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“Vassar faces significant financial constraints, but the VSA leadership sees the unique opportunity to act as innovators for change,” wrote Vassar Student Association (VSA) President Caitlin Ly ’10 in an e-mailed statement at the start of the semester. Armed with a new web site, the VSA Council has since tried to work to increase transparency and serve as mediators between the student body and the administration during these trying economic times, but has met with limited success.
The VSA began the year on a positive note, awarding $5,000 at its first meeting on Sept. 6 to the Community Shuttle program to allow it to keep operating. The following week, Council passed a new room-entry policy, specifying exactly when a Security officer or administrator can and cannot enter a student’s room uninvited. This policy was the result of two years of debate about the relationship between students and the
Security Department on campus, and was designed to help increase transparency.
“Security protocol often varies from officer to officer, which can leave students feeling confused and unsure of their own rights,” said Ly. “The room entry policy was designed to clarify the protocol to students and ensure that there are set procedures which everyone, including Security, Residential Life and the Dean of the College are comfortable with and are following on a regular basis.”
The new policy, however, could still be improved, says Ly. “The proposed addition to the Student Handbook on the Room Entry policy that Council passed earlier this semester can still could be improved.
Some members of [the Committee on College Life (CCL)] have raised some valid concerns that are worth addressing before the final document is passed,” she said.
In an effort to continue moving along these lines of increasing transparency, the VSA Executive Board introduced a security points system that would assign point values to specific offenses and would dole out punishments based on the number of points a specific student accrues. Although the Council did not vote on a formal plan, they agreed that it would be worth working to construct a revised version of the plan that would be acceptable to everyone.
As of Dec. 8, the future of this points policy is unclear, but CCL will soon decide whether or not the VSA should pursue this policy into the next semester.
The VSA’s largest success of the year, according to Ly, was Meet Me In Poughkeepsie on Oct. 10, which proved bested last year with regard to both events and participants. “Our biggest success of the semester was Meet Me in Poughkeepsie. The celebration seemed to lift people’s spirits during a time when morale seemed low.”
“There was a also a lot of work on the academic side of things that hasn’t been attributed to the VSA,” said Ly. “The Dean of the Faculty took action this fall to reduce course releases, and the VSA has been strong advocates for this change ever since the curriculum first came under threat last year.”
Despite making some proactive steps in terms of increasing transparency, the VSA has also been embroiled in its fair share of controversy this semester. On Sept. 13, VSA Vice President for Activities Aaron Grober ’11 introduced a new policy that would require VSA organizations traveling off campus to receive approval from the VSA four weeks in advance. The policy was introduced in response to complaints received regarding the Vassar ultimate frisbee team’s conduct at a tournament last March.
This proposal faced severe opposition from many organizations that regularly travel off of campus such as the ski team as well as from individuals who felt that it was wrong to enact a policy affecting everyone just to punish a single organization. The proposal passed only after the removal of the four-week notice policy.
Shortly afterward, frisbee caused another stir when the Council was later forced to fine the team for giving alcohol to minors during a practice.
The VSA has also been “frustrated by the lack of progress with [course evaluation questionnaires (CEQ)] moving online,” said Ly. The VSA had hoped to run a pilot program for these evaluations this semester, but there has been an effort on behalf of some faculty to prevent this change from occurring due to the fact that female and minority professors are statistically shown to receive worse reviews when the CEQs are online instead of on paper. That said, the VSA still plans to go forward with this program due to the amount of money that it would save the College.
Recently, the VSA has been at the center of the campus’ attention for endorsing a letter written by Adjunct Associate Professor of English Judith Nichols, presented to them by student representatives from the Campus Solidarity Working Group, which demanded the immediate cessation of all staff cuts.
The letter passed despite several inaccuracies in the letter, such as the claim that the administration is forcing members of the faculty to retire, in part because the Working Group gave them a three-day deadline.
Class and House Presidents, however, received a slew of e-mails from their constituents berating them for not consulting the student body before endorsing the letter.
What’s more, it was discovered that the deadline presented by the Working Group was actually incorrect, so the VSA passed a memorandum critiquing the letter and further specifying the VSA’s position on the issue of faculty cuts, although some members of Council felt that this went against the VSA’s original endorsement of the letter.
“I think the VSA’s greatest failing this semester was not consulting constituents before endorsing Judy Nichols’ letter,” wrote Class of 2012 President Eli Berns-Zieve in an e-mailed statement. Ly agreed, saying that, “at times council can be swayed by emotion.”
Conversly, “The VSA’s greatest success stems from this same incident—that is, the in-Council work done on crafting the accompanying memorandum,” continued Berns-Zieve.
“As far as improvements for next semester go, fostering a stronger sense of campus community—something that has come under scrutiny in recent weeks—is atop the list. I have already talked with constituents and some administrators concerning this issue,” he said.
Class of 2012 President Tanay Tatum agrees with Berns-Zieve’s sentiment. “My goal is to increase student familiarity and conformability with the VSA. Our responsibility is to be advocates for students, but it’s hard to do this when there’s so little communication. It’s especially hard for me since I represent a class of 600+ students and I am not in contact with most of my class on a day-to-day basis. I’ve learned, however, that e-mails and town halls are an ineffective means of communication. Next semester, I plan on developing new ways to engage with those I represent.”
The VSA’s goals for the next semester include reworking their special-purpose funds, refining the social consciousness requirement, working to create a peer advising database, trying to increase the amount of credit received for labs, implementing a meal-equivalency program in Arlington and continuing to support need-blind financial aid, among other projects.
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