Student Senate’s Educational Affairs Committee has been working hard on many projects this semester benefiting the academic well-being of the university. Vice President Scott St. Louis, Senator Michael Jones, and Senator Shannon Blood have been working with the Library Student Advisory Council, and Brian Merry, Head of Operations and User Services for University Libraries, to examine ways in which the space in the Mary Idema Pew Library can be used more efficiently to prevent perceptions of overcrowding during Exam Cram at the end of the semester. The Educational Affairs Committee hopes to assist the library with its Exam Cram events at the end of the semester.

On the university curriculum front, Senator Michael Jones has been in contact with Professor Beaudoin, the chair of the Movement Sciences Department, and will request that the department provide opportunities to obtain a minor in Exercise Science and the Sports Management emphasis of the Sports Leadership program by Fall of 2015. Senator Dave Inda is working with the Honors College and the Department of Economics to assist in the creation of more Honors sections for Economics courses. He is also hoping to advocate for incoming freshman student athletes to be able to schedule their classes earlier, in order to reduce the amount of scheduling difficulties that may occur for these students.
Outside of Allendale, Senator Ella Fritzemeier has been acting as a liaison this semester for our satellite facilities in Traverse City and Muskegon, communicating with students in these areas to ensure that their voice is heard by the Senate. Senator Tobias Hutchins is working on a resolution which will demonstrate Student Senate’s support for an addition to the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act that is currently being discussed in the Michigan state legislature. The addition to the law would provide the same fairness in hiring protections to interns as are already provided to normal employees, preventing discrimination along the lines of race, religious views, gender and a number of additional factors.
Finally, Senator Adam Hukkala is working with Dean Merkle on an e-mail that will potentially be sent to all GVSU faculty, encouraging them to review “Open Textbooks” that are available online for free in a database hosted by the University of Minnesota. If a handful of professors choose to adopt an Open Textbook for their course, thousands of student dollars could be saved.