Uni Point Day Pictures and Commentary, the Interim Carousel, Dining Issues, Concord Card changes, Change machine, Officer Pay, and Ad Hoc Committees

Hello students of Concord,

Yesterday had to have been the most interesting day of my presidency so far. As everyone knows, there has been quite a few interesting pieces of news at Concord the past few weeks, but it keeps getting better. A few weeks ago, Greg Quick invited me to University Point Press Day, so I decided that I would do my best to slick up and attend this event. I'm glad that I did because I helped to represent the students in a ceremonial role while there, and at the same time, I gained some unique insights on the project. Business Manager Belcher and Concordian Editor Wendy Holdren also participated in the Press Day. As you can see from this picture on the Concord website, I look completely ridiculous in the hard hat as I go through the work zone.



This building has a unique history. It was conceptualized by former President Marsh, who tried to find donations for it over the course of time. The project costed $5.7 million in the long haul. Marsh apparently had a vision of a building like this on campus, and several alumni bought into it. The building has had some generous benefactors, several of which were at the event. I thought that Greg Quick did an admirable job of making them feel welcome to Concord and thanking them for their help, but let's continue onward. As we walked into the building, the first thing we looked at was the new alumni office. It will be set up for conferences and all kinds of great things. We also saw a large room that would be fit for something like a wedding reception. Unfortunately, Concord did not post any pictures of these rooms on their website, but perhaps Wendy might be able to improvise as she took pictures herself in a future blog. All of these rooms are looking quite eloquent, and they have nice views and take advantage of the natural light. One thing that I did notice, however, was the lack of classroom space. During our tour, I only noticed one classroom, which really disappoints me. Over the course of time, the previous administration promised students that things like a philosophy and religion curriculum could be taught at University Point, but I honestly did not see the room for it. The classroom looked about the size of Admin 300, and I can't see too much potential for academics over there. This really was a low blow for students in my opinion, as it destroyed any practical benefit that the building offered. Despite this, I think that we should still fight to have these things taught in this building, even if we have to use the alumni office to do it. In the fall, I will speak to Professor Manzione who is in charge of the Philosophy curriculum in order to see what the current status of having classes over there is. I know that he has fought to have a History w/ Emphasis in Religion program over there, but his reasonable requests have largely gone unheeded.

The actual "chapel", which has been the front for having a glorified alumni office, also opened. The room will appear to look quite beautiful. Here is a picture:



In this room, we had our press conference. Dr. Aloia, Greg Quick, BOG Chair Mr. Long, and the donors all spoke to the press about the building. One speaker whom I remember particularly well spoke highly about how this building would help the "faculty, staff, and alumni." Let me think about that--who is missing? Mr. Quick was gracious enough to acknowledge my presence during the meeting, and afterward, I had the chance to mingle with some of the donors and the architects of the building. I also had the chance to give a moment of reflection at the dinner afterward. The picture Concord took of me after the reception was quite amusing because the look on my face seems to be a look of blown away disbelief.



All in all, the trip was quite insightful indeed. The building really has no tangible benefits for students--not unless classes can be taught there. I encourage students of various religions to use the facilities, but I am concerned that some religions that are not quite understood may not be tolerated. My greatest hope is that the building turn into a cash cow for the University so that it can help students avoid gigantic tuition raises. I do believe in the vision Greg Quick is presenting in his role as Interim VP, and I know that he will probably have success in reaching out to the alumni to use the facilities. It can be used to have weddings, hold receptions, have Concord dinners for alumni, hold conferences; the building has many possibilities. It's just up to Greg Quick to take advantage of them and to be able to justify building it. I do not quite know if even the tangible benefits of building this "University Alumni Center" can outweigh the $5.7 million dollars it costed to build it. Students have fought this measure for years, and largely, they have lost. We cannot help it though, nor can Dr. Aloia really for that matter as this issue largely preceded him. It was the attempt of Concord to keep reaching back into the nineteenth century rather than to progress into the twenty-first. As University Point begins to open, I can promise you though that the SGA will give the administration an earful along with the faculty in increasing our academic programs over there.

