The first Student Assembly meeting of the term was marked by a combination of freshness and experience -- with a bevy of new leaders and student representatives introducing themselves and outlining their plans for the term, many emphasizing their newness to student government while others highlighted their past involvement with the Assembly.
The 45-minute meeting was brief but to the point, including introductions of student representatives, elections of two committee chairs, sign-ups for the Assembly's seven committees and descriptions of the committees' past achievements and future goals by their respective chairs.
The meeting marked the official commencement of the Assembly's new leadership, which includes not only Student Body President Janos Marton '04 and Vice President Julia Hildreth '05, but also seven committee chairs appointed by Marton and the newly-elected '06 Cluster Representatives.
Although Marton served as chair of the Student Assembly over the summer, the start of Fall term has brought a considerable changeover in leadership as committee heads and Membership and Internal Affairs Committee members -- many of them '03s and '05s who were off during the summer -- assume their positions.
Some students in attendance made reference to the changed mood and composition of the Assembly, remarking that there were "a lot of new faces out there" and joking about "the high concentration of Chi Gams and rugby players."
The overall tone of the meeting was light and energetic, with Marton and Hildreth managing to move swiftly through a packed agenda without having to quell the laughter that erupted after the frequent jokes and asides.
Emerging as one of the meeting's overarching themes was a goal of forging relationships between disparate elements of the Dartmouth community.
Diversity Affairs Committee head James Joun '03 explained his goal of coordinating programming between different campus groups to encourage collaboration while eliminating unintentional overlap.
Operating in a similar vein, the Student Organizations Committee will seek to coordinate various efforts toward environmental sustainability at the College. Part of the committee's aim is to fill in some of the gaps that result from a plethora of groups attending to different aspects of environmental sustainability, said Student Organizations Committee Chair Sally Newman '05.
"I want to try to bring sustainability on board at Dartmouth," Newman proclaimed. "We need to bring Dartmouth's structure to where we are in terms of ideals."
Marton and the committee chairs all emphasized the Assembly's potential to play a major role in fostering relationships between students and faculty, as well as between students and administrators.
Andy Edwards '04, after being unanimously approved as head of the Administration/Faculty Relations Committee, stressed the importance of forging a more understanding rapport with administrators.
"Typically, we only deal with the administration when something goes wrong," he said, "but if we can be more proactive, hopefully things won't be sprung on the student body out of nowhere."
Another major function of the Administration/Faculty Relations Committee will be to act as an intermediary between the administration and the Greek system, Marton said, citing a history of friction between the two groups and expressing a hope that the committee will help bridge some of the gaps in between their differing perspectives.
With regard to student-faculty relations, the Academic Affairs Committee will continue proponing the Undergraduate Teaching Initiative, Committee Chair Jonathan Lazarow '05 said.
The Student Life Committee, headed by Amit Anand '03, will work on matching up students and professors with similar extracurricular interests in an effort to promote interaction outside the classroom.
The Student Life Committee's primary focus, however, will be "a longer-term agenda" of studying financial aid packages and work-study wages at Dartmouth, particularly with regard to how they compare to aid and wages offered at peer institutions, Anand said.
This being the first meeting of the term, no resolutions were put forth for voting, but '04 Representative Reed Coggins announced that he plans to meet with Office of Residential Life officials about dorm access for students living in Hanover during their leave terms. The new door locking system prevents students not enrolled in classes from entering dorms. Coggins, who is off this term, said he aims to act as a "Student Assembly liason" for others and that he hopes to resolve the dilemma without drafting a resolution.
"Sometimes resolutions can seem to administrators more confrontational than just a meeting," he said.
The seven committees will commence their weekly meetings tomorrow.
