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Committee Updates December 2011
Please note that committee updates will not be posted at the beginning of January due to the holidays. Any January updates will be added to the Februrary 2012 report.
Organizational Relations
Organizational Relations held four meetings this semester with the student leaders of the organizations included in Organizational Relations. Major topics of discussion this semester included Sarratt renovations and what that means for organization meeting and office space. Organizational Relations also met with administrators to hear the plans for the construction of college halls at Kissam. Organizational Relations is working toward a second semester Organization Fair for students. Organizational Relations will continue working to promote communication between VSG and the major student organizations and councils on campus.
Campus Services
This semester, Isaac and I (as the co-chairs of the Campus Services Committee) have worked to improve student life across campus – as of now, focusing on the areas of dining, the bookstore, and plant operations. This past month, we worked to improve the bookstore (heavy-item move in, bringing popular brands in Vanderbilt colors into the bookstore), campus accessibility (compiled a log of problem areas in every building around campus to serve as a “target list” in our work with Plant Ops), and community outreach (by researching the potential creation of an iPhone Dorebusters app, further developing Vandy “Groupon” deal program). We are currently working on projects with dining concerning healthy food options in current and new dining locations, with Plant Ops (along with the Communty Service Committee) to improve handicap accessibility across campus, with Housing to continue and improve the Capital Improvements process, and several other projects. With our committee, we are working with administrators to target several of the most feasible and most maximum-impact of their ideas that we can begin to plan over winter break and implement next semester.
Student Services and Technology
Student Services and Technology has had a productive semester. We worked to improve campus printing services by getting printing stations in both the Commons Center and Highland Quad. We hosted several weekend Commodore Express shuttles to Target, Kroger, and Green Hills as well as Fall Break and Thanksgiving Break airport shuttle services. SST also partnered with Kaplan to provide free LSAT, MCAT, and GMAT practice tests on campus. We successfully lobbied to get online major/minor declaration forms for the College of Arts and Sciences and worked with the A&S Council to make improvements to the Arts and Sciences website. SST partnered with the Vanderbilt Medical Center to promote the world record-breaking Flupalooza, which provided free flu shots to the Vanderbilt community. We have managed the AtVandy student activity calendar and increased the number of student organizations represented. SST continues to work with the IT Department on improving cell phone and wireless internet service on campus and the Zerfoss Student Health Center to improve student health services. We are actively working with the VSG executive board on several academic issues related to course evaluations and improving the syllabi network for students. We are also helping the Dean of Students office to provide free busses for students attending the Liberty Bowl on December 31st. For next semester, there are a number of initiatives that we are already pursuing. We will continue to provide airport shuttle services, Commodore Express shuttle services, and Kaplan practice tests. We are lobbying to provide free blue books for students, in the planning process to host an alumni career symposium in the spring, negotiating to provide online appointments at Student Health, working to create a partnership between the university calendar system and the AtVandy calendar system, and working with administrators to improve Sarratt Box Office ticket purchasing services. Overall, we are very pleased with our results this semester, and we look forward to another great semester for SST.
Athletics
During the past month, the Athletics Committee has been hard at work on a variety of initiatives. We met with members of the McGugin staff to begin logistical planning for the College Game Day visit in February. We are working on determining how the filming of the Game Day segment will coincide with the game itself, and are working hard to consider all aspects of the student experience to maximize this fantastic event. We will be promoting this event hard in the upcoming months, as well as the huge women’s game against the University of Tennessee, which falls the Thursday before. We have also been brainstorming shirt ideas and student giveaways that can be used at various promotions throughout the year.
Additionally, we have been working diligently to explore options for improving the student Rec Center. We are crafting a survey that will hopefully be sent out soon, in order to get feedback on what the students are looking for in their Rec Center. It is our hope that after presenting our findings to the administration, we will be able to help usher in some capital improvements that will make the Rec Center a much better experience for everyone involved.
