MCSG Legislative Updates
Check out the work of Macalester College Student Government
Stay Involved & Contact Us
Make sure to follow MCSG on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Be sure to check out the MCSG website for meeting minutes and other information and The Mac Weekly website for weekly MCSG summaries. Email us with any questions, comments, or concerns (mcsg@macalester.edu).
Email: mcsg@macalester.edu
Website: macalester.edu/mcsg
Location: Weyerhaeuser Boardroom
Phone: 6516966485
MCSG President's Update
Presidential Advisory Group: The presidential advisory group has met twice this semester to discuss all things happening on Mac campus. The first meeting was mostly introductory, and the second we discussed how MCSG is working to alleviate the issues brought up during the sit-in. This group consists of myself, a member of the alumni board, parents board, staff, faculty and President Rivera.
Update from Nov Faculty Meeting: The faculty heard from me about how they contributed to issues brought up by students and how they can work on making things better. Current products: Faculty Advisory Committee will begin meeting with AAC monthly, and with MCSG on a semesterly basis. I will also be presenting more often to the faculty (the Presiding Officer and I are figuring that out still).
To be involved, please reach out to Shreya Nagdev at snagdev@macalester.edu. If you want to be part of the Serie Center conversations send me a message and I will put you on a list.
MCSG Standing Committees Updates
Student Services & Relations Committee (SSRC)
This semester the SSRC met every Wednesday from 5-6 pm. Students are VERY welcome to attend and participate in committee meetings as well as to reach us at ssrc@macalester.edu anytime! Two At-large members joined SSRC this semester. Welcolme Rola Cao and Holiday O'Bryan!
SSRC approved three Community Chest requests: UWC Day and International Day of Peace Celebration; Latinx Heritage Month events; and a Friendsgiving event. If you have any cool ideas for how student activity fee money should be spent, you can put in a request here.
SSRC began working on a student toolkit to address inclusion and discrimination in classrooms and on campus. SSRC is partnering with the Addressing Discrimination Ad-Hoc on this project which we hope will be available for students next semester.
SSRC hosted its semesterly forum on November 17th in The Loch! The forum was an opportunity to do direct community outreach so that students could meet and get to know SSRC members as well as share their concerns and demands. The main topics discussed were wellness, mental health, and the Open Pantry.
SSRC works as an advisory board for the Open Pantry with the Campus Center. This semester has been focused on making sure it is accessible for students despite recent changes. You can read about reasons for the changes here. If you have any feedback email openpantry@macalester.edu or reach out to any member present on the committee!
The SSRC is focused on ways to increase health and insurance literacy. Through different listening sessions, our semesterly forum, our personal experiences, and talking to the student body, we have identified multiple objectives.
- Ensure students, especially international and marginalized students, understand the health insurance provided by the school and other options in case anyone would like to opt-out
- Identify what the insurance does and does not cover
- Identify potential ways students can get greater access to counseling services provided on and off-campus. We have been working with the Hamre Center and have a meeting next Tuesday, December 14th. Feel free to reach out to the SSRC at ssrc@macalester.edu if you have any questions or concerns!
Next semester SSRC will conduct a student life survey to get feedback on student's experiences and the campus climate! More information about when it will be out is coming so stay tuned!
Financial Affairs Committee (FAC)
The first FAC meeting of the spring semester will be Tuesday, January 25, 2022 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM in Campus Center 214. We meet every Tuesday at this time and almost always in that room. If coming to our weekly meeting is not feasible for you, you are always welcome to email fac@macalester.edu with questions and concerns. Margaret Smith, our advisor from OSLE, can also be reached at msmith16@macalester.edu.
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The FAC has created five pairs of student org liaisons who will be the org's go-to person for finance questions! Every student org should have received an introductory email from their liaison pair.
Every spring, the FAC revises the Financial Code, which guides FAC decision-making and org spending. Please don't hesitate to reach out to fac@macalester.edu with suggestions on edits to the Financial Code.
The FAC is getting ready for our annual Budget Bonanza! Budget Bonanza is where the FAC sets student org budgets for the upcoming academic year. Org input is essential to ensuring every org has what they need. FAC liaisons will hold office hours ahead of Budget Bonanza to work directly with orgs on their budget requests. Be ready to submit those budgets by Friday, March 5, 2022!
