The Hive

SA Renovation Report – What Students Want from Campus Buildings

Antoinette Esce — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:30:41 +0000

The administration frequently requests feedback from the SA on room and building renovations. Based on these meetings, discussions, and comments from students, we’ve compiled a renovations checklist to streamline this feedback mechanisms and make sure the SA is all in the same page. The checklist was endorsed by the Senate and will be sent to the necessary administrators.

Have any questions? Additional feedback? Contact Antoinette!

President Roshal Patel’s Letter of Resignation & Annual Report

Roshal Patel — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:11:08 +0000

Dear Speaker Simlote,

A day short of a year ago, Alina and I began serving our term as the President and Vice-President of the Students’ Association. The decision to run for office came about in a less than conventional way. However, the support we received while entertaining the idea was tremendous. We were encouraged by University administrators, our families, and professors, but most importantly, many of our peers. Our fellow students not only helped us to build the confidence to run a presidential campaign, but they also shared with us their ideas, concerns, and perceptions of what it means to be a student here at the University of Rochester. We each had a unique view from our former years at the school, but it was from our interactions with other students that we were able to construct the platform of inclusion, communication and commitment to student life. It was through the adherence to these ideals that we built a team of incredibly students, to whom we are truly grateful.

As the academic year comes to an end, a new group of passionate students will assume the positions within Students’ Association Government. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavors and the challenges they may face. We encourage them to be open to change and criticism, while remaining enthusiastic about and dedicated to their goals. We have both grown tremendously as people, and we owe that entirely to the spirit of “Meliora,” a motto that we did not know the full meaning until this year. It is a motto that, once known, is always understood. We look forward to the future of the University of Rochester and we are confident that upon each return to our alma mater we will find it to be “ever better.”

Alina and I have been so thankful for the opportunity to serve as Students’ Association President and Vice-President, but our time has come. We are excited for and wish Shilpa and Greg all the best next year!

Meliora,
Roshal Patel

Check out what the SA has done in this year’s executive report. Thanks so much

Agenda for April 29, 2013

Aditi Simlote — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:00:37 +0000

The agenda for tonight’s Senate meeting is now available. Please note that this preliminary agenda is not final, and may be changed before the meeting. We encourage you to attend the meeting at 8 p.m. in the Gowen Room of Wilson Commons.

Motion to de-recognize Amnesty International.
Motion to endorse the Renovation Checklist.
Motion to approve Wesline Manuelpillai as an ACJC Justice.
Motion to approve Erik Roisland to serve as Summer City Cycles Coordinator.

The Senate will also approve the appointments of Standing Committee Chairs, including:

Senator Stark to serve as Chair and Eudora Erickson as Deputy-Chair for the Student’s Association Communications & Public Relations Committee
Senator Macias to serve as Chair for the Student’s Association Elections Committee,
Senator LoTempio to serve as Chair for the Student’s Association Policy & Review Committee
Harika Kunchala (Fall) and Antoinette Esce (Spring) to serve as Chair for the Student’s Association Projects & Services Committee.

In addition, the Senate will also consider:

Motion to approve Alyson Manning as Students’ Association Treasurer.
Motion to approve Antoinette Esce to serve as the Summer Executive Liaison.
Motion to grant the President the power to appoint over summer recess.
Motion to appoint two Senators to serve on the Steering Committee.

View the Agenda

Senate Committee Chair Applications Available for 2013-2014

Shilpa Topudurti — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:19:00 +0000

If you’re interested in applying to be a Chair for either Projects & Services, Policy & Review or Communications & Public Relations, please fill out the following Chair Application!

Please feel free to contact any of the current Committee Chairs, whose contact information can be found on each of the webpages linked above.

Senate Meeting for Monday Cancelled

Aditi Simlote — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:47:46 +0000

The Senate meeting for Monday, April 22, 2013 has been cancelled. The next Senate meeting will be held on Monday, April 29, 2013. Please contact Aditi Simlote with any questions.

