Raeanne Raccagno
Staff Writer
Student Government was given an overview of what the upcoming Middle States Commission on Higher Education visit will entail before discussing possible initiatives at its general body meeting on Oct. 9.
Middle States, a global institutional accreditor recognized by the United States Secretary of Education since 1952, according to their website, will be visiting the College from Oct. 20 through 23.
The presentation on the Middle States visit was led by the College’s leadership team, consisting of Joseph Baker, faculty co-chair and chemistry professor, and Jennifer Palmgren, assistant provost and Middle States accreditation liaison officer.
“This is a voluntary process, but if institutions want to be recognized as offering quality programs, they need to be accredited,” said Palmgren. “Institutions are required as part of this process to go through reaffirmation of their accreditation every eight to 10 years.”
The College’s last reaffirmation was 10 years ago, but Palmgren and Baker started the self-study process two years ago, in the fall of 2022. This involved the assembly of the leadership and data inventory team and attendance at the self-study institute.
Each semester, the leadership and data inventory team have been completing more components of the process, and the operation will conclude with the visit of peer evaluators. The visiting team is chaired by Darrell P. Wheeler, president of SUNY New Paltz.
“They'll be evaluating us both to make sure we meet basic federal compliance standards, but also for the overall quality of our programs and what we have to offer for students, faculty and staff,” Palmgren said.
The visit will kick off on Oct. 20 with an open reception once the team arrives where they will see posters from students who participated in the Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience and learn more about the creative work and activities that occur on campus.
This will lead to the formalities of the visit, which start on Oct. 21. About 30 meetings will occur in two days. The campus community is invited and encouraged to engage in some of the open sessions where they can hear directly from the team on Oct. 21 from 9 to 9:45 a.m. in the Business Building Lounge and Oct. 23 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Library Auditorium, where the team will read their final report.
The general body then switched gears and had a brainstorming activity where they set up posters around the room with different areas of interest on campus that included dining, parking, academic services, housing, mental health services, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Students then broke into groups and crowded around the topic they felt most passionate about to discuss any potential proposals.
An issue brought up in the diversity, equity and inclusion area was the certain stigma surrounding specific majors.
One student said, “there's so many majors that have a lot more stigma … coming in, people defer away from those majors because they're afraid that they're not going to feel comfortable or accepted. And so people are actually pushed out of their interest because they're like, well, ‘what if people, you know, are going to treat me wrong or not include me in all their things?’”
The group of students suggested having more advertisements or promoting the departments in the College have diversity to help diminish any anxiety potential first-years may have toward some programs.
A group of commuters flocked to the parking poster where they talked about expensive parking passes and enforcing the parking requirement because they noticed how a large number of students were not paying for parking.
Additionally, the group suggested a new feature on the ROAR app where students can check out their parking spot once they arrive on campus to help other students determine where available spots are while arriving for classes.
One student who discussed mental health services said, “I never really learned my mental health awareness in high school, so I feel like I never was aware about [it] until I started meeting people here about it.”
They suggested SG give handouts to clubs and other organizations regarding spreading awareness of mental health services and incorporating them more into campus activities.
Another topic that sparked dialogue was housing, where SG members reiterated that living conditions need to be improved. They also ranked first-year housing options with Norsworthy being first, followed by Cromwell, Centennial, ABE and lastly the Towers.
In academic services, students proposed the idea of having online tutoring, similar to Khan Academy, and the idea of free test prep. They also said there should be more study and common areas in each academic school.
In the dining services group, the students talked about those with dietary restrictions or allergies having limited options on campus and how more options should be available to students on the weekends.
“I really don't want the conversation to just end here though,” said Jared Williams, the executive president of SG. Williams stressed how the SG cabinet members are willing to support students along the way while pursuing initiatives on campus, before the meeting transitioned into its new business portion.
Aria Chalileh, SG’s vice president for governmental affairs, shared how a pickleball club is looking to become a recognized student organization.
The organization has been working with Recreation and Wellness to host some of its events, but is looking to expand its outreach and resources. Pickleball club has around 200 members in its GroupMe, including an active executive board which holds elections each year.
The prospective student organization wants to teach other students how to play, host tournaments and have speaking sessions held by some alumni who are involved in the sport to share their experience. The club will be attending the next general body meeting on Oct. 16 to give a presentation and seek approval for becoming a recognized student organization.
Editor’s note: One of The Signal’s news editors, Kate Zydor, is Student Government’s Vice President for Student Services. She does not assist with writing or editing stories about Student Government.
