The DSG Blog

Election Results!!

2009-09-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

The election results from Monday's election have been certified by the Election Commission, released to the Chronicle and again verified by the Attorney General. They are as follows:

For the four referendum questions:

Reform of the Judiciary: Passed, 93.75% voting in favor
Incorporation of DUSDAC: Passed, 95.87% voting in favor
Removing the Vice President of the ICC: Passed, 84.56% voting in favor
Creating a Gender Neural Constitution: Passes, 80.77% voting in favor

Freshman Senate Winners (2013)
o Academic Affairs: Ari Ruffer and Kenneth Gould
o Athletics and Campus Services: Cameron Oswalt and Douglas Hanna
o Durham and Regional Affairs: Chris Brown and Gordon Wilson
o Student Affairs: Molly Superfine and Gurdane Bhutani
Junior Senate Winners (2011)
o Academic Affairs: Dmitri Jean and Matt Stansky
o Athletics and Campus Services: Ben Bergmann and Kendyl Tash
o Durham and Regional Affairs: Lauren Kottis and Danielle Starks
Senior Senate Winners (2010)
o Academic Affairs: Daniel Lewin and Kristen Yang
o Student Affairs: Steven McAlpine
Special Secretary for the ICC
o Amanda Turner (757 to 628)

Turnout was 27%

Thanks for participating in your democracy!

- Gregory

University and Presidential Committee Representative Confirmed

2009-09-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

As undergrads, we get representation on many important university committees. With record speed, these nominees have been selected, confirmed by the Senate, and forwarded to the Office of the President. Please feel free to contact these representatives with any concerns.

Campus Sustainability Committee
Yangyang Guo 2012 yangyang.guo@duke.edu (401) 465 9265
John :Lakso 2013 john.lakso@duke.edu (254) 247 8059

Committee on Facilities and Environment
Austin Boehm 2010 austin.boehm@duke.edu
Ryan Clark 2012 rjc21@duke.edu (843) 368 5671

Duke Forest Committee
Si Won Oak 2012 so32@duke.edu (808) 206 6743

Duke Transportation Advisory Committee
Mark Elstein 2011 mark.elstein@duke.edu (631) 879 1740
Mike Lefevre 2011 mwl13@duke.edu (215) 480 2874
Pete Schork, ex officio 2012 pete.schork@duke.edu (203) 984 2173
Spencer Eldred, ex officio 2010 spencer.eldred@duke.edu (760) 485 8684

Harassment Grievance Board
Chris Edelman 2011 christopher.edelman@duke.edu (847) 219 5965
Genetesh Yilma 2013 mitu.yilma@duke.edu (404) 312 9489
Katherine Hu 2010 katherine.hu@duke.edu (561) 866 0869
Spencer Eldred, ex officio 2010 spencer.eldred@duke.edu (760) 485 8684

President’s Council on Black Affairs
Patrick Messac 2010 patrick.messac@duke.edu (518) 542 8105
Danielle Robinson 2011 udr@duke.edu (404) 509 9788

Undergraduate Affairs Committee of the Academic Council
Sophie Greene 2012 sbg6@duke.edu (919) 564 9592

Athletic Council
Mike Lefevre 2011 mwl13@duke.edu (215) 480 2874
Gregory Morrison, ex officio 2011 gsm8@duke.edu (803) 240 4958
Pete Schork, ex officio 2012 pete.schork@duke.edu (203) 984 2173

Council for the Arts
Mary Ashton Inglis 2011 maryashton.inglis@duke.edu (864) 915 8187

Information Technology Advisory Council
Michael Ansel 2011 michael.ansel@duke.edu (361) 816 1909
Mark Elstein 2011 mark.elstein@duke.edu (631) 879 1740
Ben Getson 2011 ben.getson@duke.edu (972) 342 0782

Elections Tomorrow

2009-09-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Fall elections are tomorrow! Poll will be open from 7am until 8pm. On the ballot will be the following important items:

8 Freshman Senate Seats, 8 Junior Senate Seats, and 5 Senior Senate Seats.

Additionally we'll vote for a SPECIAL SECRETARY TO THE YOUNG TRUSTEE PROCESS. This position will make recommendations to the Senate on how the reform the Young Trustee Process; making it MORE TRANSPARENT.

