By Grace Gottschling
Staff Writer
Student Government met with Director of Student Involvement Dave Conner and Interim Chief of Campus Police Tim Grant and officially recognized three new clubs during its general body meeting on April 11.
The College’s contract with the current Lion’s Gate software is up for renewal, but the College is considering replacing Lion’s Gate with something new to promote students’ use of the program, according to Conner. The two new programs being considered are called Presence.io and Involv.io.
Presence.io, has the “same look and feel as Lion’s Gate” but offers some new features, according to Conner. Presence.io has a mobile check-in feature, electronic form signature collection capabilities and would be able to integrate with the College’s existing Book-It program.
Involv.io is not new to the College, as it is currently used during the College’s Welcome Week. Involv.io, described by Connor as “a guide through a conference or event” can run fully on a mobile device and has a chat function as well.
The program has a QR code check-in feature that could be utilized for ID swipes at Eickhoff Hall, as well as other purchases on campus such as ticket sales. Involv.io also has an agenda feature that creates a unified calendar which students can use to sync their class schedule, Google Calendar and campus events.
Grant gave a presentation to SG about on-duty Campus Police officers in uniform using body cameras. Cameras have previously been installed on all Campus Police vehicles.
At this time, officers are being trained to use the body cameras properly. It has not yet been confirmed when all Campus Police officers will be equipped with body cameras.
If an officer wearing a body camera is asked if the camera is currently on or off, the officer must answer truthfully. The new policy will require officers to activate their body cameras during vehicle stops, a call for service or assistance, a motorist aid, arrests, civil disorder and an interrogation or transferal of individuals, according to Grant.
The officers are instructed to activate their body cameras before arriving on scene, throughout their encounters with civilians, during transportation of individuals to jail and when the officer is under duress. All recordings will be stored for a minimum of 90 days, according to Grant.
When an officer’s body camera is activated while in a residential building, the officer must declare to students present that the camera is on. The camera may not be used while in a K-12 academic institution or while minors are present, according to Grant.
The officers must deactivate their body cameras when requested unless there is a safety concern or the incident must be documented for evidentiary purposes, according to Grant.
The body cameras will not be equipped with enhanced audio and video capabilities, which include night vision, thermal imaging and sound amplification that would record conversations at a distance, Grant said.
The Brazilian-Portuguese Club, the Table Tennis Club and the Chinese Student Association Dragonflies Club were all approved and are now formally recognized by the College.
The Brazilian-Portuguese Club intends to unite members of the Latino community. The group’s goals are to co-sponsor events with other cultural clubs on campus to provide educational, social and service events.
The Table Tennis Club offers an opportunity for players to engage in tournaments and casual gameplay. If the group gets significant membership, the club would like to participate in competitions with other institutions outside of the College.
The CSA Dragonflies Club seeks to provide a community for those interested in learning more about Chinese culture through various forms of traditional dances. While affiliated with the Chinese Student Association, it is a separate organization. The club does not plan to hold auditions — students of all experience levels are welcome to join.
