Senate committees to improve SMU
With roughly a month of school behind us, the Student Senatecommittees are hard at work formulating their goals for the year.Each committee is composed of a chair along with committee memberseager to make a difference at SMU.
The Finance committee, led by Daniel Kimes, intends to focus oncontinuing to responsibly allocate the funds, have high committeeretention and hold each member accountable for projects delegatedto them.
The Student Issues committee, under the guidance of KylieSlater, is excited to undertake many student concerns, includinghigher textbook exchange rates and compiling a list of localestablishments which accept Pony and give discounts for students.Additionally, the committee wants to get discounts for students atrecreational venues such as batting cages and golf courses, improvecampus safety through a nighttime light walk, improve the defensiveparking class and receive feedback from the students through the”Pound the Pavement” survey.
The Scholarship committee, under Melissa Sweat, intends to workon publicizing the Student Senate scholarships, which are madepossible through the Student Endowment Fund. This would allow amore competitive process in earning the scholarships and would givemore students an opportunity to receive financial aid.
The Organizations committee, under the tutelage of JenniferMcDowell, is dedicated to making the charter process fororganizations smooth and prompt, as well as auditing the currentorganization files.
LaCretia Dickerson, overseeing the Environment committee,intends to improve recycling on campus by making recycle containersvisible and accessible in all buildings, investigate the concept ofusing recycled paper throughout campus and proactively attemptingto reduce litter around the campus.
The Academic Enhancement committee, headed up by Katie Walton,hopes to conduct an academic fair involving professors, studentsenators, as well as representatives from the LEC, Study Abroadoffice, Honors program, and the Students with Disabilities office.This will give students a better understanding of the manyopportunities offered through SMU. Another new idea, presented tothe Student Senate this past Tuesday, is known as ACHIEVE, or theAcademic Committee’s Honor for Intellectually Engaging Venuesor Events, which allows organizations to submit their involvementwith programs that have relations to intellectual development andacademic success and receive recognition through a certificate. Thecommittee also plans to analyze the academic calendar, focusing ondates around school holidays which would allow students more timefor travel.
Katy Blakey, chair of the Membership committee, intends toevaluate the first-year and general elections and propose changesin the election code once all elections are complete. On top ofthat, the committee hopes to increase the participation in terms ofstudents voting in elections. The Diversity committee, with JaredDovers leading the way, is excited about working with theDepartment of Multicultural Student Affairs to assess thesatisfaction of multicultural organizations within Senate, both infunding and in reputation, as well as evaluating theadministration’s effort to recruit minority students.
With Les Williamson at the helm, the Appropriations committee islooking forward to revising the committee standards and the springbudget process so that student fee funds can more effectively beused by student organizations. The committee will also be availablefor student organizations who have any questions regarding theappropriations process.
A big thank you to the individual committee chairs that helpedme put this commentary together. Although these committees are alloff to great starts, it isn’t too late to sign up and becomea part of one. Applications for these committees are available inthe Student Activities Center, located on the third floor of theHughes-Trigg Student Center. Expect to see many positive changesthroughout the school year, and don’t miss out on an amazingopportunity of getting involved and making your mark on SMU.
