By Alex Shapiro
Columnist
Student Government held a presentation made by the College’s dining employees, introduced four resolutions and debated on two student organizations at its meeting on April 24.
SG began the meeting by welcoming Sodexo and TCNJ Dining Services staff.
Sodexo is working on promoting sustainability and increasing the number of options it provides to students. It is working toward labeling its appropriate food choices as vegan or vegetarian, so that students with dietary restrictions know what is safe to consume.
Chefs at Eickhoff Hall try to use pre-cut items that are packaged to ensure that food is fresh and not over-produced. TCNJ Dining Services members said that eliminating wasted food is a priority for the chefs at the College.
Sodexo is looking to grow its relationship with the College community through cooking classes, election advertising and organization partnerships. Through these organization partnerships, Sodexo would feature cupcakes or baked goods to spread the word about an event or campaign.
Sodexo encouraged students who have any dining suggestions or inquiries to contact TCNJ Dining Services.
SG continued the meeting by introducing several resolutions, the first being R-S2019-08, “Final Examination Scheduling Procedure for Classes in the Same Department.”
The bill is in regards to the fact that students at the College do not have a say in when their final exams are held. SG urged the scheduling team in Records and Registration to create a new final exam procedure for exams in the same department.
The general body insisted that the College’s scheduling team should avoid scheduling final examinations in the same department a day apart. Instead, SG maintained that they should be scheduled at least one week after each other.
This change is intended to help students better prepare for their examinations and alleviate stress. The bill will be further debated at the next meeting.
SG discussed the next resolution, R-S2019-09, “In Support of Expanding Mental Health Resources during Welcome Week.”
The purpose of the resolution is to ensure that new students at the College have at least three trained professional staff members from Counseling and Psychological Services on call during Welcome Week, which is intended to provide students with counseling and support when needed. The resolution will be further discussed at the next meeting.
SG then introduced the third resolution R-S2019-11, “In Support of the END all Hazing Act” and the REACH Act.”
The bill emphasizes that SG condemns all acts of hazing on college campuses and urges the U.S. Congress to sign the “END All Hazing Act” and “REACH Act” to increase transparency within Greek life for members of their college or university. The bill was only introduced, and will be debated at the next meeting.
Next, SG welcomed members of Active Minds, who presented on why they should be a recognized organization at the College.
Active Minds’ purpose is to support mental health and remove stigmas surrounding the topic. The organization aims to spread awareness and educate the student body on mental health issues, as well as serve as a platform for students to discuss mental health. The members intend on creating social media campaigns with CAPS, organizing events with the Yoga Humanitarian Club and hosting various fundraisers.
After a vote by the general body, the organization was approved and is now recognized as an official club at the College.
The next organization to present was the American String Teachers Association. According to the organization’s presentation, the purpose of the organization is to “provide professional development, career building and support and a community of peers for all teachers of stringed instruments.”
The goal for members is to attend and network at national conferences and conventions. The organization also plans on working locally with the “Foundation Academy” in Trenton, as well as hosting bake sales and apparel sales.
After a vote by the general body, the ASTA was approved and is now recognized as an official College organization.
Next, SG introduced a resolution, S2019-07, “Charging Steering to Create a Parking Master Plan.”
According to SG, which received the information from the College, students are charged $68.24 per semester, while residential students are charged $160 per semester for parking.
SG believes a campus-wide parking master-plan could be utilized to address issues such as growth, access and parking equity.
SG recognized the need for a long-term plan to address the concerns of parking among all stakeholders in the community.
“Be it further resolved (for)SG of The College of New Jersey charges the Steering Committee to designate an appropriate Governance Committee member to create a formal parking master plan for our institution,” the bill read.
The general body passed the resolution and it has been sent to the Steering Committee for further deliberation.
