Pledging to continue its support for the Undergraduate Teaching Initiative's Profiles in Excellence Teaching Award, the Student Assembly voted unanimously last night to keep the award under its own jurisdiction rather than allow other student organizations to co-sponsor the program.
"I think it's important that this be just an SA thing," Julie Webb '04 said, arguing against a suggestion by Student Body President Janos Marton '04 to add an amendment that would open the award to co-sponsorship. "This way we can take credit for it and emphasize that this is our baby."
Passage of the resolution provoked minimal debate, with members voicing their concerns in the form of questions rather than making an explicit case against the resolution or the proposed amendment.
Some members wondered whether there was a way for the Assembly to recognize outstanding teaching without committing $500 per term, but members of the Academic Affairs Committee countered that the money is put to good use.
Most of the allotted sum goes toward an open dinner-discussion about the importance of undergraduate teaching at Dartmouth, an event committee members said is very much needed.
"We're trying to re-center the College on what it does best -- undergraduate teaching," committee chair Jonathan Lazarow '05 said, arguing that the dinner-discussion featuring the winning professor fulfills that very function.
Other Assembly members wanted to know how the Academic Affairs Committee -- which reviews the award nominations -- will decide what constitutes "excellence" or "outstanding teaching."
"What's important to us is how professors relate and commit themselves to students, both inside and outside the classroom," Lazarow explained.
The award seeks to recognize somewhat intangible qualities, Lazarow acknowledged, but said that professors' merit will be made clear in the nominations students submit.
Assembly members overseeing the Tom Dent Cabin -- which the Assembly owns and runs on a reservation basis -- downplayed the effects of small fire that broke out at the cabin last week and emphasized instead the recent noise complaints that student use of the cabin has provoked from community members.
The fire occurred last Wednesday night after graduate students using the cabin pushed one of the pieces of furniture against a radiator, Assembly Secretary David Hankins '05 said.
The incident is currently being investigated by Safety and Security and Facilities, Operation and Management, Hankins said, adding that Tom Dent is currently closed for reservations but will be available again on Oct. 28.
The most recent noise complaint occurred on the night of the fire, but the Assembly was not notified until the next day, Jared Alessandroni '03 said. He noted that when the cabin reopens, it will be important for the Assembly to make clear to students that they will be held accountable for their behavior at Tom Dent.
At the 5th annual Greening of the Ivies Conference, representatives from all over the Ivy League, including a Dartmouth Student Assembly representative, resolved to make recycled paper the only type used on their respective campuses, Student Organizations Chair Sally Newman '05 told the Assembly.
A resolution to put the funding of a $1,000 event "to promote campus unity" under the control of the Diversity Affairs Committee also passed unanimously and without debate among the Assembly.
