Barnard’s Student Government Association meets every week, and every week we send our best Barnard bear Renée Kraiem to bear witness. This is her report:

Last night’s Rep Council meeting, which occurred sans administrative guest and a sizable portion of representatives celebrating the most recent Jewish holiday to fall on a Monday. These factors opened the door for an efficient meeting (that ended before 10! BEFORE 10!), and a productive series of internal announcements discussions.

President JungHee Hyun reported that, though she had initiated a discussion with Student Life regarding the recent changes in the campus posting policy, they had reached “no conclusion” and “no resolution.” “We’ll keep fighting,” promised Hyun, who reported that Student Life indeed recognized the faults in the stamping requirement, but remained concerned about the motivations behind the policy change: posting inside campus by individuals not associated with the University, the accountability for student life in the case of a bias-motivated incident, and maintenance of campus grounds.

VP of SGA Julia Kennedy also announced the agenda of the Policy Committee, which plans to address a broad range of issues this semester, including the changes made in library hours, the use of space in the Diana Center, the institution of a Good Samaritan Policy, a green fund, and how SGA interacts with students. If there’s an issue that students feel isn’t being addressed, said Kennedy, this is the place to bring it to.

Senior Representative to the Board of Trustees Mica Spicka reported on last week’s Board meeting. Spicka reported presenting, along with Junior Representative Ayelet Pearl, a report on campus life that focused on the recent policy changes on campus and how students perceived the changes as one general issue regarding student feedback on administrative decisions. Spicka also reported on the meeting’s agenda, which included reports from individual students on their summer activities, a conversation about career development and how grants might be offered to students taking nonprofit internships and those starting their own startups. The Board is also working on a “Barnard Firsts” project, working to uncover and promote Barnard alumnae who represent some type of larger “first.” First what, you ask? We’ll let you do your own thing with that one.

The Board also heard a presentation last week on the planned renovation of Lehman Hall that included six options ranging from a full renovation to an internal restoration. The Board will vote on which plan to pursue in December, upon which they will also determine the extent of the plan’s inclusion in the upcoming capital campaign. Apparently, though, some trustees feel disconnected from student activities not as exclusively pertinent to the whole Board, such as this one, so SGA will be putting together a calendar of activities for Board members. See, they really do care. Aww.

Rep Council addressed the creation of the Rosemary Furman Counseling Center’s new website, a discussion that inevitably led to a discussion of the Center’s policy change this semester; students will be able to receive eight free sessions per semester this year, rather than last year’s ten. The change was implemented after an increase in the percentage of Barnard students who visit Furman each semester, and an analysis of its visitors that concluded that most visitors used only five free sessions, and those that would require more than ten were often referred to an outside practice.

Even more announcements from Representatives, brought to you in bullet-point form, from furthest away to most recent, because Bwog cares about you:

• The next SGA Town Hall, subject TBD, is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13th at 6PM.
• President Spar’s first Fireside Chat of the year is coming up on Tuesday, October 30th at 6PM, but you have to RSVP here by this next Friday at 11:59 PM.
• Next week’s Rep Council, agenda also TBD, could feature a focus on the transfer experience at Barnard. Take note, tranfers, be ye residing on campus or (especially) not.
• There’s also this thing at Columbia happening next week called Homecoming. Various Representatives for University Programming are, at this moment, planning events to celebrate it (student leaders, they’re just like us! Well, maybe not in this case). Look for a kickoff event on Monday, a celebration coinciding with Founder’s Day on Tuesday, something (else) happening on College Walk on Wednesday, and an open-mic on Friday. And, most excitingly, GSSC Representative Loren Myers painted head to toe in blue–all week.