Finally, FOUR Referendums are on the ballot:

1. REFORMING THE JUDICIARY, making it independent and creating separation of powers.

2. BRINGING DUSDAC INTO DSG, to guarantee that their dining recommendations will have the weight of the student body behind them in the future.

3. DISSOLVING THE OFFICE OF VICE PRESIDENT FOR THE ICC, so that the ICC (a council of student organization presidents) can be an independent voice on campus.
Both ICC and DSG support this move.

4. MAKING THE CONSTITUTION GENDER-NEUTRAL, to make the student body's governing document more inclusive.

Please vote. We need 25% of the student body to vote for the referendums to be valid. Please read the oped written by Exec that ran this past Friday: http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/09/11/Columns/Guest.Commentary.A.Yes.Vote.Is.Key.To.A.Better.Dsg-3768784.shtml

Thanks everyone!

GO VOTE! GO VOTE! GO VOTE!

Vice President Brown Resigns

2009-07-06T01:43:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

On Monday, June 29, Andrew Brown, Trinity '11, resigned his position as Vice President for the Inter-Community Council, effective immediately.

His email to DSG exec is as follows:

Everyone,
I am writing to formally resign as Vice President for the Inter-Community Council. I have decided to attend Duke in New York: Financial Markets and Institutions Program in the Spring of 2010. Since I will be in New York this Spring, I will not be able to carry out the responsibilities of my position. I have thought about this decision for quite awhile now, and I do not take it lightly. However, this is the best decision for me personally at the moment. I was not aware of the Duke in New York program before being elected, otherwise I would not have run. I regret that I will not get to be a part of this year's exciting Executive Board, and I wish you all the best of luck.

Sincerely,
Andrew Brown

We'll keep you posted about any developemnts regarding Andrew's replacement.

- Gregory, Executive Vice President

New By-Laws

2009-04-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

Interested in how DSG works? Awesome.

We just passed new Senate and Executive By-Laws to bring the By-Laws up to date with the recently passed constitution. They replace the former Legislative and Cabinet By-Laws. They make significant improvements and are available on the DSG website if you'd like to read them.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at gregory.morrison@duke.edu and I'll do my best to answer you!

Two Important Individuals...

2009-04-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

At the last meeting of the Senate, we elected two INCREDIBLY important individuals:

1) The Chief Justice - Matt Straus (matt.straus@duke.edu). If you would like the judiciary to look into any DSG action, please let Matt know.

2) The Chair of the Student Organization Finance Committee - David Hu (david.hu@duke.edu). David is your go to man for all questions relating to money or budgeting. He's more than happy to help you if you have questions.

Board of Trustee Reps

2009-04-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hey All,
Here are the new BoT student reps to committees for the 2009-2010 school year. Feel free to email any of them with your concerns!

* Representatives:
o Facilities and Environment Committee:
+ Eric Kaufman, Trinity '10, eric.kaufman@duke.edu
o Institutional Advancement Committee:
+ Zachary Perret, Trinity' 10, gap@duke.edu
o Undergraduate Affairs Committee:
+ Gregory Morrison, Trinity' 11, gsm8@duke.edu
o Business and Finance Committee:
+ Gabriela Borges, Trinity '10, gabriela.borges@duke.edu

* Alternates:
o Facilities and Environment Committee:
+ Michael Lefevre, Trinity '11, michael.lefevre@duke.edu
o Institutional Advancement Committee:
+ Megan Foran, Trinity '10, megan.foran@duke.edu
o Undergraduate Affairs Committee:
+ Bethany Hill, Trinity '10, beh10@duke.edu
o Business and Finance Committee:
+ Bennet Grill, Trinity '10, bennet.grill@duke.edu

Seven Days Notice

2009-03-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hey All,
The referendum on the new constitution will take place at the same time as the DSG Exec elections on March 31st. You will receive an email from DSG with a link to the election site. From there you just sign in with your net ID and vote.

