Board of Governance: Members discuss interaction with Board of Trustees
By COLLEEN McCARTHY
Associate News Editor
Student Body President-Elect Michelle Nagle and Vice President-Elect Kristin Matha made headway toward their goal of increasing the lines of communication between Saint Mary's students and the Board of Trustees this weekend, Nagle reported to the Board of Governance Monday.
Nagle said students had previously approached her with concerns that groups such as the Board of Trustees were not listening to student opinion when it made its decisions.
She raised those concerns during the meeting of the Student Life Committee with the Board of Trustees.
"Just by mentioning these concerns, the Board members wanted to know what they could do right away," said Nagle. "The result was a meeting between six of the Trustees and about 20 students in Annunciata that night. They listened to every question that was asked."
The Trustees agreed to make an effort to meet with more students the next time they met on campus, Nagle said.
"I told the Trustees that while student leaders do sit on these committees, the average student wants to be heard too, whether the Board can actually do something about that students concerns or not," said Nagle. "All the Board members at these meetings agreed that this was a very important concern."
Efforts will also be made to try to acquaint Trustees with other members of the student body and not just student leaders by bringing Trustees into the daily activities of students. Nagle said she hoped this would be accomplished by bringing the Trustees into the Dining Hall or residence halls.
Another concern for the newly elected student body president and vice president is where the Trustees are getting their information regarding issues and events on campus.
"A lot of the Trustees said that their main source of information is coming from The Observer," said Nagle. "One of our concerns is how to get the lines of communication open between the Trustees and what is going on campus other than having them read it in The Observer when they receive the paper several days after things have occurred."
Also discussed at the Board of Trustees meeting were the Masterplan and the construction of the new student center.
Currently, the cost of the student center is $18 million but efforts are being made to bring the cost down to $15 million, said Allison Web, student activities board coordinator who also sits on the committee dealing with the Masterplan and the new student center. Web said the College has raised $12 million and predicted the College will break ground on the new center in the summer of 2002.
"Right now, the student center is the first priority under the Masterplan," Web said.
Student Representative to the Board of Trustees Molly Kahn added that each stage of the building of the new student center would take 15 months, beginning with the overhaul of the Dining Hall.
It was also announced at the Board of Trustees meeting that instead of renovating Madeleva Hall, which would have cost more than $9 million, a new building would be built to replace Madeleva.
In other news:
u Student Body President Crissie Renner and other members of the executive board met with College president Marilou Eldred to discuss concerns regarding "The Vagina Monologues."
"I wanted to meet with her in order to be able to clarify some of what she said in her e-mail she sent to the student body because I have received a flood of e-mails and phone calls from students asking me to clarify certain things she said in her e-mail," said Renner.
Eldred refused to clarify her e-mail for Renner.
"When we brought up `The Vagina Monologues,' Dr. Eldred said she had no comment and that the issue had passed and it was over and she had nothing further to say," said Renner.
"I also asked her if there would be any repercussions for students who had participated in the reading of the `Monologues' last week and she said she had no comment."
Renner advised members of the Board seeking clarification of Eldred's e-mail or if they had further questions to ask Eldred.
u Nagle, who also currently serves as coordinator of the Student Academic Council announced with Matha — who will take over as SAC coordinator — that letters for SAC nominations will be sent out on Feb. 28. In the past, only students were allowed to nominate fellow students to be representatives from their major on SAC. However, professors have been invited to nominate students this year.
"We want to make sure the students nominated will work with the professors too and this way it isn't a popularity contest," said Matha.
The increased cooperation and inclusion of professors may also serve as a valuable link as SAC attempts to return to its roots as a policy board rather than a programming board.
"We want to move beyond planning only `Major of the Week' activities and really have the SAC representatives connect with students in their major to find out what their concerns are so they can be addressed," said Nagle.
Another change to SAC will modifying the notification process involving individuals receiving the most nominations for a position. In the past, nominated individuals would be sent a letter informing them that they were now part of SAC. The individual was never asked whether they wanted the position or not. This year, the individual who receives the most nominations to be a representative for their major will be asked whether they want the position.
"We want to ask them whether they want the position because we are trying to encourage the SAC representatives to take ownership of their position and to make them want to be a part of the committee they are sitting on," said Matha.
u "Choosing a Major" night will be held on Thursday in the Dining Hall from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Students will be able to meet with student representatives from each major and ask questions.
u Applications for positions on the 2001-2001 BOG are due March 2 in Haggar by noon. SAB applications are due March 1.
u Changeover for the BOG will take place at the March 26 meeting of the Board.
All News Stories for Tuesday, February 27, 2001