SA Academics Report – A Vision for Successful Learning

Antoinette Esce — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:00:56 +0000

In the past year, the College has commissioned two Committees, the Educational Technology Committee and Experiential Learning Committee, to explore the development of undergraduate academics at the University of Rochester. In their reports, these committees have laid out various steps that can be taken to improve our academic experience.

The SA Government, in its capacity as an advocate of the student body, has drafted its own report to respond to these ideas and to encourage action on specific initiatives. In short, we believe that advising, mentorship, and student involvement are key priorities for the improvement of academics in the near future.

Read what the SA Government has to say about Academics in our report. In the coming semesters, the SA Government will work heavily with Dean Feldman and other administrators to make the ideas in this report a reality.

Click the image below to open the full SA Academic Report

You can also read the reports of the two College Committees below.

The EdTech report calls upon the College to:

1. Adapt technology to facilitate learning by doing
2. Improve technological resources available to faculty
3. Create incentives for faculty to embrace technology

Final Report of the College Educational Technology Committee

The Experiential Learning report calls for:

1. Theme-based experiential learning
2. Improving access to experiential learning at the UofR
3. Reducing barriers to curricular innovation
4. Implementing the administrative structure required to promote experiential learning

Final Report of the College Experiential Learning Initiatives Committee

Learn how to use the Times Topic

Harika Kunchala — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:00:52 +0000

The representative from the Times Topic will be coming on April 24th from 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. in the Gowen Room of Wilson Commons to talk about the Times Topic and our online resources! The Times Topic is a resource provided by the New York Times:

“Each topic page collects all the news, reference and archival information, photos, graphics, audio and video files published on topics ranging from A M Castle & Company to Zyuganov, Gennadi A. This treasure trove is available without charge on articles going back to 1981.

She will be highlighting some useful ways to utilize these and other newspapers we offer. You can stay for the whole time or stop by when you have a few minutes. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about the FREE resources available to you through the New York Times!

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/topics/index.html

Undergraduate Research Exposition this Friday, April 19th

Antoinette Esce — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:09:02 +0000

This year’s Undergraduate Research Exposition (URE) will take place on April 19th from 12:30-4pm. Come see the amazing academic work done by members of the undergraduate community!

The expo will start with a Symposium at four separate locations on campus (refer to URE website). Students will then present their research at the poster presentation fair from 2:00-3:45pm in the Welles Brown and Hawkins Carlson rooms. Finally, students will be presenting Professor of the Year awards at around 3:45pm.

For more information, look to the Office of Undergraduate Research website at http://www.rochester.edu/college/ugresearch/expodetails.html

Senate Minutes Available from April 8, 2013

Jessica Bendes — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:00:25 +0000

At the SA Senate Meeting of April 8th, 2013, the Senate:

Amended the bylaws to specify the number of votes required to serve.
Additionally, the Senate approved Constitution changes for Circle K, Habitat for Humanity, Refugee Student Alliance, UR Rotaract, and Partners in Reading.
The Senate overruled the decision of the Policy & Review Committee and granted preliminary status to URBlueCrew.
The Final Budget for FY 2013-2014 was approved by the Senate and, after a lengthy discussion, Meliora Capital was funded in full.

Note: these are the minutes from the first portion of the meeting. Minutes from a later portion of the meeting will be published shortly.

Read the minutes or view the archive

Projects & Services Committee ’12-’13 Final Report

Antoinette Esce — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:45:36 +0000

Here is a report of the work done by the Projects & Services Committee this past year. The Projects & Services Committee works to enhance all aspects of student life and the campus environment through assessment and improvement of programs and policies, as well as through oversight of various departments. In addition, the committee is tasked with the maintenance of various SA initiatives.

The report considers topics such as:

Academics
Assessment
CityCycles
Collegiate Readership Program
Dining
Facilities
Information Technology
Security
Student Space
Sustainability
and Wellness

Click on the image below to view the full report.