Alternative Spring Break

Makiah Holliday, a fourth year Psychology major and leadership scholar in the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, gave an informational presentation on Alternative Spring Break. The program allows students to immerse themselves in a community for five to seven days and assist people in need. It helps students to build leadership skills, create lasting connections and become involved in local or global issues.

Last year, the program was stationed in Destin, Fla., Miami, Fla., Charleston, S.C. and Puerto Rico. Students can apply to participate in this year’s program through an online application which opens on Oct. 8 and closes on Oct. 26. After paying a deposit, students may start a crowdfunding campaign to raise the other half of their trip’s expenses. Kathryn Cilano, the program coordinator at the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, mentioned that the program will be accompanied by a course this year.

“So, this year we are creating a class to surround our Alternative Spring Break Program. It’s actually going to be a class on asset-based community development which is one of the foundations that one of our community partners are using,” said Cilano. “This is a closed course for people that are going on Alternative Spring Break. So, if you’re interested after you’re accepted into the program you’ll be sent a link if you want to register.”

When asked if there may be any difficulty for international students to participate in the program, Cilano replied that there generally shouldn’t be any issues. However, international students should check their visas and any travelling requirements just in case.

Mandatory Training Policy

Erika Duthiers, assistant vice president for compliance and ethics and deputy general counsel in the Office of Legal Affairs, presented the Mandatory Training Policy.

“To determine how we’re going to treat [the highest risks for the University], we decided that it was probably a good thing to have some education on some of the key areas. So, we determined that drafting a policy was probably the best way to get 100 percent buy-in in those key training areas that we want the RIT community to participate in,” said Duthiers.

The policy covers two types of training: mandatory and role-specific. The former applies to all RIT employees. It includes training on cybersecurity, data protection, sexual harassment and discrimination. The required training is mostly done online, but there will be some parts done in-person to allow employees to ask questions.

The senate motioned to endorse the policy.

Condolences

Student Government (SG) Vice President Corinne Mendieta, a fifth year Mechanical Engineering Technology major, gave her sympathies for the death of Stephanie Smith Albert.

“Today is a sad day for the NTID community and also for the Division of Diversity community," said Mendieta. "Today we lost Stephanie Albert. She was highly involved in NTID. She was involved with my program Women of Color, Honor and Ambition."

NSC President Taylor Repetski, a fifth year Applied Arts and Sciences major through SOIS, with concentrations in Art Studies and Communications, also spoke about the passing of Albert.

“Right now, the community has been heavily impacted, including myself," said Repetski. "My heart is broken for Stephanie.”

Repetski also commented on how well Albert had done in her position during the short time she held it.

Bylaws

Repetski presented a change in the NTID bylaws that will allow cross-registered students to run for NTID president if they have completed at least two semesters at NTID. This change will be voted on at the next SG meeting.

Charges and Responses

Many petitions were charged to the appropriate committees. They include renting out the Microsoft Surface Pro at the library, allowing PawPrints creators to upload photos and adding printers to all B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (GCCIS) labs. The research has been done to answer those petitions and responses will be given shortly.

The petition asking for biodegradable to-go containers to be available at all dining locations is still in the research process. It was charged to both the Housing and Dining and Sustainability committees. RIT is expecting biodegradable containers to become available in 2019. Also in the process of being investigated is the petition asking for a display in GCCIS to be taken down. Some RIT students, especially members of the Deaf and disabled community, find the display offensive as it suggests that members of the community should be "fixed." Since the display was given by B. Thomas Golisano’s sister to commemorate his work, it is unsure as to whether it can be taken down and, if it can be removed, how long that process will take.

Responses to petitions were approved, including ones asking for outdoor Wi-Fi, changes to the MyCourses mobile interface, and Wi-Fi in Riverknoll.

Announcements

At the end of the meeting, Mendieta announced three awards. Representative Student Organization of the Month went to Outspoken. SG Senator of the Month went to Anika Aftab — SOIS Senator and fourth year Applied Arts and Sciences major through SOIS with concentrations in Neuroscience and Entrepreneurship major. Committee of the Month went to Facilities, Parking and Transportation.