We have also been putting in work to help with the preparations for the upcoming Liberty Bowl. We have been sitting in on discussions surrounding the student experience, including the bus that will be provided to take students from campus to Memphis. There is no doubt in our minds that this will be an amazing trip, and we can’t wait for a Commodore victory. As a committee, we are very proud of the work we have accomplished so far this year, and are excited to continue working hard in the upcoming year.
Security
In the month of November (2011), the Security Committee finally conducted the long-anticipated Lighting Tour in conjunction with the VUPD. A number of representatives from VUPD, Plant Operations, the Office of Greek Life, and a student leader (aside from Co-Chairs McArthur Gill and Amaobi Enyinnia) also participated in the tour. Overall, over twenty malfunctioning lights were spotted around campus and areas for potential lighting improvement were noted. Aside from the Lighting Tour, the Security Committee has spent much of its time conducting research on various ways to help improve the Vandy Van service. In particular, Security has been made aware of various issues withvandyvans.com and has been attempting to push Synchromatics to investigate the periodic unreliability of the website. In addition, Security was crucial in helping to coordinate a multi-department effort to assign a new Vandy Van stop at the new bookstore, which started operating at the end of October. In terms of campus safety, Security consulted with Residential Education and VUPD in the effort to launch a publicity campaign in the wake of unfortunate “piggybacking” incidents that occurred on campus in previous weeks and was glad to see the “Mayhem” video it favored finalized and produced. Security is confident raised awareness about the dangers of piggybacking will help prevent such incidents in the future. In terms of projects, Security has been faithfully investigating many new transportation options for students, such as bikes and is hopeful that a new initiative to cut down on theft (particularly bike theft).
Community Service
The Community Service Committee has been undergoing a year of exciting expansion. Aside from adopting nearly 100 more underprivileged Nashville kindergartners than ever before in this year’s Angel Tree, the Committee has been working on a whole host of new projects. In September, the Committee helped spearhead a University-wide initiative called the Vanderbilt Emergency Response Coalition, which will provide a systematic, standardized way for Vanderbilt to respond to national and international disasters. In November, the Community Service Committee partnered with the Office of Active Citizenship and Service (OACS) to help several hundred First Year Students register to vote in coming elections. Both Co-Chairs of the Committee have been working on handicap-accessibility initiatives, to make both Vanderbilt’s Campus and Nashville’s streets safer for handicapped students and faculty. This work will continue into the Spring Semester.
The biggest item on the Committee’s radar for the Spring Semester will be to create an all-new major community service event for the Vanderbilt Community to take part in, to mirror the success that Angel Tree has in the Fall Semester each year. These plans are very much in the beginning stages, but are sure to benefit both Vanderbilt and Nashville as a whole. As always, the Community Service Committee welcomes any and all student feedback. You can reach the Co-Chairs at mark.j.cherry@vanderbilt.edu andMadison.e.hurwitz@vanderbilt.edu.
Environmental Affairs
The Environmental Affairs committee is proud that its “Commitment to Green Building” resolution passed in both houses of the VSG legislature. The resolution, drafted in cooperation with university administration and Plant Operations, encourages a further commitment to sustainable building practices. In the coming semester, the committeelooks forward to working with university administration to ensure that the spirit of the resolution is implemented in the College Halls program and all future campus building. The committee is pleased that the Office of Traffic and Parking has brought an additional car-sharing program to campus, WeCar. We are particularly excited to work in conjunction with Plant Operations to implement an online energy dashboard information system that will enable members of the Vanderbilt community to track real-time energy usage across campus. The committee has also worked with SEMO and Sarratt Building Management to plan for a glass recycling center located within the newly renovated Sarratt Student Center. The VSG Green Fund is proceeding ahead of schedule this year; projects will be announced in March. Looking forward, the committee is excited to complete a student sustainability handbook and campaign, or “Green Guide,” and is also planning to work with SPEAR and Plant Operations to conduct energy efficiency testing of lighting fixtures in campus buildings.
Posted by lucasscholl on Thursday, December 8, 2011 in Minutes, News.
