The Undergraduate Council of Students' aspirations for this semester include lobbying the University to end enforcement of prerequisites on Banner and advancing an effort to create a seat on the Corporation for a young, recent alum, members of the council's executive board said.
Last semester "totally exceeded my expectations," said UCS President Brian Becker '09. Becker also said he wanted to increase transparency in the student governing body and boost community engagement, bringing in members of the administration to weekly meetings. Becker said President Ruth Simmons will attend a meeting this semester and he hopes Chancellor Thomas Tisch '76 will do the same.
UCS continued its opposition to the enforcement of prerequisites Tuesday, making a presentation to a meeting of the Faculty Executive Committee.
The council passed a resolution expressing its disapproval last semester when Banner started blocking students from registering for courses if their records lacked the formal prerequisites unless a professor gave them an override.
"We're not against the idea of prerequisites" when they are used as guideposts for students, said UCS Academic and Administrative Affairs Chair Tyler Rosenbaum '11. But Rosenbaum, a Herald opinions columnist, said he worries about "a very slow chipping away at the New Curriculum and what it stands for."
"We don't want there to be a death by a thousand cuts," he said.
Members of the executive board said they also hoped to work with the Corporation in coming months to discuss adding a permanent seat on the board for a recent alum - a proposal that is aimed at bringing the latest concerns of students to the attention of the highest-level decision-makers.
"Corporation members are very out of touch with student experiences," Becker said. "They don't understand what it's like to be a student in 2009." Along with advocating for "new blood" on the Corporation, Becker said he planned to introduce forums for informal interaction between students and Corporation members.
"I would be surprised" if the Corporation did not ultimately admit a young alum to their ranks, UCS Vice President Mike MacCombie '11 said. The Corporation seemed receptive to the council's ideas, he said - although he added Corporation members balked at the idea of "affirmative action for a younger person," in the form of a seat explicitly reserved for a recent graduate.
Other UCS projects this semester will include advocating for affordable rentals of set-top cable boxes for students' personal televisions - after Brown's cable service is discontinued next year - and expanding departmental undergraduate groups to new academic departments.
Council members will also explore ways to allow students to return early to College Hill, or remain at Brown, during the five-week winter break, according to Becker. Brown's not-for-credit winter program, January@Brown, was cancelled after two years for lack of participation and funding, and did not run this winter.
One option would be to partner with the Swearer Center to provide more opportunities for students to perform community service in Providence in January, Becker said.
The Student Activities Committee will also try to find a way to categorize club sports in a manner akin to other student groups, Ryan Lester '11, that committee's chair, said. Currently, Brown's athletic department categorizes club sports, but "athletics is still bouncing" certain teams to UCS when they need funding, Lester said.
The polo club, for example, has run into funding trouble because the University's insurance does not cover athletics that take place off University property, Lester said.
Becker said he would also make it a priority to counter the popular perception on campus of UCS as irrelevant and to impress on the student body the council's level of involvement in campus issues. To increase the council's presence, Becker said he will re-introduce the practice of holding office hours in the Sharpe Refectory.
"We're going to be a little bit more visible this semester," MacCombie said.
