Happy New Year & welcome back to campus everyone!
Last term was a busy one for Senate, primarily because of the issues surrounding setting academic dates for the 2010/11 Calendar, which transformed itself into an issue surrounding the length of orientation week. Adriana Cameron wrote a very informative article in the last issue (Dec/3/2009) of Iron Warrior that gives insight into what happened last term. In short: To prevent future problems in achieving the 60 teaching day minimum, it was proposed by the Registrar that Orientation week be shortened. There was massive student disapproval of this idea, and as such the student senators worked hard to convey our opinions at Senate and to the Provost (Feridun Hamdullahpur). While the whole process wasn’t easy, at the end of the day Feridun was very receptive to our concerns and agreed that Orientation week should be unchanged for 2010, and a proper consultation with students would be the best course of action to determine the future of orientation beyond 2010.
To paraphrase our Provost, he said that his biggest fear is creating a sense of students versus administration. He will work at all times to ensure he is working FOR the students. He continued by saying that the ‘administrations’ job, at the end of the day, is to support students. Lastly, he wants everyone to know that the people ‘up there in the administration’ are actual PEOPLE too ;). Feridun has scheduled a meeting with the student senators later this month to begin formulating the next steps we must take; I look forward to continuing to represent you in the coming months.
The first Senate meeting of 2010 was scheduled for January 18th. I will provide an update regarding the events at that meeting in the next Iron Warrior article.
You can always reach me at senate@engmail. Never forget, the rhythm of this university stems from the heart of its students. Keep being proactive!
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