Made up of a collection of student leaders, the Vice Chancellor’s Council meets three to four times throughout the academic year to discuss matters of campus activity, the master plan or information involving student organizations. To quote the memorandum students received, “The purpose of the council is to provide input on broad issues affecting campus life.”
Lead by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Arthur Jackson and SGA President Tim Ernst, the council’s first meeting was held Oct. 28. Members in attendance included representation from PRIDE, SGA, the Non-Traditional Student Association and many other student organizations.
The main focus of the meeting was an orientation to the issues students will be addressing this year ranging from construction to finding better ways to communicate across the campus. A key role of the Council every year is to consider the fee presentations student organizations give before the group on requests for money additional to what is allotted in the budget.
“This is one of the main roles of the Vice Chancellor Council,” Jackson said, “Besides representing the student body.”
SGA President Ernst shared many of the goals student government is working towards. One goal Ernst personally feels very strongly about is to have a better flow of events and information between clubs and the student body. He went on to explain how he is always hearing organizations say they have these great events that no one shows up for and at the same time has students complaining that there’s nothing to do on campus.
“I call it information dissemination,” Ernst said.
Some of the suggestions for better relaying events to the campus were updated electric bulletin boards and the new events calendar, currently not available to the public. The problem with the event calendars and bulletin boards is “we don’t have a common database and that’s a problem,” Jackson said.
Other goals Ernst mentioned in the meeting were the current creation of a campus spirit wall between the SAC and the library, currently under construction. “There are very few signs of student life [on campus],” Ernst said. SGA is also creating a C-book. Similar to those found in other universities, the C-book would contain a list of campus traditions, student hangouts and campus rivalries to better establish an accurate history of the University and Niner culture.
On more of an academic note, Ernst also talked about the possible introduction of plus and minus grading in classes. This issue is currently being debated in committee amongst the faculty. Discussions on how the change would impact grade point averages is underway.
Also on the agenda was a list of student affair objectives including fundraising activities for the different organizations on campus. Due to budget cuts, the University is in a five percent reversion. This means five percent of the allotted amount promised in the annual budget is being given back to the state. That adds up to nine million dollars being removed from the budget. But Jackson assured students that the enrollment growth contribution of 12 million countered the loss and while the school had to lose the nine million to gain the 12 million, the temporary cut back will not affect student organizations.
“[Actually], we’re doing about the best of any other state,” Jackson replied. Other states, such as Florida, are seeing budget cuts of up to 10 percent.
The Vice Chancellor’s Council will reconvene on Nov. 18 to hear fee presentations.
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