CCSC is now closed for commentary

Let’s get down to CCSC business, courtesy of Joe Milholland. 

The Columbia College Student Council on Sunday night mostly performed prep work for projects they will go further on in the future.

CCSC President Peter Bailinson is going to give a presentation to the Office of Global Programs soon about fellowships and gave the council a preview of his powerpoint. Since the OGP has been willing the work with CCSC on improving applying for fellowships at Columbia, Bailinson is framing this in terms of a discussion rather than a proposal. The things he asked for in his presentation included better outreach with CSA and CCE, follow-up and reminder emails for application deadlines, a fellowships night, more learning from past applicants, an online appointment tool, summer Skype advising sessions, application workshops, increased staffing for mock internships, and feedback on applications within one week.

The council also spent time reviewing the Google doc for their proposal for CCSC election changes. Several council members discussed how realistic it would be to assume that CCSC could work with administrators or with each other over summer break. VP of Policy Sejal Singh also questioned the ethics of voting for election changes that would affect the upcoming elections of current council members.

The council also held a discussion on dean’s discipline closed off from the press and outsiders; three council members voted against keeping the discussion private. According to Bailinson, the discussion was in private in order to avoid “discuss strategy about how to negotiate with administrators on-the-record.” There will be public updates about this in the future.

Updates:

• VP of Communications Abby Porter created a spreadsheet documenting council absences from the last two and a half years. She noted an increase in absences among younger CCSC members and an increase in the spring semester.
• University senator Ramis Wadood also released information on the new initiatives Columbia is taking on diversity and race recently. He and ESC senator Jillian Ross are part of the Senate Comission on Diversity and Equity that focuses on reviewing and revising changes on the senate level and ensuring university services are equivelant for all students. EVP for university life Suzanne Goldberg is also heading a committee that focuses on programming.
• Singh is still working on a food insecurity proposal. Porter will contact UCLA soon to learn about their food insecurity policy.
• Bailinson meet with VP for campus services Scott Wright recently. Wright told him that because Columbia has recently had to push forward the John Jay kitchen renovations, changes to Lerner have been pushed back besides certain renovations, like changing the Ferris staircase.
• According to university senator Marc Heinrich, email alias changes will be coming out this week.
• Members of the class of 2015 council are meeting with Dean Kromm about making the sexual respect program more accessible for seniors. Several sessions have already been scheduled for East Campus and Hogan.

But Bwog/Joe will bring you public updates! via Shutterstock