Archive for August 2009

Request for Candidates

Posted by Chris Given on Monday, August 31st, 2009

Student Association Treasurer
What is it?: The treasurer administers the Student Convocation Fund, and ensures that your money is being spent and managed properly.
Who can be it?: This position is open to students with two semesters’ experience on the Planning Committee. If no one meets this requirement, the position will be opened to those without this experience.
How do I get it?: Submit a nominating petition with the signatures of fifty (50) students to me by Sunday, September 6th at 8pm, as well as a brief statement explaining why you’d make a great Treasurer.

Student Senate (4 open positions)
What is it?: The Student Senate investigates student views on issues, and ensures that the rest of Student Government is adhering to what students want.
Who can be it?: These positions are open to anyone. One slot is reserved for a first-year candidate.
How do I get it?: Submit a nominating petition with the signatures of twenty-five (25) students to me by Sunday, September 6th at 8pm, as well as a brief statement explaining why you’d make a great Senator.

Arts Division, Educational Policies Committee (2 open positions)
What is it?: The EPC evaluates faculty members up for review, and works to improve academic policies at Bard.
Who can be it?: These positions must be filled by students moderated into the Division of the Arts.
How do I get it?: Submit a brief statement to me by Sunday, September 6th at 8pm, explaining why you’d make a great EPC member.

Posted in Votes | No Comments »

TONIGHT @ 5pm: Student Government Info Session

Posted by Chris Given on Thursday, August 20th, 2009

It seems as though the summer is coming to an altogether too-rapid end. But tonight I’ll be taking a break from my insane end-of-summer work schedule to talk to first-year students about student government. Should be fun, especially with the promise of food. The blurb is as follows:

Want to know how to start a club and get funding? Want to learn how the Student Judiciary Board works? Want to have a say in whether your professors get rehired? Want to be a force for change at Bard? Come and learn more! Refreshments will be served.

Thursday, August 20, 5pm, George Ball Lounge, Campus Center

Tags: L&T
Posted in Meetings | No Comments »

Local Elections

Posted by Chris Given on Monday, August 17th, 2009

Something important

Late last week, Ken Cooper from Security sent out a ‘Security Alert’ to the first-year class that pretty strongly discouraged them from voting locally. Professor Jonathan Becker, who coordinates many of the get-out-the-vote efforts at Bard, wrote a response that is worth reposting here in full.

Dear Students:

I am writing to you on behalf of election.bard.edu, which runs many of the election related activities at Bard.

You might have noticed a note from my friend and colleague Ken Cooper on the relationship between jury duty and voter registration. As you will come to see, Ken is the master of the quirky email, for which he has a cult following on campus. However, in this instance I thought it would be helpful to write a follow-up on this subject to provide a bit more context.

Read More…

Tags: Local Elections, Security
Posted in News | 1 Comment »

L&T: BARC

Posted by Chris Given on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

barc Welcome to campus, new Bard students. I’ve enjoyed meeting those of you I’ve met. Those who I haven’t, I look forward to it.

I’m currently sitting in BARC: the Bard Academic Resources Center. Maybe your professor has mentioned us in class, or maybe not, but BARC is a great place to get help on any assignment you have during L&T and after. Not only can you come in with an essay to be looked at, but we (the so-called peer tutors) are happy to help you during any stage of the writing process, whether it’s generating ideas or questions, trying to figure out how to structure your essay, or perfecting a near-finished draft.

Tags: Academic Resources
Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Elections and Getting Involved

Posted by Chris Given on Friday, August 7th, 2009

This is the final post in a series intended for the first-year class. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading along this week, and I look forward to meeting you after you arrive at Bard tomorrow.

So what if simply attending Student Forums just isn’t enough for you? What’s the next step?

Well, the two components of the title are not the same, or in other words, getting involved does not necessarily equal getting elected to something. So though you can of course run for a position, the dynamics of which I’ll explain below, there are other ways to have some input.

This website will be a great starting point for that. Here we’ll keep you updated on the latest issues we’re grappling with, and your input can shape the kind of policies we pursue. Also, though Forums are generally regarded as the Main Event, there are a variety of smaller settings where it’s possible for you to have a much greater impact. For example, both the Student Life Committee and the Senate have open meetings, which any interested student can attend. Also, once the semester gets started, we’ll likely be scheduling some additional meetings to discuss other issues. One particularly exciting topic to be discussed is how students can help shape the development of technology at Bard, something that we’ll start working on early in the semester.

