university senate

The University Senate will convene for its last session of the semester Friday to tie up loose ends and make final decisions regarding issues of discrimination and diversity on campus.

With student-council elections in full swing, University Senate races can all too easily pass unnoticed. Many students know little about the purpose and activities of the senate, let alone the candidates running for office. To keep the University better informed about what it does, and to keep abreast of University opinion, the senate should restructure its Web site and seek out regular input from students and faculty.

In response to a string of hate crimes last semester, the University Senate External Relations committee and Student Affairs committee will present a collaborative report at today’s University Senate meeting. The monthly gathering, the penultimate of the semester, also has a longer-than-usual agenda which includes a speech by the chair of the Board of Trustees, William Campbell, CC ’62 and TC ’64.

Discussions about the state of housing for the School of General Studies students came to a climax at a University Senate Housing Committee hearing on Friday.

The University Senate will hear about the housing concerns of School of General Studies students and graduate students at a hearing on Friday. Several GS students have admitted to living in Butler Library for short periods of time while unable to find other accommodations, and many feel they are denied services to which other undergraduates are entitled.

If you have ever been in Butler Library at four in the morning and seen students curled up between two chairs, there is a chance they were not there simply to study—they might be living there.

Everybody knows about the council presidents. However, not many know that another student legislative body exists that works—often behind the scenes—to influence policy at the University level and improve the student experience throughout the University.

Columbia’s physical and economic growth dominated discussion at the final University Senate meeting Thursday in Schermerhorn, where about 40 senators received reports on the progress of Manhattanville plans and the University’s endowment.

In an unusually short meeting Thursday afternoon, the University Senate touched on Columbia’s proposed expansion, the Core Curriculum, and the hunger strikes.