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Dear Fellow Saints,
I am absolutely thrilled that The Script has offered SGA and I the opportunity to give you an update on what’s happening at CSS. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a crazy few weeks. Since the break, SGA held its two biggest events of the year: Winterfest dance and the Super Bowl Party we co-hosted with ResLife. We had over a hundred people at both, so they were very successful. Thank you to everyone who attended!
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to testify to the Minnesota Senate Higher Education Committee about why they should allocate funding to the Minnesota State Grant program. I think it’s incredibly alarming that the financial planning was so miscalculated that the program that provides financial aid to so many Scholastica students (including myself) is $211 MILLION short. I am hopeful that the Higher Education Committee will do something to rectify the situation.
I’m sure that by now, you’ve heard about the housing situation that CSS is facing for the next school year. It caught us off guard too. There were 547 applications for housing next year submitted by the February 1 deadline (for guaranteed housing), but there are currently only 486 available beds. To solve this issue, Residential Life decided to turn all four Bricks Apartments (Pine, Maple, Willow, and Birch) into 4 person housing instead of 2.
We suggested changing the residency requirement, but unfortunately this suggestion was not an option for ResLife on the basis of maximizing community and revenue. We also suggested that they create an off-campus housing page, which they did say they’d consider. Trustee Owen reiterated these things at the Trustee meeting he attended on Feb. 14, so more people are aware of the situation. Our concerns remain about incoming applications until Fall Semester, especially from international students who rely on on-campus housing.
You probably remember the letter that SGA sent out in October about director of Office of International Programs, Wynter Miller, leaving CSS once someone is hired. Within the last couple of weeks, the job position has been posted so a search can begin. With MPS’s departure, we are more concerned than ever about OIP support, as she was handling the in-person concerns that Wynter could not answer remotely. While we recognize that Student Affairs and OIP student support are doing the best they can, we are looking forward to the (hopeful) hiring of a new in-person director soon.
In that same letter, SGA opposed the suggested [Admissions] Welcome Center. Unfortunately, in a recent meeting, our previous assumption that the Welcome Center did not have to go on Tower Ground Floor was corrected by Academic Affairs Vice President Ryan Sandefer. He said that the Welcome Center must be on the Ground Floor. A working group was formed to give a recommendation to the CSS admin cabinet, led by President Barbara McDonald, and will determine its final recommendation later this week. SGA is hoping to mitigate the disruption that a Welcome Center will have on student life.
With former Dean of Students Megan Perry-Spears (tragically) leaving CSS, Student Affairs is going through the process of updating the job description to list the current responsibilities of the position. The new responsibilities of the Dean of Students position should be finalized this week, so hopefully the job will be posted in the next couple weeks. I know that it’s been hard without MPS—I’ve definitely struggled without her guidance and endless joy. If you have anything you used to ask her about, you can email Dory Kempf (dkempf@css.edu), or let SGA know. We’d love to help or just lend a listening ear!
SGA also recognizes that clubs have been struggling to print posters. Please know that you can print in any color printing lab on campus with no extra cost to you. Should you reach your limit of prints, just shoot IT an email and they will reset your print limit. We also are in conversations with administration on posters (or lack of posters) in the Student Center because we know how important it is to be able to hang your posters there. Administration has their own opinions on the appearance of the Student Center, and we are striving to find compromise.
In happier news, Academic Affairs Chair Ella has worked tirelessly with the CSS Library to get access to Libby, an electronic book and audiobook platform! I’ve used Libby for personal reading and listening (currently, I’m listening to Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros), so it’s going to be a great addition to our library.
In upcoming news: join us for Day at the Capitol on March 18, where any CSS student can advocate for the Minnesota State Grant program. Food and transportation is included. As always, stop by the SGA Office for a snack and drink at any time! We love when people visit.
Peace, love, and a little bit of pixie dust,
Maddy (aka President Ploof)
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