Student Government (SG) gathered to review proposed policy updates and finances at their March 6 meeting.
Proposed Staff Recognition Award Updates
Gene Vogler, RIT’s Events Systems Applications Administrator, outlined proposed updates to Policy E12.4, which outlines staff recognition awards.
One of the edits will update the definition of “teams” for awards. Teams can be nominated for recognition awards and are currently described as groups of two or more individuals who are working together on a project or “demonstrating ongoing innovation.” Proposed edits would differentiate between “small teams” and “large teams,” as Vogler explained, “comparing the work of a team of 2 to a team of 15 has historically created uneven playing fields.” Small teams will be groups of 2-5 individuals, and large teams will be groups of 6 or more members.
Furthermore, there will be a limit on the number of teams that can win awards in a single year. A maximum of two teams, with one large team, can be given awards.
Proposed updates also aim to clarify the criteria for the “Rising Star Award.” Edits will emphasize that the award is for staff members who are early in their careers.
Another planned edit will change the criteria for the “Albert J. Simone Legacy Award.” Currently, staff members are required to have at least 25 years of service as an RIT staff member, and a proposed revision would change this to 20 years.
Other proposed edits are designed to improve clarity.
Finance
Director of Finance, Yasmine Ibrahim, presented on the topics of a Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) Award Request and a National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Award Appeal.
During Ramadan, RIT’s MSA has historically received both food and monetary donations from the Islamic Center of Rochester (ICR). According to Ibrahim, this year, due to internal governance issues with ICR, they denied meal support at the “last minute,” although they changed their decision and began providing support by the second week of Ramadan. MSA originally requested $10,000 from the Finance Committee, but amended it to $7,000 after ICR began providing meals. Ibrahim explained that MSA had been experiencing issues with the quality of food donated by ICR, and would like to use the award money to subsidize 3 weeks’ of meals for an estimated 110 students from a local vendor. SG voted in favor of approving the financial request.
RIT’s NSBE recently received a $5,000 award to aid members in attending an upcoming NSBE Conference in Baltimore. One NSBE member, who was not selected to attend the conference, appealed, saying, “Although students may technically have had the opportunity to apply through the club, co-op students inherently have reduced access to involvement-based selection processes. For this reason, I do not believe the opportunity was truly equal in practice.” The student is currently requesting $800 to cover travel expenses. SG voted against approving the request.
PawPrints
Due to a low number of original PawPrints being written this semester, some committee chairs will be working on petitions that have not yet reached the 200-signature threshold.
A PawPrint referencing a previous Reporter article about path accessibility and advocating for more Grounds staff was closed with a response from Accessibility Committee Chair, Suprina Kabadkar, who explained that RIT does not have the financial resources to hire more staff and that the structure of the Grounds team will not be changing.
“I’ve exhausted all the options for escalating this issue. I’ve spoken with FMS and Staff Council about getting support for more staff. Unfortunately it is simply not possible,” she wrote.
A petition in favor of increasing support for the Accessible Van Service (AVS) was closed. A response from Kabadkar outlines recent changes to the AVS.
Two petitions raising concerns about path accessibility in the wintertime, “Actually plow the pedestrian Paths, salt shortage or Not” and “Clear paths OR cancel Classes” were closed with a response from Facilities, Parking, Transportation, and Sustainability (FPaTS) Committee Chair, Jameson Baker, explaining that changes will not be occurring. Baker listed several reasons for this, including a lack of resources and RIT’s unwillingness to cancel classes.
A PawPrint asking for remote options for classes was closed with a response explaining that there is already a DSO accommodation that allows students to attend classes remotely, although “it is not usually granted as it is a fundamental alteration of the modality that professors have chosen for the class.”
A petition titled “Cap upcharge to 500% for all rIT food” was charged to the Housing and Dining Committee.
A petition advocating to keep the SAU flags was referred to the Student Affairs Committee.
All petitions that are currently charged to Academics and Co-Ops were updated with a message from Academics and Co-Ops Committee Chair, Katie Beck, announcing that she brought the PawPrints to Faculty Senate’s attention at their March 5 meeting. An official response from Faculty Senate will be available on Apr. 15.
There will be no Senate Meetings until March 27.
The session was adjourned after an hour and a half.
