During Tuesday’s meeting, Student Council passed a resolution to extend the deadline for Student Evaluations of Teaching, which is an optional survey that the University releases at the end of each semester to gain student feedback on courses. Additionally, Student Council heard an update on funding from Valentina Mendoza Gonzalez, president of Student Council and fourth-year College student, and an update on Monday night’s Spring Activities Fair from Ryan Bowers, vice president for organizations and fourth-year Commerce student.
SET evaluations have a standard ten-day window — they are released to students seven days before the last day of the course and close three days after the course ends. The resolution passed Tuesday aims to extend the evaluation period to end after final exams have concluded.
Fourth-year Architecture Rep. Caleb Birnbaum sponsored the bill because he said the window during which SET evaluations are open is too short, ending before the final examination period is over. While he did not specify precisely how long the SET evaluations would be extended for with the bill, he said he feels that it is important for these evaluations to close after final exams are over.
“I’ve heard from many, and personally think so myself, that the [final] exam is a crucial part of a course and your ability to evaluate how well a course was taught and organized,” Birnbaum said.
Second-year College Rep. Jackson Sleadd pointed out that extending the deadline for a SET until after the final examination may result in students giving unjustified feedback on the course itself due to the potential of being upset over their grade.
“I would hate for SET evaluations to be based on grades,” Sleadd said. “Even if the class was good, if the teacher gives me a poor grade, sometimes I'm frustrated in the immediate post-exam period and not as reflective as I could be.”
Many representatives agreed, but also pointed out that many students already go onto websites like The Course Forum — a website allowing University students to rate their professors and write feedback — to give opinions of courses after receiving their final grade anyway. Eventually, a consensus was achieved that a student knowing their final grade before evaluating a course would actually be helpful.
Student Council passed the resolution, with 21 representatives in support, zero opposed and one abstention.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Mendoza Gonzalez shared that University President Jim Ryan’s funding to Student Council would be extended for two more years. According to Mendoza Gonzalez, this three-year $750,000 endowment from Ryan in fall 2023 was gifted to Student Council to expand Support and Access Services, which is a branch of Student Council that provides students with direct initiatives like low-cost access to textbooks and Student Legal Services.
Mendoza Gonzalez said that after a meeting with Ryan about two weeks ago, in which she discussed students’ dependence on SAS, he has agreed to extend this gift with another $250,000 to be split over the next two years.
“We met with President Ryan to update him on how the Support and Access Services were going after his gift.” Mendoza Gonzalez said. “We walked him through the data of how students utilize it, and the data showed that students really depend on the services that we provide. Following the conversation, President Ryan decided to extend his gift for two more years.”
However, Mendoza Gonzalez noted that even with this generous gift, Student Council is still working towards its goal of achieving funding independent of other sources, with their Capital Campaign which aims to raise funds through an online donation site.
“One thing that I really want to emphasize is that the [Capital Campaign] efforts are still on,” Mendoza Gonzalez said. “We’re super dedicated to building up our own autonomous fundraising efforts because we want Student Council to continue to be able to expand [services to students].”
Representatives also heard about the success of the Spring Activities Fair held Monday evening and hosted by the Organizations branch of Student Council — a branch that supports, oversees and helps fund CIOs. Unlike branches like the Cabinet, which implements long-term policy, or SAS, the work of the Organizations branch is not as visible to general University students on a daily basis, according to Bowers.
“Big events, like the Spring Activities Fair, are a great way to learn about what we’re doing and see our work in action,” Bowers said. “...our branch is a little less visible, compared to [the] Cabinet or SAS, so these opportunities [are] really nice.”
Bowers said the fair was the most successful Spring Activities Fair yet, with 150 CIOs hosting a booth and over 700 University students in attendance.
Student Council will reconvene Tuesday, Feb. 4, for another general body meeting.
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