Featuring a new minor for SEAS students!

The meeting kicked off with a discussion led by VP Policy Angel Mancera (SEAS ’23) on swiping guests into John Jay. While many SEAS students have expressed interest in the ability to swipe guests in, such a process would require checking vaccine cards, resulting in longer lines at John Jay. Some council members questioned if it was better to have guest swipes and endure long lines or not to run the risk of lengthening lines and forego guest swipes. President Kennedy Salamat (SEAS ’23) pointed out that some food-insecure students rely on guest swipes, and allowing guest swipes at John Jay would provide extra support. Other council members chimed in to note that there are some—albeit not many—dining halls like Chef Mike’s that do offer guest swipes for those who are food insecure.

Next, President Salamat and VP Mancera gave updates regarding their meeting with Vice Dean of Undergraduate Programs Barclay Morrison, in which they discussed the council’s non-tech P/F proposal. Current policy allows for Pass/Fail options in non-technical classes for SEAS students. However, the council hopes to update the policy so that students can uncover their grades in classes they P/F. The council will vote on the proposal next week.

Next, the council shared that they were hoping to form a Mental Health Collaborative Task Force with CCSC and Columbia admin. They selected four people to sit in on the task force, which will meet monthly starting next month.

After, VP Student Life Mathew Wahl (SEAS ’24) shared that he has received 413 form responses for the Explore NYC Initiative and asked for more volunteers from the council. He also asked for volunteers for the Glass House Rocks outing. He shared that the Eventbrite for the SEAS Gala Cruise will go out soon, with all proceeds going to charity. Finally, the Roone Rink event this past weekend featured 930 sign-ups and was a success!

Next, VP Communications Shomik Ghose (SEAS ’23) notified the council that ESC Start kicked off for the spring and that mentees should check in with their mentors once every other week; there are a total of 51 mentors this semester. Additionally, he opened the floor to discussion regarding whether ESC members should receive their own WikiCU pages.

The Class of 2022 Council shared that the Class Speaker was finalized, and the surrounding details will remain confidential for now.

The Class of 2025 Council has considered planning something for St. Patrick’s Day and wanted to include CCSC in potential festivities.

Finally, Student Health and Wellness Representative Gabe Guo (SEAS ’24) gave updates on his meeting with Dean Morrison. Representative Guo is pushing to have courses in the arts count as part of the non-tech requirement. According to Representative Guo, Dean Morrison initially shared that these performance and music classes are not as intellectually stimulating as other non-tech courses since students in these classes are not actively discussing works of art. However, Representative Guo expressed his disagreement by stating that partaking in art requires one to understand it at a deep and intellectual level. He hopes to pursue a plan to have these classes count as part of the non-tech requirement. Representative Guo also clarified that while these are Dean Morrison’s personal opinions, the Dean stated he wouldn’t inject personal bias if the council decides to pursue having these art classes count as part of the non-tech requirement.

Representative Guo also spoke to Dean Morrison about helping students’ mental health by expanding Dodge’s hours and letting outside guests into housing contingent on vaccine cards. Finally, Representative Guo ended by sharing what he learned at the Dining Advisory Committee; Columbia Dining will—and already has started to—advertise that vegan meals can be made vegetarian. Additionally, Faculty House hours have been added to the Columbia Dining website.

President Salamat ended the meeting by sharing the exciting news that the linguistics minor proposal passed. And, with that, the council voted to end the meeting.

Lerner via Bwarchives