If you haven't already done so, please read the proposed document. It is available on the DSG website: http://student.groups.duke.edu/Duke_Student_Government

There is a link to the word document under the governance section.

This post serves as a public notification given before the referendum as required by the current constitution.

Thanks so much!
-Gregory

Premajor Advising and One-Year Master's

2009-03-03T06:40:00.001-08:00

Hey all,

I hope you all are having a great week and excited for spring break (I know that I am!). I wanted to let you know about two things that the Academic Affairs Committee has been working on:

1. Premajor advising: Dean McLendon has agreed to make premajor advising count as the equivalent to an independent study for the faculty accelerated leave policy. In non-administrator talk, this means that faculty have more of an incentive to become premajor advisors. Now, it's our turn. I encourage you to email your favorite professor and ask them to be a premajor advisor next year. It's not a huge time commitment, and it will really make a difference for the class of 2013 (oh man, I'm old) and beyond. We'll be putting together a letter, so email me (cpg5@duke.edu) if you're interested.

2. Master's in Management Studies: The one year master's program in Fuqua has been passed by the Faculty, Graduate, and Professional School Affairs Committee to the Board of Trustees. The Chronicle wrote on it today: http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/03/03/News/1Yr-Business.Degree.Gains.Momentum-3656938.shtml. Tell ALL your senior friends and email me with any questions (again, cpg5@duke.edu).

Thanks for all your feedback,

Chelsea

Read the Constitution

2009-02-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

Hey folks!
The new draft Constitution has been posted online on the DSG website. You can download the document and read it for yourself now!

The link is "Proposed New Constitution" under the "Governance" section on the main page.

Enjoy!

-Gregory

New Draft Constitution

2009-02-27T09:17:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone,
Wednesday was a big day in the Senate. We passed a draft a new DSG Constitution. I've been working with the Rules Committee on preparing this document to completely replace the current constitution for about two months.

The draft new Constitution will soon be on the DSG website for you to read and review. The student body must pass it in referendum for it to come into force. It will appear on the Exec election ballot on March 31st.

These are some of the major changes from the present Constitution:

VP titles
The name of the Senate
The allocation of representation
The distinction between DSG and the student body
The budgetary process/SOFC
The signing of legislation
Separation of the "Joint Statement of Rights and Freedoms of Students"
Reduction in mandatory Cabinet members
Reduction in ex-officio Senators
Clarification of recess/vacancy appointments
Referendum requirements

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send me an email (gsm8@duke.edu)

The other members of the drafting committee were:
Senator Ryan Clark (ACS '12)
Senator Ben Getson (AA '11)
Senator Alex Levy (AA '11)
Senator Andrew Schreiber (AA '11)
Former Attorney General Will Passo ('11)

I'll keep you updated as we move through the process. Thanks!

Premajor Advising

2009-02-26T08:38:00.001-08:00

We're thinking about it: http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2009/02/26/Columns/Fixing.Premajor.Advising-3650181.shtml

Check out this column and tell us what you think.

one-year master's program

2009-02-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

This just in:

Subject to approval by the FGPSA Committee of the Board of Trustees and the Academic Council,

THERE WILL BE A ONE-YEAR MASTER'S PROGRAM IN MANAGERIAL SCIENCE NEXT YEAR FROM FUQUA.

And it will have financial aid available.

Thoughts? Comments? Exclamation points? Please let me know.

!!!!!
Chelsea

pass/fail update and other fantastic projects

2009-02-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

hey all,

i hope that midterm season is going well for everyone. overloading this semester has made me especially sensitive for the need for change in some academic policies :-/ luckily, the new pass/fail policy proposal is in committee, and in general AA is working on some pretty exciting projects.

