News

Student Assembly Update

By Emily Moore '15

September 5, 2013

Discretionary Spending Account

In their first meeting of the semester, Student Assembly took steps that will alter the way funding is handled. President Anthony Jackson ’15 presented the idea of creating a discretionary funding account existing separately from the general fund Student Assembly manages, which would not be governed by the same funding restrictions. Student Assembly members or non-members could approach the council with ideas for initiatives that perhaps lie outside the regular funding structure. This system would ensure that money was quickly and consistently available for small events like coffee with class representatives, which is a low-cost event that requires little planning, or last year’s Jackie Robinson Classic, a baseball tailgate which was organized quickly and received funding from on-campus offices, not Student Assembly. The discretionary fund would absorb monies held for certain Student Assembly expenditures, such as the awards they give out. Committees would still have to apply for funding from the general fund. Expenditures from the new discretionary fund would have to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the central council. Although initially presented as a $15,000 amount, representatives felt more comfortable with a $5,000 pilot program, to be reevaluated at the end of the semester.

Social Space Renovation

Student Assembly is also looking into making changes to social spaces on campus—specifically the Sadove and Bristol basements. Students have shown a greater demand for social spaces in recent years. Currently, Sadove’s basement is an underused social space, and could use improvement. Bristol’s basement is used for storage. Jackson would like to see these areas put to more use. If the storage in Bristol can be diverted to other locations (which, with the opening of the new art building, will hopefully be a possibility in the areas the art departments will vacate) it could be a viable option for renovation into a social space. Student Assembly is consulting with Physical Plant to see what can be done with Bristol. Student Assembly is seeking ideas for how Sadove basement could best serve the Hamilton community. Suggestions can be sent to sa@hamilton.edu.

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