In other news--the interim carousel seems to be reaching no end. An Interim Student Center Director still has not been found. A new interim Associate Academic Dean is needed. I spoke with a few faculty, and many of them are concerned. Several told me that they heard about the latest appointments way after they happened, and they largely had no consultation on the issue. It just seems to me as if Dr. Aloia is alienating both faculty and students with his rash decisions. OR, Dr. Aloia consults various groups about who he might want for an administrative post, except students. In a way, this reminds me of the issue SGA largely faced last year. Even though Dr. Aloia is not technically required to ask us about his interim appointments, the question is, should he at least do so anyway to reach out to us? Face it, we are not a group of idiots; we are a savvy group of students at Concord, and we're demanding a voice. Yesterday, the SGA Executive Board agreed to send a letter of disapproval to Dr. Aloia over largely ignoring students. It will take me a while to draft it, but I am using my discretion as President this summer to largely act in the interests of SGA in sending such a letter with the board's permission. We do not intend on being harsh or reprimanding in tone, but we do intend on reminding him that in order to run a university, we must work together as a unified team. My administration is willing to work and compromise with the Uni. administration, so long as he is willing to do the same thing. Either way, I want to publically acknowledge whoever made the new interim cartoon; it was great.

Dining issues update! According to Rick, each dorm is receiving a renovation to its kitchen facilities. South Towers is receiving one now. I am pleased to hear this. Next year, North Towers will receive one, and then Sarvay following Wooddell last. I also spoke to Rick about perhaps allowing students to use their flex dollars at Gino's. He said that Gino's would be willing to do this, but he feared that our current technology might not be able to do it. After he said that, I mentioned that perhaps the SGA and Housing could work together on getting a card similar to the system that Marshall University has. He is willing to work with us on that. If the negotiations go well, we could perhaps get an updated system next year, as it would largely take the University buying the software required to run it since the software is used by many other colleges. It would in essence be a one stop card--use it to get into the dorms (which would be an effective sign in for opposite sex visitation, you could use it in the library, you could use your flex dollars, you could make it a debit card, there are many possibilities. You can ask any Marshall student what it does. The bottom line is that I want this issue resolved by the end of my administration, and I plan on working with the Housing Committee to see that this happens.

Another thing I mentioned was the possibility of acquiring a change machine for the Student Center. The problem with change machines is that they don't make any money, so companies largely don't have them anymore. As everyone knows, it's very difficult to get change around campus. Rick mentioned that such a machine might cost a few thousand, and he could help the SGA for the cost of one. Or, he could negotiate with Aramark at the end of next year to make sure that a change machine comes down in a deal. So, it is up to the students to tell me what to do. We can either get one now, or wait a year to get one for free. I'd appreciate some feedback.

The SGA Executive Board also settled the officer pay issue. Many executives felt disgruntled at their initial pay cut, so we agreed to some cuts that everyone seemed to feel comfortable with. The VP again got another raise from the last cut we proposed.

President--$400. Previously made $450 per month
Vice President--$325. Previously made $200
Business Manager--$350. Previously made $425
Attorney General--$325. Previously made $350
Public Defender--$325. Previously made $350.
Ombudsman--$325. Previously made $350.
Secretary--$250. Previously made $350.
Parliamentarian--$0. Previously made $50.
Chief Justice--$325. Previously made $425.
Prime Justice--$200. Previously made $200.

This resolved the Prime Justice pay conflict over new duties taking the place of old ones. We're paying her the same. Besides the Vice President, cuts were made across the board, and Business Manager Belcher said that this would cut about $3,250 per year. That's not bad to say the least. Everyone seemed happy about it, so hopefully there will not be anymore issues over this policy.