-PASS/FAIL: the proposed pass/fail policy went to committee last Thursday, and it seems that it will definitely be subject to heated debate. as i've said before, i think that it is essential to change the pass/fail policy--in its current state, it acts as more of a veil for seniors who don't want to take a rigorous schedule rather than as an opportunity for all students to try new classes and take risks without the chance of long-term damage to their GPAs. the proposed policy would, among other things, (1) allow premajor students to take courses pass/fail, (2) extend the deadline by which classes have to be declared pass/fail to the withdrawal date, (3) remove the blanket ban on Pass/Fail grading for prerequisites and seminars, and (4) go to a Pass/D/Fail grading system. what do you all think? would you take more challenging classes outside of your discipline if the new policy was in place? is there anything that you would add? please give feedback!

-MAJORS' UNIONS: the majors' union round table is this MONDAY and we are really excited about it. majors' unions are a unique chance to give students a forum to discuss their subject and their needs within the major with faculty in a collective position. this also can be a forum for students to bring in speakers and hold events. we want to inspire each major to start and upkeep a union. cynthia and i will keep you updated on the results.

-HALF-CREDIT CLASSES: Price and Harrison have been working to try to get more half-credit classes for students who want to try out another discipline, but don't have the prereqs or the time for full-credit classes. What subjects would you be interested in pursuing? We're thinking potentially a Current Events Class, where top public policy professors and political scientists could teach all students about the world. Modelling and project based engineering classes for those of us that usually would not touch Pratt with a 12 foot pole (not that I don't respect you all immensely, but...). Art history courses minus the papers. You get the drift. Any interest, let us know! Cpg5@duke.edu.

On top of these three projects, we're also working on opportunities for students to have greater access to evaluations through a new site and access to comments that you have written in class. What would you like to see in an evaluations website just for students?

I'm off, but please comment or contact me with any questions.

AA love,

Chelsea

Majors' Union Round Table

2009-01-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

Hey yall,

This is Cynthia Chen, a senator on the Academic Affairs Committee (we like posting). Just wanted to let yall know what I'm up to this semester.

AA has been working hard this year to jumpstart Majors' Unions around campus; we wanted to create some kind of uniformity between the majors, since some majors have them, some don't, some used to, etc. Among many other things, we think Majors' Unions have the potential to be invaluable resources for students to receive mentorship from other students in their majors, to network, to voice curricular concerns to administration, and just to interact with other students studying the same things they are.

Along with Michael and Price, two other AA senators, my project this semester (originally Chelsea's) is to organize a Majors' Union Round Table in late February (probably Feb. 23rd - more details to come) where all the student leadership of existing and newly-forming Majors' Unions come together with administrators to discuss common issues. What are Majors' Unions supposed to do? How do they work? Where do they get funding? It'll be really interesting, I think, for students who have run Majors' Unions to talk about their challenges and their experiences, for students who are trying to start them to learn how to do so and how to structure their organizations, and for administrators to give us an idea from their side of things what they want Majors' Unions to do and accomplish.

Michael, Price, and I will finalize the details of the meeting soon and start contacting students. If you're reading this and you've ever considered starting a Majors' Union or would like to start one, email me!! cgc8 at duke.edu. I just went through the process for the English Majors' Union and I'd love to help you out; it'd also be great to get as many interested students as possible at the Round Table.

That's about it for now. peace

Cynthia

UNDERLOAD

2009-01-26T21:27:00.001-08:00

UNDERLOAD PASSED! a copy of the proposal will be posted later.

also, check out this sweet chron edit about AA.

more soon,

chelsea

master's programs, pass-fail policy, and all that jazz

2008-12-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

hey all,

happy winter break! i'm typing from my hotel room in cork, ireland right now. yep, in ireland thinking about duke academic policy-what a nerd. or maybe i'm just reasonably excited, because what the AA committee is rolling out next semester is pretty fantastic. many of you (over 1000 at this point) took this survey that was emailed out right at the end of the semester about one-year master's programs, but if you haven't yet please take a second and fill it out. on the docket for next semester:

1. one-year master's programs: the prospect of not getting a job after graduation is frighteningly close this year. and, let's face it, goldman is going to be less interested if your resume says that you graduated from duke and worked at nordstrom for two years. duke doesn't want to dilute the quality of its degrees, we want jobs: the perfect solution for many is a one-year master's program in the graduate and professional schools after completing a duke bachelor's. it will be difficult to roll out in a few months, so no promises for this year (especially with conventional academic subjects; accreditation is a nightmare), but it is an extremely popular program at many of our sister institutions, including yale and vanderbilt. would you be interested? let the aa committee know at cpg5@duke.edu or by leaving a comment here!