For all of this and much more, stay tuned to the Calendar.

Of course, there are also elections. The politically inclined among you should follow me past the jump.

Tags: Elections, Website
Posted in Student Government, Votes | 79 Comments »

The Student Judiciary Board and Your Rights

Posted by Chris Given on Thursday, August 6th, 2009

This is the penultimate post in a series intended for the incoming first-year class. This post concerns the SJB, the Grievance Committee, and your rights as a student at Bard. Andy Simon, the head of the SJB, is off doing things much more important than writing blog posts for me, so I’ll fill in today with a brief overview of the Student Judiciary Board and the Grievance Committee. Be sure to join us tomorrow to learn about how you personally can get involved in student government at Bard.

Like many colleges, Bard has a Student Judiciary that hears cases involving infringement of college rules. The SJB seeks to preserve the well-being of the entire Bard community, and to protect the right of all students to live and learn in a safe and dignified environment. Any student accused of violating either the terms of the Residence Hall Agreement or the Community Standards of Behavior has the right to defend themself before their fellow students and to have these peers decide what disciplinary action they should face. In so doing, it allows the student body, to the extent possible, to be self-regulated.

The SLC and the Responsibility of Social Engagment

Posted by Jeremy Carter-Gordon on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

This is the third in a series of posts intended for the incoming first-year class. I’d like to introduce Jeremy Carter-Gordon, the chair of the Student Life Committee. When I first met Jeremy last year, he was waging a huge campaign to improve food policy at Bard, which you’ll hear about below. That effort was a triumphant success. This year, as SLC head, he’ll be helping others to realize similar visions for how to improve Bard. We can expect some exciting results. – Chris G.

In this post, I will introduce the role and structure of the Student Life Committee, as well as some of our recent activities. I also ask that all members of the incoming class (and any student) get engaged with the SLC in some form. Bard’s student government is based upon the responsibility of the individual to take an active role in creating the change that they see as necessary. We have the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, and it is on our shoulders to pursue it.

As you begin your time at Bard, you will (hopefully) be excited to be in a new place, living a different lifestyle, and meeting new people. Living on a campus as opposed to in a town or city can be a really exciting experience, and Bard is a beautiful place to stay. However, nowhere is perfect, and over the course of four years, everyone will find something about life on campus that they wish was different. The Student Life Committee works to evaluate the needs of students and then to negotiate with the administration and Bard-hired contractors to make changes that improve your quality of life on campus. If you want more shuttles buses, better wireless coverage, different food at Kline, a better registration system, or more job opportunities, the SLC can help!

In Control of Our Own Cash

Posted by Travis McGrath on Monday, August 3rd, 2009

This is the second in a series of posts intended for the incoming first-year class. This post, written by Travis McGrath, the head of the Planning Committee, is cross-posted from the Hopson Cottage Blog, where it originally appeared. Travis was supposed to write something new, but an unfortunately timed vacation interfered. However, in the coming weeks, Travis will be updating this site with more specific information. – Chris G.

To start out I want to say I am not a blogger. This is new so if I ramble please bear with me. I’m writing to tell you (whoever you might be) about club funding at Bard.

Anyone at Bard can start a club and get funding. Not only can anyone start a club, they can make clubs about anything, and I mean anything. Alongside the Free Press (our newspaper) and the Jewish Students’ Organization we have Flying Eagle Falcon Squad (an acrobatics group that gives stilt lessons on Thursdays) and the Foursquare Club. Last semester we had 111 clubs sign up for budgets. What makes this so cool is that all these clubs get their funding through a process completely controlled by students.

The Student Association 101

Posted by Chris Given on Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

This is the first in a series of posts intended for the incoming first-year class. In this post, I will introduce the concepts of the Student Association, Student Government and its structure, and the Student Forum. In subsequent posts, we will examine each of the committees in turn, before finally looking at how you personally can get more involved.

Welcome to Bard! And welcome to the Bard College Student Association! By simply showing up next week, you automatically become a member. Congratulations!

Most colleges have a Student Government Association. Bard has a Student Association Government. Though the difference is usually obliterated when both are colloquially referred to as student government, it is significant. At Bard, the Student Association is the keystone of student organizations. Student government is just what holds it up.