Student Assembly Minutes
October 26th, 2009
Call to Order: 9:04 p.m.
Dave Smallen: Google Migration
a. Still in the planning phase regarding how the Google migration will work
b. Will have more information regarding the timeline by the end of November
c. Would like some guidance from the student population, survey from Technology Committee will be sent out soon
d. The thought has been to make the switch so that students don't need to perform the switch themselves
e. Moving mail from the current system to the Google system will be an automated process
i. Will not be instantaneous, but the process may be similar to registration in the sense of converting groups of students over the course of a week and not all at once
ii. Those having their accounts transferred would only lose access for an hour
iii. Old mail, as it moves over, may take up to 24 hours to completely transfer
iv. Have considered starting the process sometime around 9:00 a.m. because students would either be in class or getting ready for class and old mail would have already been checked prior to that time
v. Had not planned on starting the conversion after class hours or very early in the morning because IT help would not be available
f. Having the transfer occur over a break would be difficult because if students need help they wouldn't have access to it
g. Will be soliciting people who want to be early in the process
h. E-mail addresses will not change
i. Listservs and e-mail folders would be the same on Google
j. Students tend not to use clients to access their mail, but if you use a client then you would need to reconfigure your address once the conversion occurs
k. Expected savings are around $40,000/year
l. Google believes that since this is a mobile generation, it is important for students to be able to access their e-mail from their smart phones
m. Not many students or faculty use the personal calendar on the current e-mail system
Update on Course Evaluations Deadline Resolution
a. Last February the Student Assembly passed a resolution regarding the deadline of course evaluations
b. This resolution urged the extension of the course evaluation deadline until the end of finals week
c. As students are trying to get all of their work done, filling out their course evaluations is not as much of a priority during the last week of classes
d. If you do not fill out your course evaluations, your grades are withheld for an additional period of time
e. The quality of the responses falls into question even though 93% of students filled out their course evaluations
f. Having the evaluations due on the final day of class does not allow the student to evaluate the final exam
Funding
a. After reassessing the budget and earmarking what is needed for the big items for this semester, the Funding Committee has decided that, after this week, the maximum amount has been allocated for this semester
b. This is the second year that organizations have been asked to submit semester-long budgets
c. The Funding Committee has been very specific in reviewing the budgets
d. Club sports, HAVOC, and Alternative Spring Break have grown in terms of their necessary funding and the SA budget has remained the same
e. The Funding Committee will continue to meet and will continue to emphasize that organizations who submit semester-long budget proposals are given priority next semester
f. Hamilton College Chemical Society receives full funding
Spent this week: $105.00
Funding decisions pass unanimously
Committee Reports
Food
i. There is now another toaster in Commons to the right of the spreads
Technology
i. Will be meeting with Dave Smallen this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in the Commons balcony
ii. November movies have been ordered
Facilities
i. Lighting in Commons is being evaluated, particularly towards the back side of the dining area
ii. The fire alarms in Babbit and Millbank can't be heard in the bathrooms and therefore are being reevaluated
iii. Crosswalks and speed bumps have been painted
Student Interests
i. An e-mail will be sent out regarding the new meeting times
ii. Will have a table set up in Beinecke for the thank you cards for the Kirkland Police, EMT Services, and Fire Department
Social Traditions
i. Fall Fest was yesterday and went really well! Thanks to everyone who volunteered and stopped by!
ii. Currently working on the Citrus Bowl and deciding between two dates with the hockey team
iii. Will be meeting Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in KJ 101
iv. Anyone with t-shirt ideas please e-mail soctrad@hamilton.edu
Announcements
Based on the results from the survey taken a few weeks back, HEAG and the dining hall have decided to put the trays in Commons behind the pizza station, available upon request, in hopes of reducing waste and volume of items needing to be washed. Please e-mail sschultz@hamilton.edu or vgrieves@hamilton.edu with questions or concerns.
Meeting adjourned: 9:43 p.m.
