CCSC Bureau Chief Maddie Goodman returns for a second week on the job to tell you about two important student surveys you should definitely fill out, like right now!

Since being graced with the appointment of CCSC Bureau Chief literally a week ago, I have heard a lot of people ask me: what does CCSC do? And to that I say, a lot! Attending this week’s virtual CCSC meeting was like wrapping myself in a warm cozy blanket, a welcome comfort given the spooky October rain. After a week of lost faith in humanity, this week’s meeting restored some hope in me, even amidst midterms! These general body members are doing all they can to advocate for students’ needs in these shitty times, and for that, we should all show our thanks by contributing our voice through any and all surveys sent by CCSC! Now that I’ve thoroughly kissed their asses in gratitude for their political service, here are the updates:

The juiciest news from this week’s meeting was that President Joon Baek (CC ’21) and VP of Communications Krishna Menon (CC ’22) met last week with Associate Dean for the Core Larry Jackson, Dean of Advising Andrew Plaa, and Dean of Academic Affairs Lisa Hollibaugh to discuss CCSC’s Petition to the Committee of Instruction. President Baek and VP Menon arranged for the meeting in order to discuss policies that may ensure a more equitable grading system this semester, given that individual students do not all have access to the same calibre of learning environments. Although CCSC originally explored the possibility of a mandatory pass/fail policy similar to that implemented last spring, it was made very clear that the administration is opposed to this and that the reasoning for it before was that a swift, unexpected change was made in the middle of the semester. The deans that President Baek and VP Menon met with recommended forming a petition with specific policy change requests. 

The proposed changes that the CCSC Petition to Committee of Instruction includes are: 

  • Extending the drop deadline and pass/fail deadline to Nov. 4
  • Extending the number of pass/fail classes allowed this semester 
  • Allowing pass/fail to count for Core classes
  • Allowing pass/fail to count for major classes 

CCSC is hoping to receive a few hundred responses on their Academic Satisfaction Survey so that the student data can be brought to future discussions with the administration. Filling out this quick survey will help CCSC advocate for students’ needs in the most effective way possible. 

Senator Ramsay Eyre (CC ’21) announced that after working with the Student Affairs Committee, co-chair Connor O’Boyle sent a Spring Semester Survey to all university students Friday, October 9th. With the spring semester fast approaching, university administration would like survey data to clearly understand student opinion to aid in their decision making. The survey data will communicate to the administration how many students are willing to abide by the health compact and want to return to campus as soon as possible in the safest way. If you want your voice heard about spring semester plans, fill out the quick survey! 

VP of Finance, Sophia Adeghe (CC ’23) and President Baek were able to give a detailed review of the CCSC budget this week after meeting with CCSC faculty advisor Josh Lukas. As mentioned last week, part of the fall semester budget is surplus from last spring, which totaled to $150,000. In addition to the surplus, the reduced student activities fee is expected to bring in $400,000, resulting in a total CCSC budget for the semester to be around $550,000. Funding allocations within the CCSC budget this semester are less strict due to the inevitable lack of spending towards in-person activities needed. For now, $20,000 is allocated to class councils and at-large representatives and $25,000 will be used for virtual campus life activities. This leaves around $500,000 for the discretionary fund, much of which CCSC plans to go towards the creation of a mutual aid fund to meet students’ school needs in the era of remote learning.  The dispersion of these funds is still to be decided; however, VP Adeghe alluded to buying students items they need and sending them to them. The intention is to provide students the items they need to succeed in this new mode of instruction in a more accessible way than the often mentioned yet elusive Deans’ Student Assistance Fund.  

Class of 2024 VP Kathan Reddy brought up the potential need of students to have Zoom Plus accounts in order to be able to sufficiently do group work. Without Zoom Plus, students have resorted to other, less efficient modes of working together, because otherwise, they’re only able to hold thirty-minute Zooms. Upon discussing with President Baek and VP Adeghe, CCSC will be potentially making a Google form for FGLI students to express if they want or need assistance in obtaining a Zoom Plus account. CCSC is prepared to allocate funds from the discretionary budget to provide students who need it a premium account. 

Appointments for Student Adjudication Board were made after Alumni Affairs Representative Sina Monfared (CC ‘23) volunteered as primary contact and class of 2023 President Elle Harris was named as the alternate. These students will serve on the Student Adjudication Board as CC representatives, attending to student group disciplinary decisions if and when they arise. 

After deliberation and survey results, it was decided that CCSC meetings will keep their original meeting time of 8pm Sundays this semester. The few general body members who are unable to make this time due to time-zone conflicts will have their own smaller meeting with President Baek once a week to provide their own updates and to delegate to President Baek items that they wish to be discussed in the main meeting.  The publicity of CCSC meetings is still being discussed due to the technical difficulties of Zoom and live streaming.

That’s all for this week folks, stay sane out there, and fill out surveys!

Image via Bwog Archives