Also, I wanted to announce some ad-hoc committees that I plan on introducing to the SGA this fall. It will definitely be a year for reform. Some mentioned are:

Multicultural Affairs--Chaired by VP Akeya Carter Bozman
Judicial Reform--Chaired by AG Bill Lewis
Budgetary Reform--Chaired by BM Matthew Belcher
Tuition and Fees--Chaired by BOG Rep Curtis Kearns
Energy Conservation Committee--unknown chairman

Hopefully there will be more.

In the next few days, I plan on finding answers about the military accommodation policy, which has apparently become buried since the Cook Administration. Senator Hicks called me to remind me about it, and I think that this should definitely be a policy that is enacted. I am also going to check into getting 2 more tables for the Gazebo/Pavilion in order to get more space; Sean Noland and I both concluded that we could fit more. I am also going to check on another green issue that Senator Hicks mentioned to me about conserving in the dorms. Yesterday was a 10 hour day for me as your President, so I will talk more on these issues in the next blog.

Oh--one more thing. Ombudsman Brittany Keys will serve on the search committee to find a new librarian to replace Mr. Turnbull. And yes, it's not interim!

Until next time,

President Yeager

Important Dining News and Updates, New Academic Dean, New Vice President for Student Affairs, Dean of Students, Student Center & Library Update,

Hello Concordians,

It has just been a few days since I last blogged to you from the President's Desk, but the past few days have been some eventful ones at Concord. I have heard some news that I am going to share with you--news that will probably be confirmed on Monday (It was confirmed to me from various conversations with various people). I'm also going to give you an update on various projects that I have been looking into.

The first thing I will discuss--Dining. Before I officially became President, an ad hoc commitee was formed with me, Marshall Campbell, and Rick Dillon in an attempt to renegotiate the contract with Aramark. In this attempt, we have gained quite a few incentives for students (I have to hand it to both Marshall and Rick over myself on this one--it seemed as if I was only a mere participant during our meetings because they did most of the talking.) Here is what you will receive, starting this fall:

1. The Dining Hall will be open for dinner until 7 PM this fall, from Sunday through Thursday night. This will allow many more students to eat, and it will also allow students more flexibility who have athletics and night classes.

2. The Dining Hall will create a new station that will serve "ready to order" rice/noodles, proteins, and veggies. In other words, a student will select a starch, the meat/poultry, seafood, and then be stirfried before serving.

3. Dining is going to add $7.50 in flex dollars for both semesters. So, you will have $7.50 more on both the 12 meal and 7 meal plan in the fall, and an additional $7.50 in the spring.

When I served on this committee, one point I attempted to make was that if board money increases, students should likewise see a service given to them in return. The extra hour of dining and the other incentives are certainly a good start. As I mentioned, I plan on being very hard on Dining this year. My SGA will come down on them hard on certain issues, and they will not get away with some of their asinine quirks. One thing that really ticked me off in the past was when they yelled at you for taking an apple out of the cafeteria. Well, I'm sorry--but when you pay $1800 for a meal plan, you should be able to roll in apples.

Speaking of meal plans, I have had a lively debate with Rick Dillon about this in the past week. He has brought out several interesting points as to why students "must" get a meal plan. For one, the dormitories are not equipped to prepare food. Another point Rick brought out is that if a great deal of food was allowed in the dormitories, cockroaches would invade. Cockroaches of course are an expensive, disgusting problem. It was hard for me to disagree with his points; however, they still did not persuade me as to why students must accept a plan with no choice. I told him that a student who wanted to save money could easily make a pop tart for breakfast, eat a ham sandwhich and a banana or something for lunch, and then go to the cafeteria or Subway for dinner if he/she chooses. I also told him that if the food preparation in the dormitories is so subpar, why not improve upon that? I feel that a student should have the option to fix a frozen pizza or fry a hamburger if that student so chooses. Basically, the college is arguing that because their facilities are so awful, you have to get this service. The only way a sick student can get out of the plan is if they practically waive all of their privacy by allowing a doctor to divulge this information to a group of people on a committee who are clearly not qualified to judge the severity of any medical condition. However, Rick does say that if the Dining Hall does not accomodate a student's needs, they want to know immediately (I.E. like the comment SGA Secretary Eric Lopez made as a comment to my last blog on facebook). This is going to be an interesting discussion over the next year, and even if I can't get them to change this policy, let's hope that we can at least build the way there by helping to improve dormitory food preparation facilities.

