Committee presents SV2C to university leadership

By Tina Nazerian     1/23/13 6:00pm

There's a second Vision for the Second Century at Rice, joining President David Leebron's as another guide for the future of the university. 

This Tuesday, the Student Association presented the Student Vision for the Second Century to Leebron, Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson and other university leaders. 

The Student V2C has 10 points which focus on undergraduates and cover different aspects of Rice, SV2C Committee Co-Chair Kathleen Barker said. 

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"We have 10 points ... ranging from a lot of different areas of campus from academics to ... wellness and balance to ... the Rice identity and study abroad and what kinds of students we send out into the world," Barker, a Brown College senior, said. "We, of course, talk about the residential colleges. We talk about financial accessibility ... so those are sort of the overarching things." 

The SV2C is centered around undergraduates and undergraduate life, Barker said. 

"If you read Leebron's V2C, there's a point on undergraduates, and it is very, very good, and it has got a lot of interesting stuff in it," Barker said. "But out of 10 points, [only] one focuses on undergraduates." 

Leebron said that the SV2C was consistent with his V2C. 

"The students have obviously put a lot of thought into this, and formulated recommendations that would serve Rice well in the long run," Leebron said. 

However, Leebron noted that there are a number of financial difficulties which the SV2C does not address. 

"We will all need to work together to find out where money can be saved and revenues raised in order to undertake improvements and new ventures," Leebron said. 

Barker said one key aspect of the SV2C is a new Rice Memorial Center. 

"There were a lot of ... student-life resources pieces and [pieces about] engaging the wider Rice community as opposed to being very broken out between colleges," Barker said. "The growing student population could really use a better space, a better space for clubs, a better space for ... programs like Leadership Rice." 

The SV2C also looks at the curriculum, stress level and wellness, Barker said. 

"We want to look at ... the curriculum ... to see if there's a way to incorporate professional development [and] potentially look at whether you could, in terms of ... stress level on campus and wellness, [make it] so that when people take four classes, that's not necessarily viewed negatively," Barker said. 

Getting more students engaged and bolstering university pride are also in the works, Barker said. 

"In terms of Rice engagement and Rice pride, there are ways that you can just ... promote students," Barker said. "We thought the Centennial was a really great model of getting students really engaged .... To do more programs like that ... could be really great for the university." 

The idea of the SV2C was originated last year, under the leadership of former Student Association president Georgia Lagoudas (Lovett '12), Current Student Association President Sanjula Jain said. 

"[Lagoudas] was ... just reflecting upon her experience at Rice, and with the role of president, you're constantly talking to your officers [about] new projects," Jain said. "She noticed it would be cool for everyone to reflect upon the things they saw for Rice while moving forward." 

To read the full report, visit sa.rice.edu/sv2c. 

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