be found inside the2004-2005 Student Handbook, as well as on the SMU Web site. Allproposals for code changes must be submitted to me no later than 5p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8. Change proposal forms are available in theStudent Senate office in the Student Activities Center and may alsobe submitted online at the Senate web site (http://studentsenate.smu.edu).
Student Senate Committees
Another way to advocate change at SMU is to join one of StudentSenate’s 10 committees. These committees are an integral partof Senate’s work on campus. From coordinating the annualPound the Pavement survey and chartering new organizations tocreating and strengthening campus-wide recycling programs andreviewing thousands of dollars of requests for funding, ourcommittees are constantly busy at work and would love to have yourhelp. All committee meeting times are listed on the Senate Web siteas well, and the time commitment is only about an hour a week. Tojoin a committee, you can either pick up an application in the SACor fill out the form on the Web site.
Student Organizations
With over 200 student organizations on campus, there are manyinvolvement opportunities in every corner of the University.Student organizations are the backbone of student activities andare responsible for important programming and advocacy of issues.Our chartered organizations are in the process of updating all oftheir organizations’ information, which you can then use as atool to contact and join any that you find interesting. Oncecompleted, organization information can be found on the new SAC Website – www.sac.smu.edu. If you find that there is noorganization for the particular interest you have, please contactthe Senate Organizations Chair or any of the Student Activitiesstaff for information on starting up a new group.
Student Senate Scholarships
On another note, I also want to make sure the student body isaware of Fall Senate Scholarships, which will give out $9,000 inscholarships in the coming weeks. The Senate Scholarship committeeoversees this process which occurs each semester. Each of the eightscholarships has its own eligibility requirements, all of which canbe found on the applications, which are available in the SAC or onthe Student Senate website. All scholarship applications andsupporting materials are due by October 15.
I hope that you’ll find this information useful as thesemester moves on. Once again, if you ever have any questions orwould like more information, please don’t hesitate to contactany of the members of Student Senate or myself and the Student BodyOfficers, Chip Hiemenz and Liz Healy.
Gabe Travers is the Student Body Secretary. He may becontacted at [email protected].