The second piece of news is that several administrators have transferred to new interim jobs. This hasn't been announced by Concord yet, but many people already know about it. Dr. John David Smith has been moved to Interim Vice President and Academic Dean. Marjie Flanigan from the Academic Success Office will take John David's role of Interim VP for Student Affairs, and Rick Dillon will be the interim Dean of Students (a job he has done at Concord in the past), as well as still be Housing Director. Based on what I have heard, Dr. Smith was promoted to Academic Dean without the consent of either the students or the faculty (this job really concerns the faculty more than the students. If the faculty was not consulted, then I am eager to see their reaction. However, I cannot verify for sure whether the faculty had no say). Flanigan and Dillon were also both promoted to heading over issues of John David's old job, and this definitely did not occur with the consent of the students by having a representative on a hiring committee. I am personally insulted by this--because it does not appear that the voice of the SGA truly matters to Dr. Aloia, and I am the President who has been seeking compromise. I am, however, not yet taking an official stance on this issue nor am I moving the SGA to do so either because I do not yet know all the details, and even when I do, I want to ask the SGA Executive Board to come up with a stance first. You will likely see a resolution about this in our first Senate meeting. Flanigan is a nice lady, and Rick, contrary to popular belief, does advocate for students. I cannot say that these were the right choices, nor can I say how could I be the judge of that when the administrators in charge of students did not allow any input from the SGA on these hires.

Furthermore, I have also received an update on the Student Center Director. I will not divulge a lot of personal details about the candidates--because I promised not to, but basically, both candidates are still in the running; however, certain issues exist for both of them as to why they might not be taking the job at this moment. The possibility may occur that the Hiring Committee might have to reconvene in order to find another candidate if it ends up that both Billy and Abe choose not to take the position. Either way, it's going to keep dragging on for a while.

The last update is that Dr. Aloia confirmed that the library opening longer will cost the students $2,000 in both the fall and spring semesters. I discussed this in Chris Slater's blog when the news first came out. I have my philosophy on this--I feel that it is one step back in order to make two steps forward. This is not a permanent fix; if it works and students show, the admin. is likely to keep it open permanently. Because the students are demanding, and because the admin. is looking to make a wise investment and not waste their money, it is a compromise between two opposing entities. The library will be open until midnight, Monday through Thursday, and it will be open from 12-6 on Saturday rather than 12-4. This is, of course, pending approval of the Student Senate the first meeting of the year, which I certainly hope to see.

I will be on campus for "University Point Press Day" on July 22. Greg Quick's Institutional Advancement Committee that I serve on will be in charge of this. The administration, President Boggess of the faculty, myself, and others will take a tour with the press of University Point that day. If anyone would like to see me that day and talk about issues, let me know. I will also go with Sean Noland that day probably to look at the Pavilion (the new name for the Gazebo) to check and see if the SGA could perhaps fit more tables for picnic room there.

Until next time,

President Yeager

July Update: Student Center Director Update and Forced Meal Plans

Hello all,

I hope that everyone is enjoying a fantastic summer. Mine has been going fairly well, and as it progresses, I continually look forward to working for you in the fall. I am writing this blog to update you briefly on perhaps analyzing both of the potential choices for the Student Center Director position in the fall. I am also going to update you on my stumbling onto one of many of the university's problematic policies--its forcing on campus students to pay for a meal plan.

