Sunday, January 29, 2012

Discussing the 4-4 with VPAA Talentino


This past Tuesday the Student Association meeting included an Open Forum session with Vice President for Academic Affairs Karen Talentino. Dr. Talentino came to ask for student feedback regarding the first semester of the 4-4 curriculum plan and many students were prepared with questions and comments. Most of the questions were of a more specific, departmental nature, but Dr. Talentino also answered broad questions about where the 4-4 system was taking us, it’s goal in general and provided reasoning for why the curriculum was set as it was. Deans Trumbower and Wry were also at the meeting to provide further insight and clarification on some questions. One of Dr. Talentino’s main concerns was the schedule grid that has been developed in conjunction with the new curriculum. The purpose of the grid, as Dr. Talentino explained, is to make class times uniform and provide more opportunities for out of class meetings. The Senate and the VPAA discussed the problems regarding the breakfast and lunch rushes in Alliot, the shuttle from North Campus and lack of common time outside of Friday afternoons. Students were very candid and asked difficult questions, all of which Dr. Talentino answered as completely as possible. The e-board is grateful that Dr. Talentino and Deans Trumbower and Wry were able to take the time to meet with students to gather their feedback and is looking forward to continuing work on assessing the 4-4 plan and new class grid!

See you next Tuesday!
Sunny

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

First Semester Roundup

Hello Everyone,

This past semester was a very busy semester for the SMC Student Association. We have had countless meetings, and let the student voices lead the school. We have also followed our mission, which is the work hard, then plan hard.

Here are some of the big things we have accomplished this semester in the S.A.:

  1. FALL COMEDIAN: We had David Koechner come to campus as our Fall comedian. It was a great success do to the hard work of our Co-Secretaries of Programming, who did large amounts of work to bring him to campus. We filled up the entire gymnasium on campus, and sold more than expected tickets to the public as well. We also had Kit Rivers open for David, who is a student for SMC as well as a local comedian. She did great, and brought endless laughs to the people who attended.
  2. DAY WITH THE TRUSTEES: The Student Association Executive Board had the opportunity to spend the day with the SMC board of trustees this Fall. We all talked about different projects that we had been working on in our separate positions as well as what projects we have been working together on. We then opened the floor to any questions from the trustees, as they wanted to know about everything going on with students on campus, technology, and how people outside the campus view SMC. It was a great time, and allowed for a lot of networking for the Executive Board.
  3. RETURN OF WINTER BREAK: One of the biggest issues we faced this past semester was the issue revolving our winter break. It came to our attention that the school took away our winter break on the academic calendar, and students were never notified on the change. This break has been a normal event in the past, and students wanted a explanation to the change in the calendar. This break is normally a time for students to take a short 4 day break and go home and relax without any workload. This was also a time for faculty to have a nice break and relax as well. After much student input, the SA executive board had meetings with the President on the College, Faculty Members, Staff Members, Students, as well as the Dean of Academic Affairs. The Executive Board then extended the student voices about how we did not agree with taking away the break and after further thoughts, the break was reinstated into the academic calendar.
  4. SA FINANCES: In past years, the Student Association was starting to look more like a bank for student run clubs and organizations. the Secretary of Finance as well as the Finance Committee then sat down and had 20 hours of meetings with clubs to then go over all the finances. At the end of the day, clubs were more aware of the financial situation of the SA in the future, and since then, have been more cautious on what they are spending their money on. This has now proven to bring more events and activities to all the students at SMC and bring a positive outlook for the future ahead!
  5. SA ARCHIVES: The future is coming, and everything is going electronic. One of the projects the Executive Board has been working on is Digitalizing all of the SMC Student Association files. In the past, paper copies have been kept in file cabinets, and most of the time, lost from year to year. With this new system, using the tech start-up Dropbox.com, we are able to keep track of all documents for all clubs. This will solve the problem every year of clubs not having any of their paperwork in order at the beginning of each school year.

Great semester SMCVT students! I hope everyone had a great holiday break and can't wait to see you back on campus in a few weeks!

And for everyone who has recently been accepted to SMC, congrats! You will never regret coming to SMC, and the memories you will have forever!

Sincerely,
Chris Eldridge
Secretary of Finance