Last night, the Senate passed an act that would have senators sit on task forces to present recommendations on IC 20/20 to the Senate as a whole and the student liaisons to the IC 20/20 Advisory Committee. This decision was based off the fact that students need to become more involved in the IC20/20 process and more knowledgable of the document. The task forces will meet after SGA meetings and are divided like the document into the following sections: 

Task Force 1: Academic Advising and Evaluations

Task Force 2: Civic Engagement

Task Force 3: Diversity 

Task Force 4: Integrative Core Curriculum and Liberal Arts Education

Task Force 5: National and International Initiatives

Task Force 6: Residential Hall Experience

The groups will take minutes at their meetings and report back on a weekly basis for as long as necessary and their is student interest.

Have you read IC 20/20? Check out the document here: https://www.ithaca.edu/ic2020/ If you have any thoughts e-mail us at sga@ithaca.edu or come to one of our meetings which are at

8:15pm on Wednesdays in Taughannock Falls Room. 

Welcome back! The senate just had its first meeting of the semester on Wednesday and is ready for another great semester.

One exciting piece of news that Park School Senator, Gillian DeRario, shared with us is that there is a new SGA myHome Poll Portlet available to students. Anyone can add the portlet to their myHome homepage and then start voting on the polls. It is a great way for us to hear about your concerns and opinions on issues around campus. Here is a link to add the portlet to your myHome page:  https://myhome.ithaca.edu/?p=123 

The poll has been used to ask about different events you would like to see on campus, where you would like to hear SGA updates, and what you know about IC 20/20. Be sure to vote and vote often because there may be prizes in the future!

If you have a concern that is not being brought up in polls you can contact one of your senators or SGA directly at sga@ithaca.edu. 

Two of our Class of 2015 senators sit on the campus-wide First-Year Experience Coordinating Committee. Sam Gibble and Josh Rosenberg represent first-year students and SGA on this committee. The group includes professors, faculty, staff, and many other people on-campus that influence a student's first-year. The senators offer a student perspective for the group and ensure that student concerns are voiced regarding new initiatives. 

This semester the committee has been working on creating a bucket list for students here at IC. As a first-year student, you would receive the list at orientation and have all four years to complete the list. Some examples of possible items include: going to Applefest, attending a sporting event, taking a class outside of your academic school, etc. 

Can you think of anything you love doing here at IC that should be added to the bucket list? E-mail SGA at sga@ithaca.edu with any suggestions!

Lis Maurer, the LGBT Education, Outreach, & Services Program Director in the Center for Counseling and Wellness, was one of two distinguished guest speakers at the Student Government Association meeting on November 30^th. Maurer spoke to the Senate about the LGBT Center’s anniversary, what she does around campus, and how she interacts with students on a daily basis.

The LGBT Center celebrated its 10^th Anniversary this year and had a celebration from October 13-14. This celebration included events such as speakers, class reunions for alumni, panel discussions, and an LGBT Center Open House. The LGBT Center has been fostering growth and teaching students about LGBT themes since 2001.

Around campus, Lis Maurer talks to students, facilitates class discussions, and presents for professional development in addition to the many other resonsibilities of being the Program Director. One of the programs the center sponsors is the Out of the Closet and Onto the Screen Film Series. Students pick the themes for these series. This semester the theme was “LGBT People and Sport.

The LGBT Center is located in the lower level of the Hammond Health Center; the center includes a resource room, which has 1,000 books in its library. The Center will also be hosting a Study Break soon so look out for more details about that event! 

Every senator sits on at least two committees. One is a Student Government Association committee; these committees include Budget, Campus Affairs, and Communications. The other committee is an all campus committee which also includes members such as faculty, staff, and other student representatives. One these committees the senators represent the Student Government Association and bring back important updates to the Senate as a whole. In this blog post, I would like to highlight one of the all campus committees, Food Service Advisory.

The Food Service Advisory Committee includes Jeff Scott (Dining Services General Manager), Rebecca Sexton (Marketing Manager), Stephanie Piech (Sustainability Coordinator), other dining services staff, senators, and student-at-large. The committee discusses concerns or suggestions students have about on-campus dining as well as brainstorms solutions to these issues. 

Currently, the committee has outlined two main goals for the semester. The first is getting more nutritional facts in the dining halls to make planning meals easier for students with allergies or other dietary restrictions. Aside from posting them in the different dining halls, the committee is also trying to think of other ways to make this information more accessible. The second goal is researching the possibility of a grab and go breakfast option. The committee is currently working on a survey to see if there is a need for this on campus and if there is planning the next steps to make this an option for students.

If you are interested in coming to a Food Service Advisory meeting, we meet every other Thursday during the lunch hour. The next meeting is December 1, 2011 in Williams 224.