CCSC knocks down all the administrative pins

CCSC got down to business right away in their meeting last night, going over their budget as well as bylaw adjustments. New Bureau Chief Tamara Barriot was on hand to record the quickly-moving discussion.

Upon returning from the Student Council and Governing Board Retreat this past weekend, Columbia College Student Council had nothing but business on the agenda. The main topic of the meeting was the Funding recap, presented by Finance VP Anuj Sharma, followed by voting on the constitutional bylaws and weekly updates by each of the council members.

Finance VP Anuj Sharma presented the distribution of CCSC’s operating budget this year: $1,045,702. The first 14% goes towards internal spending, which refers to all spendings on class councils, campus life and Senior Week. The next 20% will be spent on external funds, which for the most part comprises security and facilities fees that cover all student events organized outside of Lerner Hall. And finally, the last 66% goes towards the governing board, which includes: the Activities Board at Columbia, Bacchanal, Student Governing Board, Club, Sports Governing Board, Inter-Greek Council, and Community Impact.

CCSC’s operating budget comes directly from the student activities fees and surplus from the previous governing body; the budget this year has the possibility of being about $15,000. Sharma took the opportunity of the debatable $15,000 surplus to present Funding at Columbia (F@CU) initiatives for this year, which will include a better determination of surpluses, and where exactly they should be considered, as well as improvements on the velocity of allocating money by cutting the time of deliberations.

After reviewing this year’s budget, Abby Porter, VP of Policy led the discussion on bylaws. Several sections of the guidelines for student council are being revised in the effort to make the language clearer and to more accurately represent what CCSC does. Amongst the sections to be revised are:

• Judicial Board Elections: A description on how elected board members shall actively advertise CCSC elections in order to have more student involvement will be added.
• Class Council: The current bylaw stated that class council meetings should be public and advertised to the whole class, so constituents may attend. The council is divided on whether it should remain as it is, or if a revised version should not emphasize the advertisement so strongly.
• Meetings of the University Senators: A revised version states that Senators shall attend student body meetings and are encouraged to attend policy meetings.
• Follow Up: A revised version states that when meeting with Administration or Faculty in behalf of the committee or council, the representative shall update the whole council about the results of the meeting.

As for council updates, CCSC President Nicole Allicock led the round for last week’s, most of which resulted in positive news:

• CCSC Class of 2019: Raised $7,000 dollars in free passes, body strength fitness, and one day Equinox @92st passes, starting today until Sunday October 2nd
• Senators: A student proposal for new buildings’ sustainability, which will be the basis for a sustainable Manhattanville campus, passed.
• Alumni Affairs: New strategies for pairing Columbia’s students with alumni mentors are being organized; as of January 2017, every student will be able to have an alumni mentor.
• Finance: Four subcommittees are being created, amongst them the Student Event Fund and the Travel Fund. This last one will fund student-group travels for competitions, talks, seminars, etc.
• Public Policy: First, on the Athletics Department: Columbia’s athletes need supplements – protein, vitamins, and beet juice – for which either they or their coaches are currently paying with out-of–pocket. Steps are being taken in talking to Columbia’s athletics and the nutritionist to allocate money towards this athletic need. Second, an investigation is being undertaken for student-workers on campus who are receiving their paychecks late. And finally, the health department is once again providing free tampons and pads. All bathrooms in Lerner and Butler will have them, as well as the first floor bathrooms of most buildings. Additionally free tampons and pads are available in John Jay on the 3rd and 4th floor.
• Campus Life: The next big event is Homecoming; Campus Life is organizing to have a more extended party, probably including a dunk tank, food, and lawn activities, among other things. They may also organize a Spirit Week before it, in which students dress up and send pictures to Columbia’s Snapchat in order to be added to a raffle.
• Communications: Looks like the CCSC webpage is finally shaping up! (Though Josh Sudman, Comm. VP is still not sure which of the two pages to keep.) Additionally, Sudman is looking to implement the Palendar, a webpage and/or App that allows Columbia students to log in and view all of the events, including CCSC and student run, happening on campus.
• Academic Affairs: A proposition was made for professors to post their course syllabi three or four weeks before classes begin, so that students can better make an informed decision about whether or not they like a course before registering it.

[Clarification as of 12:30am, 9/27/16: tampons and pads are not available yet at Butler and Lerner, but CCSC is working on providing these services.]

Will CCSC always be this efficient? via Cherry Point Marines