Student-Trustee Relations Working Group Chair: James Foust

The Student-Trustee Relations Working Group has had a great start to its semester. The Trustee Forum, Trustee Listening Session and trustee dinners during the week of March 4–9 were all successful in terms attendance and in terms of content. Given the events of March 4, 2013 and the acts of hate leading up to this day, the energy at the Trustee Forum was higher than at forums in the past and the focus was on student concerns reflecting the climate at Oberlin and how trustees should, and need to, exercise their role in creating visible and tangible change to acknowledge the needs of all students, but especially those communities most affected by the incidences of hate. The Trustee Forum was facilitated by the Oberlin College Dialogue Center who did a fantastic job monitoring the conversation and ensuring that all voices and opinions were heard. The trustees expressed at the trustee dinner the following evening that they look forward to working with students more in the near future to turn some of these concerns and suggestions into action.

The working group met after the trustee dinner on Friday to brainstorm ways in which the trustees can be more visible and accessible to students during their visits to campus. The working group came up with several great ideas, one being to increase the channels of communication between students and trustees by allowing student organizations to prepare quick presentations to be given to the associated sub-committee on the Board. These presentations will be subject to some sort of approval or application process in order to prepare the trustees for the topic ahead of time. The Student-Trustee Relations Working Group hopes that this process will be implemented by the next time the trustees come to campus in September.

If you are interested in learning more about the Student- Trustee Relations Working Group, or are looking to get involved, email James.Foust@ oberlin.edu, or the Senate email account: senate@oberlin. edu.

Transportation Working Group Chair: Hannah Elhard

This semester, the Transportation Working Group is working on creating a committee to monitor the funding process for OPass — Oberlin’s transportation company. Currently, OPass is an $8 fee in our Student Activity Fee which provides the funds necessary for the Airport Shuttle, Walmart Shuttle and other Oberlin transport mechanisms. With a committee overseeing OPass, Student Finance Committee would allocate funds to the group like they do to the Winter Term Committee, which would create a more permanent and visible funding system. In addition, creating a committee would allow for the input of student opinion on how transportation is operated at Oberlin and how to make it a better system for everyone. The working group is also working with other interested groups in Lorain County to advocate for passing the May 2013 tax levy to provide Lorain County with a consistent source of funding for public transit. The process of creating a committee of this nature would take a little shorter than a year, but the working group hopes that with a concentrated effort they will be able to see progress by fall semester.

If you are interested in learning more about the Transpor- tation Working Group or are looking to get involved, email [email protected], or the Senate email account: [email protected].

EMT Working Group

Chair: Peter Arden

The EMT Working Group is making significant progress in establishing its program and making it dynamic for interested students on campus. It has been meeting with Safety and Security weekly to design protocols and deal with possible liability issues that can arise in having a student-run EMT program. The EMT working group is currently making a budget to begin the service and researching how to maintain Ohio certifications for all EMTs who would be working in the program. The working group is encouraging students who are certified EMTs and are interested in being a part of the program to join the student staff.

If you are interested in learning more about the EMT Working Group or are looking to get involved, email Peter.Arden@ oberlin.edu or the Senate email account: [email protected].