2. pass-fail policy: the aa committee is going to suggest a new pass-fail policy to the academic standards committee of the arts and sciences council at the beginning of next semester. it is still being edited, but will include:
-allowing premajor students to take classes pass-fail (post-major is already allowed)
-extending the pass-fail deadline to the current withdrawal deadline (3/4 into the semester)
any thoughts? let us know please. all student feedback is very appreciated!

3. remember as you get new classes to post your syllabi on the Syllabus Archive. also, as you drop and add classes, use the archive for information.

as classes start, feel free to email me, Chelsea (cpg5@duke.edu), with any policy questions. happy new years everyone!

cheers,

chelsea

Pass/Fail Questions

2008-11-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hey all! We're trying to construct some changes to the current pass/fail policy in Trinity (initially), and we would love to get some feedback.

For Trinity, the current policy is essentially:

1. You cannot take classes P/F until you have declared your major.
2. You cannot take any T-Reqs or Major/Minor/Certificate/Prereqs at Duke P/F.
3. You have to declare P/F status before drop-add ends.
4. You can only take 2 full-credit classes P/F at Duke.

Which of these standards would you benefit most from changing? What classes would you want to take P/F and why?

Please leave a comment or email me at chelsea.goldstein@duke.edu. Thanks to all, and I'll keep you updated!

Best,

Chelsea

Syllabus Archive

2008-11-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

I've got to run to class, so this will be quick, but the Syllabus Archive is now up! Check it out, send in your syllabi, and let us know what you think.

Academic Love,

Chelsea

ACS presents...Kville Online

2008-11-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

Okay I guess I’ll step in here since I can see this is quickly becoming the Academic Affairs blog. There’s a lot going on in the world of Athletics and Campus Services this semester, as the development of New Campus creates space for new ideas and brings into review a lot of old ones. ACS has a dozen projects in the works, ranging from bringing students to away games to changing the dining plan structure for freshmen.

But you didn’t come here for a list of awesome ACS projects (or did you? Is anyone even reading this?). You can find those on our website. Today, let’s talk Kville.

First, does everyone know that tenting season is short this year? It’s a little more than a month long, which should come as a great relief to those still thawing from three months of Kville last year. It’s always nice to host the first rivalry game.

I am proud to release kville.info, the new online home of Kville tenting. The site is the lovechild of Head Line Monitor Joel Burill, ACS Senator Vivek Upadhyay, and web guru Andrew Tutt. While the website is still in development, you can already find all of the tenting policies and a forum for tenting discussion right on the site. It’s easy to navigate and easy on the eyes. Right now we’re working on integrating the Crazies Counter into the website, which will let you see how many people are already waiting in line for a basketball game. In the future, we’ll be posting testimonials from tenting veterans so prospective Kville residents can learn what to pack and hopefully sort fact from fiction.

Joel and I met with Phil and Scott from Facilities on Friday and worked out the details of Kville cleanup (FMD will make their sweep at around 7am each morning). Line Monitors will help take out full trash bags and replace them with new ones during the day. At our request, FMD is making sure there is an ample supply of new trash bags hanging from each trashcan (NOT in the bottom of the can—no one wants to reach all the way into an empty trashcan to grab a new bag). After meeting with a handful of administrators who would love to see Kville disappear forever, it was nice to hear Phil and Scott—the guys who actually clean up the place—so supportive of it.

