It had been a while since they met, so there was much to propose and resolve last night.  Warning: the following post may contain graphic Lerner 6 discussion and adult off-campus flex dialogue.  Reader discretion is advised.


marlonProposal Regarding Academic Advising Center

Problem: Lerner 6 was never finished and the Center for Student Advising has offices all over the place from Broadway to Lerner.  Solution: Finish Lerner 6 and relocate Center for Student Advising in Lerner 6.

Resolution to implement payment through Columbia University Flex Accounts at Book Culture

Problem: Book Culture does not take Flex.  Flex is convenient for students and sometimes part of their financial aid package.  Solution: Columbia should give Book Culture money and technology to join the Flex system.

Resolution to formalize departmental advising and strengthen individual faculty and student advising

Problem: Departmental advising is important for careers.  Students do not have adequate departmental advising.  Solution: Each student should have a faculty advisor within their major.

-JJV

Full text of proposals and resolution after the jump. 

Proposal Regarding Academic Advising Center:

Background:

The undergraduate student body at Columbia must have a dependable advising system. Life at an academically rigorous institution in an urban setting necessitates resources to support students. Over the last year, both the Columbia College Student Council and Engineering Student Council have expressed their belief that the improvement of advising is one of the top priorities for undergraduate students. Fortunately, positive steps have been made such as the creation of the unified Center for Student Advising. However, more can and must be done. As it stands, advising offices are spread throughout different parts of the campus from Lerner Hall to the Broadway residence hall. This spatial decentralization is problematic and it is an inefficient use of space that could be better utilized for other purposes.

As the advising resources are spread all around campus, there remains a large undeveloped space. When the construction of Lerner Hall was completed in 1999, the sixth floor was never completed. For nearly a decade, this space has been left untouched. There has been much controversy about how to best use this space.  

Proposal:

The Columbia College Student Council believes that the vacant and undeveloped space of the sixth floor of Lerner must be put to efficient use. Specifically, this space should be utilized to allow for the creation of a centralized Center for Student Advising.

Rationale:

First, the spatial division of the advising offices is detrimental to the creation of a unified office which is the ultimate vision of the Center for Student Advising. With the old system of separate underclassmen and upperclassmen advising it made sense for the offices to be in different parts of the campus. But this is no longer the case. For an office to have a unified mission it must not be divided as it currently is

Second, one of the central goals of the advising reforms was to reduce the ratio of advisors to advisees. To do this additional space is required to accommodate more advisors.

Third, leaving Lerner Hall empty does not make any sense for a campus as short on square footage as Columbia. The councils often receive complaints from student groups who have difficulty reserving space for their activities. This limitation on space often discourages students from putting on events and activities that would help create a greater sense of community on campus. By developing the sixth floor and moving advising offices there, additional space from the old locations of the advising offices can be made available for student life purposes thereby helping relieve some of the difficulties students face with space constraints.

Fourth, Lerner was designed to be an undergraduate student center. The graduate schools have Uris, the Law Library, SIPA and several other buildings to house space for graduate students. The entire gift portion of Lerner was donated by College alumni with the understanding that Lerner would be reserved for undergraduates.

Authors,

Michelle Diamond, President

Alidad Damooei, V.P. Policy

Jennifer Choi, V.P. Finance

Lindsey Lazopolous, V.P. Campus Life

Glenn Thompson, VP Communications

 

RESOLUTION TO IMPLEMENT PAYMENT THROUGH COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY FLEX ACCOUNTS AT BOOK CULTURE 

WHEREAS, Columbia College Student Council seeks to provide as many services for its students as possible;

WHEREAS, students currently are unable to use University Flex Accounts for payment at Book Culture

WHEREAS, Book Culture serves as a comparable vendor to the Columbia University Bookstore as a result of student and faculty use;

WHEREAS, the University Flex Point system is comparable to cash dollar for dollar;

WHEREAS, payment through flex accounts would bring greater convenience to Columbia students, by alleviating traffic in times of great need and reducing the necessity of cash;

WHEREAS, many peer institutions have already implemented similar programs across a number of different types of vendors, including: NYU, Harvard, Cornell, and University of Pennsylvania;

WHEREAS, a number of Columbia College’s financial aid and scholarship students are given a portion of their allotment through the University Flex Accounts;

WHEREAS, the Columbia College Student Council recognizes the need to ensure that all students will have equal access to the books they need regardless of financial ability;

BE IT RESOLVED, that Columbia College Student Council urges University Student Services and administrators to provide the necessary funding, technology, and support in a timely fashion to establish a program for payment though the University Flex Point system. 

Authors,



Donna D. Desilus

Academic Affairs Representative

Columbia College Student Council 

Glenn Thompson

Vice President of Communications

Columbia College Student Council

 

RESOLUTION TO FORMALIZE DEPARTMENTAL ADVISING AND STRENGTHEN INDIVIDUAL FACULTY AND STUDENT ADVISING 

WHEREAS, Columbia University is the leading institution in a number of fields of study and departments;

WHEREAS, Columbia College Student Council recognizes the student need for both reliable and knowledge-based information;

WHEREAS, Columbia College Student Council recognizes the importance of departmental advising in curricular development and in pre-professional planning;

WHEREAS, the advising system across each department is varied;

WHEREAS, not all students in Columbia College have a faculty advisor;

WHEREAS, a number of our peer institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Dartmouth, have formalized major advising so that each student may have a faculty advisor;

WHEREAS, Columbia College is making a concerted effort to improve advising in a number of areas;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Columbia College Student Council calls for Academic Services to formalize departmental advising, so that every student would have an advisor who is a member of the faculty in their major.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Columbia College Student Council gives its full support to the Columbia College Administration in pursuing this endeavor.

 

Respectfully Submitted,



Donna D. Desilus

Academic Affairs Representative

Columbia College Student Council

 

Tiffany Davis

University Senator

Columbia College Student Council