This week, ESC voted on multiple proposals and letters.

The meeting began with a vote on whether to sign on to the letter to the board of trustees regarding FLI issues discussed in previous meetings. The vote passed, and so ESC will be signing on to the letter.

Next, Student Body President Kennedy Salamat (‘23) raised the topic of a film minor. At the end of the 2020-2021 academic year, a student presented to ESC about creating a film minor. The council voted in favor of bringing this proposal to the COI last year, but the academic year ended before the council had a chance to do so. Salamat called a vote on whether to bring the film minor proposal to the upcoming COI meeting. The vote passed.

The council then briefly reviewed a draft of the ESC Expansion Survey and voted in favor of sharing the current draft with Dean Morrison.

The next discussion was regarding drafts of an emergency and permanent PDF policy. The emergency policy would be for this semester, while the permanent PDF policy would continue into subsequent years. The permanent policy proposal would allow students to PDF two classes over the course of their undergraduate period.

Council members shared concerns worth noting in the justification for the emergency policy for this semester. These included challenges of the two online weeks at the beginning of the semester, difficulties for students who missed class due to COVID making up work, and emotional and logistical challenges that arise when students’ roommates or suitemates test positive for COVID. The council was in agreement that this semester was not typical.

The council then discussed the permanent PDF policy and whether to raise it this semester. Some council members worried that raising a permanent PDF option at this time would be too much given how many other proposals are underway and suggested editing the proposal to include more data in support of the policy. This could potentially take away the strength of the emergency PDF proposal. Others felt it would be better to get the proposal out sooner so that it could be implemented sooner.

Class of 2022 President Estevan Mesa (‘22) suggested combining the emergency and permanent PDF policies. He argued that COVID has shown us that the unpredictability of life necessitates the flexibility of a permanent PDF policy.

The council first voted on whether to combine the two proposals and on whether to just present the temporary emergency PDF policy. The council voted against combining the policies and in favor of presenting the emergency proposal.

Lerner via Bwog Archives