Dear Fellow Ephs,
Happy spring break! I hope you all got a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather today and are looking forward to many adventures and good times over the next two weeks!
Following in the tradition that Manny and If left, we are writing to let you know what your College Council has been working on for the past month. Please take time to read this and, as always, be sure let us know if you have ideas or suggestions that you’d like to see College Council address.
-Nick and Francesca
CC Co-Presidents
Projects Completed
Community
•Field Day/Griffin Day
College Council will be organizing a spring Field Day on May 7 as a community wide event. Activities will include a class wide capture the flag tournament, egg toss, relay races, bouncy castles, and badminton. There will also be music, food, and ice cream throughout the day.
•Japan Relief Week
College Council will be helping to organize awareness and funds for the victims of the catastrophe in Japan starting the week we get back from Spring Break. If your organization is planning a fundraiser or you are interested in helping in this cause please contact us.
•WOC Entry Outings
Worked with WOC to create a list for entries to go on outings in the spring.
•Intramural Sports Day
Worked with the IM Sports department to organize one-day tournaments in tennis, basketball, football, and soccer over Spring Fling
•Saturdays at the Log
Worked with neighborhoods to organize Log gatherings beginning next fall
•Paresky Auditorium upgrade to the lighting system
•Institutionalized the Firework Show during Winter Carnival
•Reinstated the Harvest Dinner on Paresky Lawn for next fall
•Superfan Program
Approved funding for a program designed to boost attendance and enthusiasm at sporting events.
Dining
•Worked with dining services to create a plan to open Ecocafe as a student coffee shop Sunday through Thursdays during the evening
-The café will open Sunday, April 10 for a 3-week pilot period to determine the feasibility of the system. (Be sure to let us know if you like the café!)
•Bringing back Omelets to Late Night
•Organized themed Carnival Dinners on Sundays at Paresky with music
Academics
•Free University
Formed a committee to expand the Free University program next fall and over winter study.
•Honor Committee
Met with honor chairs to implement a system of closure to honor hearings where students and professors can meet to discuss ways to move past the hearing.
•Peer Advising
Supported Cadence Hardenbergh’s project to institute a peer advising system for next academic year.
Security and Safety
•Bystander Training for Hosts
All Host Training will be supplemented by a RASAN workshop in which Hosts will learn ways to prevent rape and sexual assault at parties on Campus.
College Council
•Transparency Improvements
We have been proactively attending meetings of student organizations to hear concerns specifically related to their interests
•Reinstituted Frosh Council for next year
•Revival of Sophomore Council for next fall
•Changed the ACE President to an appointed position
•Sophomorientation Organization
Created a committee to plan next fall’s Sophomorientation program
•New Business
This allows time at every College Council meeting in which your representatives can bring up specific problems or concerns they have heard. Please use this opportunity to contact your CC representatives to voice your concerns
•Working on ways to bolster ACE
Funding
•ACE bylaw change in which students who are not associated with an organization must first go to ACE for their event and work with ACE before coming to CC Cosponsorship for funding.
•Enterprise System completed with website available online
Facilities
•Change machine and cash to card machine and mission and frosh quad
•Water dispensers in Mission
•Intramural Sports Storage for athletic materials
•Summer Storage for Student Groups in need
•Paresky Auditorium improvements to exposed wires
•Putting Clocks in all of the classrooms
•Adding a Microwave in Mission
In Progress
Academics
•Factrack Improvement
We are working to increase the accessibility of Factrack and the amount of number of posts for Professors in recent years.
•Winter Study Registration
Identifying problems in the current winter study over-enrollment problems and changing the registration structure to address these problems.
Social Issues
•Addressing homophobia on campus
•Raising awareness about Rape and Sexual Assault on campus
•Increasing student-faculty interactions
College Council
•CC Facebook Group
Creating a CC Facebook Group that students can join and be more easily updated on College Council endeavors, votes, meetings, and projects.
•Bike Share Program
•Organizing Leadership Meetings between heads of specific organizations that will benefit from increased communication
•Fixing the Student Organization Printing System
•Identifying the role of College Council in entertainment and future programming
•Integrating MinCo groups within the existing structure of College Council College Council has been working on changing our funding structure so that MinCo groups could become College Council approved organizations funded by the MCC
History
•Publicizing stories about the history of Williams/Amherst Rivalry
•Helping distribute more Williams History around Campus
Housing
•Creating a system for a room swap for students who are abroad in the fall with students who are traveling abroad in the spring
Facilities
• Trophy Cases
• TV in multipurpose room in the Gym
•Access to the Display cases in Mission and Paresky
• More Washers and Dryers in the Dorms
•Investigating the possibility of Siskin House as a viable space for students
Security and Safety
•Instituting a night ride system for weekends
•Increasing Awareness about the rising instances of theft on campus
•STD posters to advertise testing is available
Dining
•Putting up Decorations in 82 Grille
•Microwave in Eco cafe
•Salad Dressings at Eco Cafe Grab and Go