SA Statement: Molly Bode

Molly Bode

I would like to be a President that focuses on accessibility, communication, and transparency. These three principles would hold the Assembly and other college organizations more accountable to the students needs.

Firstly, I would call for a Student Governance Council to improve communication and cooperation between student governing organizations as well as to publicize the activities of each organization. The Council will meet at least once at the beginning of each term to facilitate discussion among campus groups and resolve issues with funding and fiscal overlaps. Collaboration among student governance committees will yield the ultimate goal of better programs and a more efficient means of addressing issues within both governance and the Dartmouth community as a whole. A similar council was called for after the Task Force Review by David Nachman ’09, but was never implemented.

Secondly, I would call for 2-3 students to serve on the Presidential Search Committee. Other elite institutions such as Columbia University have successfully managed to incorporate the voices of its students into its search processes, and thus, Dartmouth students should have the same manner of representation.

Another primary concern is creating a system in which COS and OAC are reassessed every three to five years. This will require working with the administration to assure students that COS reviews occur in order to decrease “false guilties” as well as to make sure students understand COS policies and processes.

We must also increase transparency of COS processes by providing more information on what COS does and how it can impact students’ lives. To increase the transparency, not only would mock trials need to occur, but a large-scale publicity event should be held in the Fall of each year during Orientation. Students should know their rights and should be better able to prevent going in front of COS. Student should also be better prepared to go through any COS process by having knowledge of the process ahead of time. Also, UGAs should be used as a resource to spread information about COS processes as well as provide guidance for students interested in contacting COS.

Support must be given to the COS review committee’s recommendations and student review process before submission to the Dean which will happen at the end of the Spring Term. Support must also be given to the SEMP review committee’s recommendations to produce a more realistic, clear and simple alcohol and keg policy.

Once a new SEMP policy has been determined, Student Assembly must call for a review of OAC and offer recommendations to create a clear, consistent, and realistic policy for infractions at the student and organizational level. I would particularly like to make sure that organizations have the chance to choose to go before a committee including more students rather than just receive a sanction by various deans. One idea would be to have the choice of going before one dean who would issue all sanctions or before a reformed OAC group to handle reformed OAC and SEMP policies.

Student Assembly must continue to address the issue of class-size and pressure the administration to relieve overcrowding and shut-outs in departments such as Government, as well as continue to ask all departments to post syllabi online and booklists ahead of each term. For the Government department we can more evenly distribute course times for mid-level classes, have more utilization of the 12 hour, or have more “designated” seminar times. I will also strive to continue to increase participation in reviewing courses on the Student Assembly course guide through a continuation and expansion of incentive programs, which actually check for the validity of the entries. In addition, I will continue to review and improve on the academic advising program in order to help students in their identifications of majors.

In order to make Student Assembly more accessible to the student body, as President I would hold open office hours in Food Court, Collis, as well as other areas on campus. Student Assembly will also run ads in campus newspapers to publicize the Assembly’s agenda and events one to two times a month.

My background and experience serving as Vice President of Student Life and Alumni Relations for two terms in SA and serving as Vice President of KDE give me the experience with administrators that can get the job done. Overall, I will use this experience and the principles of accessibility, communication, and transparency to better address and fulfill the needs of the student body if elected President.