New Research Opportunities Available

RIT will be facilitating new research and development opportunities, which will be open to both undergraduate and graduate students. The RIT Board of Trustees has announced that it will be working with SG to meet with different companies, some involved with sustainability practices. “The main objective is to strengthen our relations with business,” said SG President Ed Wolf. VP Sasha Malinchoc explained, “Companies will pay students to do research for them, while RIT continues to get its name out there in the technology sector. The Institute is in a good position.”

RIT Commencement

There was a great deal of concern expressed at the meeting about the 2008 commencement speaker, RIT Provost Stanley McKenzie. Many students and faculty were disappointed in RIT’s ability to find a speaker. “We don’t pay our commencement speakers. We thought we had something but it fell through…[Nonetheless] Dr. McKenzie will tell some great stories,” said Wolf. “President Destler really tried to find someone. The tone in his voice was very evident that he was upset, and I haven’t seen him this upset in some time.” RIT commencement will take place on Friday May 23rd and Saturday May 24th.

New SAAC Proposal

The Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) has submitted a proposal to SG about its interest in improving athlete registration. The document intends to “make a change in school policy so that student athletes are extended the same courtesy of early academic registration as Honors Students and NTID cross-registered students.” The proposal generated some debate. COB Senator Carlos Cornejo stated, “I think RIT athletes represent more than just a club, because they represent the school name.” A representative of the Greek community said, “We should make the decision that we are an academic institution and not an athletic institution.” Overall, opinions varied and SG has decided to work with SAAC to revise the proposal for next week.

Global Village Update

Dr. Howard Ward, Assistant Vice President of Housing Operations gave an update about the progress of Global Village. “We plan to use a company called ARC out of Boston. We’ve been looking at many other universities’ housing for inspiration such as the University of San Francisco.” The project, which is expected to cost $42 million, will offer many different living situations such as suite-style apartments with an emphasis on rising as well as upperclassmen.” There is a primary concern about cost. “We can’t have kitchens in every apartment, so there may be common kitchen areas and kitchenettes,” said Ward. Construction begins in June 2008.