Student Association Minutes
The following were noted at the most recent meetings of the Student Association on Nov. 19 and 26.
Nov. 19:
? ?Duncan College Senator Chynna Foucek said the director of Brown University's Center for Teaching Excellence will be presenting on his center's policies on Dec. 5 at 9:30 a.m. in Humanities Building Room 119.
? ?President David Leebron spoke about what has changed over the last decade at Rice and the university's plans moving forward.
? ?Leebron said the number of yearly applicants has doubled, fewer accepted students choose to attend Rice, and the graduate and undergraduate population have both increased by over 30 percent. Leebron said tuition revenue has almost tripled and scholarship assistance has almost quadrupled.
? ?Leebron said the projects closest to being fully funded and breaking ground are a new tennis facility, a building for the Glasscock School for Continuing Studies and the Klein Hall for Social Sciences. Construction on the new tennis facility is set to begin in the spring of 2013. He said the current tennis facilities do not meet the standards necessary for hosting a conference tournament.
? ?Leebron said the reason Rice has remained stagnant at No. 17 in the U.S. News & World Report ranking is because of its less visible national reputation and its lower graduation and retention rate compared to some peer institutions. Rice's current four-year graduation rate is 79 percent. In comparison, Duke University's is 89 percent and Stanford University's is 87 percent, according to the U.S. News & World Report website. Along with improving graduation statistics, Rice is working hard to increase its media visibility, he said.
? ?Leebron said Rice is made up of a large percentage of Texas students because the university does not have the ambition to become a Northeastern university located in Houston. The Rice experience is intended to be distinctly Texan, Leebron said.
? ?McMurtry College senior Henry Deng and Aakash Keswani (Lovett '12) presented about the Rice Student Action Team, which would have students working with professional advisers identify issues, develop projects in response to issues and enact solutions to these problems.
? ?Students made various complaints regarding the RSAT presentation. Few individuals present were aware of the preliminary discussions for RSAT. Other students questioned the legitimacy of placing extensive power in the hands of unelected students and community members. Attendees questioned the overlap in roles of governance between the SA, RSAT and college governments.
Nov. 26:
? ?SA Internal Vice President Gabrien Clark introduced the Environmental, Student Life and Academics Committees for presentations about ongoing projects. These three committees each contain four to five different project-based subcommittees.
? ?The Environmental Committee's five projects include increasing the size and quality of the bike-sharing program, partnering with composting businesses to reduce Rice's ecological footprint and improving the ease of recycling across campus by adding outdoor recycling bins. To reduce Rice's energy consumption, one subcommittee is working with chemistry labs to monitor their fume hood usage. Another group is planning to have LEDs installed in the Sid Richardson College Commons.
? ?The Student Life Committee's current initiatives include increasing the support available for first-generation college students, enhancing resources for off-campus students and improving parking in the interests of students. To increase student attendance at athletic events, a subcommittee plans to install a semi-permanent banner outside of Fondren Library with weekly athletic schedules.
? ?The Academics Committee's projects include working to identify and remove obstacles to studying abroad and publicizing the available opportunities. Groups collaborating with the Office of the Registrar are working to make electronic transcripts available and to put together a student response about the spring registration system via a survey and focus group. Another group mentioned plans to create a centralized website for fellows programming and resources in order to increase collaboration between academic fellows at various colleges.
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