The Tufts Community Union Senate discussed updates to club funding and proposals for committee projects, then began interviewing applicants for trustee representatives during its meeting on Sept. 15.
Trustee representatives are responsible for attending and representing the student body before the university’s board of trustees. After finishing interviews and discussing candidates’ qualifications and proposals, senators heard reports from committee leaders.
The Senate reviewed projects completed since last week’s meeting, including an updated version of the Treasury Procedure Manual for club funding at Tufts. The manual was unanimously approved by the Senate and will be used to train club leaders this week in the TCU Treasury’s club funding procedures.
“It’s basically about reducing the amount of time it takes for groups to get access to funding,” TCU Treasurer Dhruv Sampat, a junior, said, “from getting more people into the office to approve things on time as well as streamlining the process so that higher amounts of money can be approved without having to go to the Senate.”
Sampat said streamlining the approval process will also allow the Senate to spend time on new projects. Changes include creating an equipment inventory system, raising the budget for off campus club travel and regulating the amount that clubs can spend on gifts.
TCU President Joel Omolade, a senior, celebrated the Senate’s work to secure an additional hour of operation for the Tisch Fitness Center and discussed plans to expand the “Meal with Sunil” program, offering students the opportunity to dine and chat with University President Sunil Kumar.
TCU Africana Community Senator Rhoda Edwards, a junior, shared takeaways from a recent meeting with Kumar. Kumar highlighted non-racial ways students from marginalized communities can share their experiences in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action, Edwards said, following the recent drop in racial diversity in the class of 2028.
Each Senate committee shared more of their goals for upcoming projects this semester.
TCU Services Committee Chair Caroline Spahr, a junior, said she planned on continuing past projects — such as the fall break shuttle, late night snack and study and the clothing swap — while supporting new ones, such as a virtual textbook exchange.
“In the past, the textbook exchange was held in Curtis Hall, and we kind of only had it for a couple of days and only for set hours,” Spahr said. “So we decided this year to go with a model that is all virtual. It operates a lot like a Facebook marketplace would, except for this can only be accessed by Tufts students with their Tufts email and they can only exchange at safe places on campus, which gives reassurance to both the buyers and the sellers.”
TCU Education Committee Chair Arman Tendulkar, a junior, discussed plans for another student resource fair later this month, creating an internship database and pushing for more class times for important prerequisite classes.
TCU Administration and Policy Committee Chair Kunal Botla, a sophomore, announced plans to strengthen ties with faculty and student labor unions, and work with the administration on student life issues.
Botla explained how one budget change last year addressed the School of the Museum of Fine Arts shuttle provider’s inability to meet the needs of the students and said he would tackle similar issues throughout the semester.
“A big component of changing the program was moving those funds from the private contractor to MBTA passes,” Botla said, “so focusing on moving on how things are structured … instead of creating a new program because the university is firm that they won’t have the funds to do that.”
TCU Diversity Officer Donovan Sanders, a junior, emphasized the importance of increasing collaboration between various Diversity, Equity and Inclusion groups on campus. “I want to make sure that each center is collaborating with each other so that intersectionality is really pushed to the forefront,” Sanders said.
TCU SWANA Community Senator Iman Boulouah, a junior, reported the SWANA Community Center will likely be in a portion of West Hall, to be finalized with administration officials in a meeting today.