I think Kville is going to be a great success this year. At the very least, it’s going to be shorter!

exciting aa-ness

2008-10-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

hey all! chelsea here again. academic affairs has had a pretty exciting few weeks. to recap:

-bookbagging opened on the new ACES, and it definitely wasn't the catastrophe it would have been a few weeks ago. there's still a few bugs, but i'm really happy that it's at least functional now. check out student.groups.duke.edu/academic_affairs for the OIT and DSG guides to the new ACES, or email me (cpg5@duke.edu) if you are confused. we had another focus group meeting and members got access to a test version of registration, which went really well for me. if only i could actually get in to ariely's class next semester though...

-underload passed through the academic standards committee! this means it should go to ECASC and then [hopefully] the arts and sciences council. again, i have to stay mum on the details for now, but this will be really cool for students if it passes.

-ben was surfing old duke sites and found a syllabus database--what a good idea! we're trying to revamp the site and link it to our evals system. a couple problems, though: 1. it's written in .PHP, which none of us know very well 2. there's a cgi code to get into the site for edits that we can't crack. if you could help us with these problems, there might be a work study or some type of compensation in it for you. please help!

-career-focused research and software training workshops are coming along nicely! i'm meeting with reps from the career center, library, and OIT next week, and hopefully we'll have some workshops put together in the spring.

-the committee is trying to jump start majors unions. if you're interested in getting involved, let us know. also, if you are an exec member in your major's union, let us know that too.

-also going on: [trying] to start on standardizing transfer credit. writing a new pass/fail policy memo. working to get a new focus that links to duke engage. working on a survey to see what classes are the most oversubscribed and brainstorming ways to fix it. helping DIYA to create a DSAS certificate. creating new half-credit courses in popular subjects. chicka chicka yeahhhh.

let me know if you want to get involved/have any questions/think AA is the hottest committee in DSG.

academically,

chelsea

Academic Affairs, woot woot

2008-10-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hey all, this is Chelsea, the VP for Academic Affairs. I'll try to keep you updated on all of the things the AA Senators and I are doing to try to make academics at Duke better for students. Please comment or send me an email, though, if you have any ideas or need help with an academic problem--we're here to help you.

This week, we chose our new at large senators (Michael Mandl, Michelle Sohn, Andrew Schreiber, and Ben Getson) and had our first full committee meeting. We decided to send out a how-to guide to everyone before class registration to make sure that people can navigate the new ACES (I know-yikes!). We're also still working with the people in OIT to try to fix the problems with the new system. We gave them a big list at our first focus group, including making one menu that will be on every page and making the bursar's bill easier to read. I just emailed Kathy Pfeiffer, the head of the project, about setting a date for our next meeting: hopefully we'll fix the rest of the problems soon.

We've also been working with Portia, a student affairs senator, to set up a new focus program about Africa and Africans. Dean Baker was really excited about the idea, and suggested that we link the project to Duke Engage. Harrison, Portia, and I are now talking to professors to see if they would be interested. Let us know if you have any tips!

My pet project right now is working with the library, OIT, and the Career Center to set up career-focused research and software training workshops. These would be offered through the career center on topics like 'Researching Equities' or 'Learning Microsoft Excel'. It's still in the planning phases, so we'd love feedback on topics, etc.

One of our big three projects is on the table right now: changing the underload policy to be more flexible for all students. I have to stay mum on the details because it's in a private committee right now, but I feel good about the progress. It would be awesome if we got it passed, so watch out for it at the end of this semester!

I've got three midterms on Monday and Tuesday, so I better stop blogging and start studying. Leave a comment or shoot me an email with any questions--cpg5@duke.edu.

~Chelsea

Welcome to the DSG blog!

2008-09-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

Everyone says that DSG needs to be a more transparent, open organization, and we agree. In the past, it has been hard to tell what exactly we spend all of our time doing.

This blog is going to help fix that.

For the rest of the year we are going to bring you the inside story behind every DSG project, initiative, and proposal. If you want a real, unfiltered look at the inner-workings of the Duke administration, this is the place to be.

We're excited about it, and we hope you are too.