By Cassie Cavell
The Student Council wanted to take a moment to recap our projects and share how we served YOU- the Student Body, Faculty, and Staff this school year. One of our most exciting collaborations this year led to the reinstatement of Merit-Based Scholarships coming fall of 2022 through our meetings with Jason Towers and Marianne Loper in the Financial Aid Office, as well as with President Lewis! We also were graciously involved in providing feedback on reward letters explaining financial aid to returning and incoming students. It is Houghton’s goal to provide transparency in an often complicated process for all students of financial backgrounds and the added complications that come with being an international student. Jason and Marianne joyfully expressed their willingness to meet one-on-one with any student who has questions or concerns. They are also able to set up a three-way meeting with the student and their parent’s/guardians. I took advantage of this opportunity, and my mom said, “It alleviated the stress of the changing scholarship structure that Cassie and I were unable to figure out on our own.”
Our Food Advisory Committee had the opportunity to speak with Chef Terry, Bryon Richards, and Phyllis Gaerte Wednesday, April 6th, to discuss concerns and questions with Metz. While our discussion acknowledged the extreme supply shortages that have affected the globe over the course of the pandemic, the team is eager to see progress for more options inclusive to student input during meal planning next year. Some highlights of our conversation were the personalized options for students that we were unaware of. For example, if you are on a special diet (gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan, or vegetarian), the pizza station can often make you a personal-sized allergen-free pizza upon request. To address the issue of several students missing lunch, two resolutions have been proposed. First, it has always been an option for a student to request a bag lunch which includes a sandwich of choice and something like chips or an apple. To request this bag lunch, you would go to the scanner station ahead of time, fill out the request and pick up the lunch earlier in the morning. This can be a one-time solution or set on a weekly basis for students who are unable to get a meal due to a scheduling conflict. Secondly, we are also grateful for the collaboration between the Academic Departments and Food Service Department to change the fall class schedule to accommodate more students during the lunch hours. For example, the 50 minute classes on Mondays will now run from 12:00-12:50, and the next block will start at 1:30 rather than 1:15. We hope this is particularly helpful for the nourishment of our students as they work hard to balance their school and their self-care. Student Council also advocated for the specialty diets and allergen-free people expressing some of the major concerns regarding the lack of variety and the coveted special desserts. We were thanked for bringing specific concerns to their attention, and they are willing to continue bi-semester meetings for collaboration with the future Student Council. Regarding the comment board in the dining hall for constructive criticism Chef Terry shared he loves to hear when the food is good and appreciates knowing where there is room for improvements.
Outside of these above-mentioned changes, we have also had the opportunity to meet with Cathy Freytag in the Academic Department to address the campus-wide syllabus policy. We worked with Karl Sisson to promote the One Day Giving Challenge. Additionally, Safety and Security will be continuing to address the lighting and pothole issues in our parking lots this summer and into next year. Along with navigating the logistics of changing the structure of a historically rich and tradition-based organization (formerly Student Government), the first Student Council comprised a hard-working group of students who made tangible changes this year.
Our comments and concerns questionnaire is available in the Linktr.ee in our Instagram @houghtonstuco and will be accessible to this year and next year’s Student Council. We would really love it if you could take a moment to share your thoughts, constructive comments, and ideas for next year with us!! We want to hear from you and are excited for our future council to continue our work. ★
