The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate met on Oct. 10 in the Sophia Gordon Hall Multipurpose Room to consider several resolutions and supplementary funding requests.
Parliamentarian Adam Rapfogel, a sophomore, led the discussion of two resolutions.
Senators first considered a resolution affirming the rights of contracted janitors on the Tufts campus to have suitable working conditions and respect from their employer C&W Services, a contractor hired by Tufts. In particular, the resolution called for more full-time positions, better healthcare and benefits, limited night shifts and fewer layoffs.
About 20 students, including members of Tufts Labor Coalition (TLC), attended the meeting to show their support of the resolution.
After the resolution was read by Historian Rati Srinivasan, a junior, the authors explained their rationale. According to co-authors senior Olivia Dehm, junior Nicole Joseph and LGBT Center Representative sophomore Parker Breza, negotiations between C&W Services and labor union Service Employees International Union have been contentious and ongoing, and this resolution creates an opportunity to ensure that C&W janitors' well-being is considered.
According to the resolution, Tufts administrators have affirmed their belief that C&W Services should preserve jobs and be transparent. Thus, the resolution is meant to encourage the university to maintain the minimum standards it says it supports for workers, the authors said.
After a question-and-answer session, Senate held a roll call vote on the resolution and it passed with 21 in favor, no Senators opposed and four abstentions.
The second resolution considered at the meeting urged the administration to mandate annual cultural competency training for staff and faculty. According to a Sept. 8 Daily article, this training would educate faculty on how to accommodate and value diverse voices in the classroom.
"As a professor, you're being taught how to be a better professor to all human beings," co-author and Women's Community Representative Walae Hayek said. "The idea is that, as an educator, you should be educated on how to talk to different people with different identities and different experiences."
The resolution called for mandatory training to be held once per year and as a requirement for tenure and promotions, with optional sessions throughout the year. According to Hayek, a junior, the curriculum for the training is being developed and will likely be ready by next summer. She said that training would be updated annually.
Hayek explained that training could be provided either by professors of education at Tufts or by outside professionals contracted by the university. The intention of this resolution, she said, is to lobby administrators to make the change.
The resolution passed by acclamation, meaning senators raised their hands to vote rather than declaring their vote one by one.
Next, TCU PresidentGauri Seth and TCU Vice PresidentShai Slotky, both seniors, updated senators on several projects. Seth recognized Breza and Diversity and Community Affairs (DCA) OfficerBenya Kraus, a junior, for their work to organize an Indigenous People's Day celebration earlier in the day.
Treasurer Christopher Leaverton then sought approval for a project to look into introducing minors for Spanish and French for students in the School of Arts and Sciences (A&S). Currently, those languages are only available as minors for students in the School of Engineering, even though other language minors are offered in A&S, according to Leaverton, a sophomore.
Leaverton explained that many students have expressed interest in minoring in Spanish or French. He said that faculty's responses have been mixed, with some willing to consider the resolution and others concerned about its impact on the department and its educational value.
Senators voted by acclamation to approve the project. Leaverton said that his next steps will be to work within the Department of Romance Languages to see whether there is student interest and subsequently lobby the department to hold a vote.
Leaverton then led the portion of the meeting focused on supplementary funding requests for clubs. Tufts Hillel's and Tufts Asian Student Coalition's requests for funding were recommended in full by the Allocations Board (ALBO) and Senate approved those requests. Active Minds, Computer Science Exchange, Non-Denominational Christian Fellowship and TLC saw their requests reduced by ALBO; Senate approved the ALBO-recommended amounts.
The most contentious supplementary funding request was for TCU Senate's own budget. $3,000 was requested to create stipends for the DCA Officer, the Historian and the Parliamentarian. $6,000 was requested to help pay for security at Late Night Dining.
The stipends for senators, Seth argued, should be made available because TCU Senate Executives spend a great deal of time on Senate business, so stipends would allow the Senate to be more inclusive to students who need to work during the school year. Currently, the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Associate Treasurer receive stipends, though they are not need-based. The funding request would pay for three new $1,000 stipends.
Breza argued that, if stipends are made available, they should be extended to other members of the Senate who have additional responsibilities, such as Trustee Representatives and Community Representatives. He also suggested that the stipends could be proportional to need.
Junior Daniel Kamlarz, a senator, expressed concern that the stipends available for certain positions are not well-publicized, and for that reason they should not come out of the student activity fee.
Associate Treasurer Emily Sim, a sophomore, acknowledged that many other Senate members put in a lot of work, but she said that Executives are especially deserving of stipends because they have large, constitutionally-mandated responsibilities.
With regards to Late Night Dining, Seth explained that the full bill for maintenance and Tufts University Police Department security for Late Night Dining in the Commons totals $18,000 per year, of which $6,000 is borne by the Office of the President and $6,000 is borne by the Student Affairs Office. She argued that it is important to fund these expenses because previous incidents of poor student behavior have made dining staff feel unsafe.
Education Committee Chair Nesi Altaras, a sophomore, said that he was under the impression that the Late Night Dining expenditures were meant to be a one-time expense. He argued that it should not be paid for by the student activity fee.
Sim agreed in principle that Late Night Dining costs should be institutionalized, but she pointed out that TCU Senate's contribution is a proportionally small amount.
Senators ultimately voted to table debate on the funding request, which means that it will be discussed at a future Senate meeting. They then adjourned the meeting.
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