This week’s ESC meeting was short and sweet

The meeting began with updates from Student Body President Estevan Mesa (‘22). He summarized the takeaways from several meetings he attended this past week.

Mesa met with Dean Morrison and talked about Proctorio and academic policies for next semester. According to Dean Morrison, the administration has not yet decided whether this semester’s pass/D/fail option will remain in effect next semester. 

This semester’s policy was approved in part due to time constraints. The proposal was brought up after the semester had already begun and was implemented toward the end of the semester. This eased the concerns some professors had about students using the p/d/f option unnecessarily to their advantage, as they believe that due to the policy’s last minute implementation, students will only resort to p/d/f if they truly need it. The administration may not decide about whether to extend the policy to next semester until the beginning of next semester.

Dean Morrison also told Mesa that he may be able to present to the Committee on Instruction (COI) about student concerns regarding proctoring service Proctorio. He asked that Mesa and the rest of ESC gather articles and information to share with faculty about Proctorio concerns in advance of the meeting.

In upcoming meetings, Mesa and Dean Morrison will likely discuss this year’s SEAS credit limit. The credit limit for one semester (fall or spring) is 21 credits, and students may take 21 credits in both the fall and spring semester this year. However, if students plan to enroll in summer courses using the COVID policy, they may take a total of no more than 40 credits over the span of Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021. The Class of 2023 council has heard student concern regarding the current credit limit.

This week, Mesa also met with Diego Largacha from International Students’ Advisory Board along with International Students Representative Egem Yorulmaz (‘22) and Angel Mancera (‘23) to discuss accommodations for international students in recognitions of the particular challenges they have been facing with virtual classes. They are working on initiatives to improve the situation for international students next semester.

VP Student Life Katherine Liu (‘21) reminded the council of several upcoming events. ESC is hosting a career information session with the Center for Career Education on December 4th. On December 5th and 6th, ESC will be hosting a SEAS Design Hackathon.

Since an in person Tree Lighting Ceremony is not possible this year, Liu is working with the members of the other student councils on planning a virtual Tree Lighting hosted on Facebook live. This event will feature videos of the trees being lit and performances from student acapella groups.

Lerner via Bwog Archives