So everyone knows, I am continually studying to be an effective leader from the start this year. I have reviewed further over our Constitution and Bylaws (which still have not been updated--something that the President should not have to do but is going to have to do in order to have a good copy for the start of the fall), and I see many problems to hand over to the SGA Affairs committee this year. Likewise, I am studying Robert's Rules closely as well in order to be a competent chairman. We do not need our long Senate meetings (if I have anything to say about it, they will be long because we'll be doing a lot) dragged on even longer by questions over parliamentary procedure, just as it was last year.

With that said, I hope that I am not divulging too much information when I say that the Student Center Director, whose job duties monitor the Student Center, help SAC plan activities, is in charge of the community service committee, and whose job duties signifies that he/she be SGA Advisor (which is in direct conflict with our Constitution--which gives me the ability to appoint a staff advisor) has come down to two candidates. Billy Fraley and Abe Lilly, who both have histories with Housing as RD's, have both went to Dr. Aloia from the committee's consideration. The committee to select the director interviewed 3 people, and just from the way the committee was leaning (it is Dr. Aloia's ultimate decision--he can pick any of the 3 who applied), it will come down to either one of those 2 gentlemen. I was personally impressed with both interviews. Billy was my RD in Wooddell during my first two years. He is quite competent and capable. Abe of course RD's South Tower and has had conflicts with SGA in the past. He is though, of course, a very hands on kind of guy, which the Director should be. It will be interesting to see who Dr. Aloia chooses. I feel that both will be fine in the position, although I'm sure that both will handle the management duties of the Senate in different ways, coinciding alongside Dr. Brichford, who has agreed to be our faculty advisor again. I felt that all 3 people were certainly qualified who interviewed, hence the committee's inability to choose. It has almost been a month since I served on the committee as well, so I hope that the good resumes have Dr. Aloia scratching his head as well.

Another issue I want to talk about in this short blog is the Board plan. In my attempt to economize and shorten my budget for the fall, I have been inquiring about my ability to perhaps stay on campus (with lack of rental property available) and drop a meal plan. I found out that this was not possible, even with a letter from a doctor. When I spoke to one of the people in charge, he said that the cafeteria would try to "accomodate" your food needs, even if you have a condition (I have an endocrine system condition where if I do not get enough water and nutrients of a certain kind I can dehydrate quickly and have to be hospitalized). He mentioned that the cafeteria even made baked chicken for one kid all year. Considering that the board plan costs an arm and a leg, and considering that the food we get in return for the money is less than subpar (You could almost eat at Applebee's 5 days a week for what you are paying for this), I find this policy highly outrageous. Students should not have to pay for a plan if they have cheaper, better alternatives. Instead, Aramark and Concord have practically conspired to create a food monopoly of sorts on campus, where we are all forced like little children to adopt a meal plan. This is very problematic. It's no wonder that our food does not get any better, each and every year; they know that they pretty much have us by the throat. I am sure that 98% of students who stay on campus would choose to get a meal plan if a choice was enacted, but as your President, I feel that you should have a choice and that you should not have to pay for a service that you do not want. Because of my stumbling into this issue, this will be a new initiative for us to tackle in the fall--giving on campus students a choice. You should not have to be forced to pay for something you do not want; it is your basic right to at least have that fundamental choice. This is one of many dining issues that I want to address. The Dining Committee over the past few years has been very friendly to the administrators of Dining (to the point that the Executive Board last year attempted to fire the chairman of the committee). Under my presidency, I am going to encourage VP Akeya Carter Bozman to appoint a fiery personality to chair that committee. Being exploited by College Dining has got to stop. It is time that the SGA change its philosophy to dining, or else we will be eating cardboard and drinking oil (I think Aramark food is more expensive than a crude barrel) for breakfast. If need be, I will chair the committee myself.

Until I blog again, cheers to the students. I wish you all well, and I hope that you enjoy the rest of your summer.

President Yeager