The Gavel: Senate debuts ‘open forum’ format in skyway

Senate debuts open forum. (photograph by: Shannon Beelman)

With a tap of the gavel Brad Conley, president of the MCTC Student Senate, commenced a new “open forum” Wednesday afternoon on the skyway of the Technical Building, next to Josephine’s Café.

Accenting the parliamentary minutia of student government, Conley asked student organization representatives to introduce themselves and their clubs to the group. Attendance was light and did not fulfill quorum for a general business meeting, but no business was up for consideration.

“If there’s a word for something less than a skeleton crew, that’s what I’m doing right now,” Conley said.

The Senate’s by-laws also waive quorum requirements for the first two weeks.

Conley explained that student fees, though individually tweaked, remained unchanged in total. Tuition increased to $173.06 from $165.81 for general education courses last year.

Leadership openings

Three senate executive board positions are open and are expected to be elected in the first week of October. The open positions are the Directors of Finance, Legislative Affairs and Diversity, which was created in fall 2010.

Students interested in joining the executive board have a 2-week period to file application materials, followed by a 2-week nomination process. Students must be in good academic standing, be taking at least 6 credits and be current senators, which is possible after attending two consecutive senate meetings.

Conley voiced his desire for the energy of the senate to come from individual senators rather than from the leadership of the body.

Administration introduced

A major portion of the open forum was dedicated to introducing administration figures and facilitating question-and-answer sessions between them and students.

First up, Chief Information Officer Jim Dillemuth welcomed students and fielded questions about the campus’ technology initiatives. He discussed the $100 balance students will receive per semester for printing purposes in the campus computer labs. That balance will not rollover to new terms.

Dillemuth reiterated that students should activate their new student email addresses. The college began a transition last year from addresses ending in metnet.edu to addresses ending in go.minneapolis.edu, enlisting a service offered by Microsoft. Metnet.edu email addresses will go offline by the end of this year.

Laura Fedock, the college’s Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs, called up other administration members and waxed about missing student during the summer.

“Not having you here in summer is not as much fun,” Fedock said. “I hope that you’re able to see a lot of improvements in student enrollment services.”

She introduced Angie Christensen, director of financial aid, Hermes Cervantes, interim dean of students, and April Hanson, director of orientation.

Christensen detailed new outreach the financial aid department has undertaken, such as emailing students to remind them to apply for financial aid. The financial aid office has also hired additional staff, she said, and they have performed cross-training so that staff can answer both financial aid and enrollment questions.

“I truly believe that has helped improve the lines this year,” Christensen said.

Hanson then touted an increased number of orientations with less students per orientation. She said the college saw about 1,800 students go through orientation. More orientations and less students per event help students better register for appropriate classes and, in turn, staff can devote more time to each student.

Almost 600 students attended the Connect Day orientation event, she said. About 800 attended Welcome Day, held on August 20.

New advisor assignments

Hermes Cervantes talked about the new assigned advisors for students based on the academic program in which they are enrolled. Eventually, all students will have an assigned advisor. This is part of a process to revamp the advising and counseling services MCTC offers and will be tied in with career services.

He suggested that current system isn’t working and that students didn’t necessarily know about the resources available to them.

“[If] you need someone to talk to [in a crisis], there are counselors to talk to,” Cervantes said.

Students will meet at least once with their assigned advisor during each semester, and they will receive emails, if they have not already, soon detailing their advisor assignment. However, undecided majors will not have an advisor.

“Many students come here lost. ‘What should I get into? Well, nursing. There’s a lot of jobs.’ Well, if you’re not sure at the beginning, get help. You want to match your interests,” he said. “We can guide you with our career and academic advisors.”

He warned against switching majors two or three times. One, it will cost more, he said, and two, students may be cut off from financial aid for breaching the maximum timeframe in which students must complete their program.

And the help from counselors and advisors? “Guess what?” he said. “It’s free!”

Counselors should connect with student organizations and vice versa, he said.

Yvette Trotman, special assistant on diversity and anti-bias issues, talked about her initiatives from the past academic year and explained future developments. The college will be hiring a full-time diversity director, she said, and will provide additional leadership training.

Trotman then shifted and asked attendees, “Why student senate?”

Among the replies were: “So you can have a voice.” “So you can improve yourself personally.” “So you can be the difference you want to see.”

Phil Davis, MCTC president, and Scott Erickson, VP and Chief Financial Officer, were listed on the agenda but were unable to attend.

Call to include more student life events

Tara Martinez, director of student life, handed out student life brochures and calendars to attendees, saying, “What do they say? ‘Pictures are worth a thousand words.’”

She encouraged students and organizations to add their events to upcoming student life calendars.

Martinez also noted that the Boynton Student Health Clinic will be opening next week. The clinic will offer both primary care and mental health services, and students need not worry about insurance.

“That’s it. We shoot for four o’clock,” Conley said, as he wrapped up the meeting in the bustling skyway area.