Follow FAC Chair Rebecca Gentry on Instagram for updates and information on office hours.
Academic Affairs Committee (AAC)
Mariah Loeffler-Kemp and Joel Sadofsky are helping craft a wellness statement for professors to include on their syllabi.
Tom Liu and Tor Olsson and others are formulating a handbook regarding Hamre Center and other resources for mental well-being as well as general ideas on how to ask professors for help and decide when to Pass/Fail, Withdraw, and/or take a Leave of Absence.
Elyse Hatch-Rivera and Daniel Chechelnitsky are creating a social media campaign, “As an upperclassman, if I knew this when I was a first year….”
Reach out to any member of the committee with questions, comments, and concerns.
Student Organizations Committee (SOC)
Next semester we will conduct formal check-ins (previously called audits) and support orgs through the transition process. Also, we are excited to continue to charter new orgs. If you are thinking of creating a new org, please don't hesitate to reach out to soc@macalester.edu.
Program Board (PB)
Students can contact PB at pb@macalester.edu or DM them on Instagram at macalester_pb.
MCSG President's Cabinet Update
Community Engagement Officer
I created the MCSG Updates Newsletter for students to receive MCSG specific information without having to sift through our social media. This newsletter will occur every two weeks during the spring semester and provide students with updates about what MCSG is up to. Make sure to share with your friends!
Through meetings with the Provost, my role as student rep on the Strategic Planning & Analysis (SPA) Committee, conversations with Joan Ostrove at the Serie Center, and my role as student rep on the Leadership Working Group, I will be hosting a workshop on leadership during the Macalester Student Leadership Workshop in January.
I will continue to hold office hours for students during the spring semester. Stay tuned for dates and time. During the break, I will be conceptualizing how to make the MCSG website more effective for student use and tracking initiatives. Please reach out to Ayana Smith-Kooiman at asmithko@macalester.edu or on Twitter and Instagram for questions and comments!
Sustainability Officer
If students want to be looped into the planning of these events and the discussion about the research in general reach out to Kashvi Ajitsaria, Carter Bell, Susanna Drake, or Professor Damon.
Next semester, we hope to have 3 events - one about the socially responsible retirement fund alternatives faculty can use, one about mac’s ESG policy, and one about alternative/circular economies in general. We will communicate the dates for this as soon as they are confirmed. The goal of these events is to increase financial transparency and education so students feel informed enough to critique existing systems, foster more conversations amongst students, admin and faculty members, and illustrate the links between institutional responsibility and social justice and sustainability.
Follow on Kashvi and the Sustainability Office's Instagram where the post updates and environmental justice resources.
Ad-hoc Committee Updates
Addressing Discrimination Ad-Hoc
Students can reach out to any members through email to provide input or be involved.
Mythbusting @ Mac
What Is Macalester’s Budget Process?
The majority of the operating budget of the College (60%) is comprised of student tuition and room & board. The remaining amount, approximately 32% and 7% comes from the five percent endowment draw and gifts and grants, respectively. Patricia Langer, the Interim Chief Financial Officer, and her team put together an initial budget once the number of students and tuition expected each year is determined.
The initial budget model is then submitted to the Task Force on Budget (TFoB), which meets every other week starting November, for additional input from representatives of each aspect of the college. The TFoB was created by the President and Senior Staff to bring more knowledge, experience, and understanding of the College's needs into the budget development process.
After the budget is revised and approved by the TFoB it is then submitted to the President and the Senior Leadership team in order to “work within a balanced budget without sacrificing the academic programs or quality of the College and exercise stringent fiscal control, including maintaining a balanced budget” (Macalester College ByLaws). Once these actors have reviewed the budget, it is then submitted to the Board of Trustees (BoT) for a vote. The budget for the following fiscal year is determined around March the year before. For example, the budget for the 2022-2023 academic year is determined in March of the 2021-2022 academic year.
If emergency budgeting needs arise (e.g. Covid), they are sent directly to the BoT for approval.