The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate this year supported changes to multiple areas of campus life, including the function and logistics of the body's community representative position, improved communication between the Senate and the student body and cost-cutting measures for students.
The body accomplished many of the goals that it set out to achieve at the beginning of the academic year, outgoing TCU President Sam Wallis, a graduating senior, said.
The role of community representatives in the Senate changed this semester after a school-wide vote between two referenda in September granted them the power to vote on fiscal matters.
The body in February also amended its bylaws in accordance with the winning referendum to allow any TCU-recognized group to apply to submit a community rep candidate in a schoolwide ballot. Student leaders from any Group of Six center may also submit a candidate with approval from the director of the center.
The changes to the bylaws also established a Diversity and Community Affairs Officer position as an overseer for community reps.
Despite a low candidate turnout in the spring semester's elections for community rep positions, the changes will ultimately benefit the Senate, outgoing TCU Senate Parliamentarian Dan Pasternack, a graduating senior, said.
"I think we took the changes that were made at the end of last year and we made them something that could be used next year to better the system," Pasternack said.
The Senate in November passed a resolution advocating the creation of an Africana studies department in support of an appeal to the university, spearheaded by the Pan-African Alliance.
In response to the appeal and resolution, Dean of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger-Sweeney announced in February that a task force comprised of Tufts students, faculty members and administrators, as well as faculty members from Dartmouth College, Harvard University and Brown University, would be created to assess the options for Africana studies at Tufts.
The task force visited the Hill earlier this month and presented their findings to Berger-Sweeney, who will then make a decision on how to proceed.
The Senate in March encouraged the university to allow the inclusion of student participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) on transcripts in an effort to promote formal recognition of the program. The faculty last month voted to allow for limited ROTC recognition on transcripts in the form of notation.
Chair of the Senate's Administration and Policy Committee Yulia Korovikov, a rising junior, along with Director of Alcohol and Health Education Ian Wong, worked to gather data in support of an effort to encourage accurate perceptions about social norms and health on campus.
As a part of the effort, the university distributed an anonymous American College Health Association survey to 2,400 undergraduates to gather information on students' perceptions of alcohol and drug culture among their peers.
The Senate took on several initiatives this year to increase communication between its members and the student body, Wallis said.
These included the Senate's second-annual leadership dinner, which gathered leaders from TCU-recognized student groups to promote discussion and solidarity. The body also improved outreach by buying advertising space in the Daily and publishing a weekly update, as well as revamping its website.
The Senate continued this year to prioritize cost-cutting measures for students, Wallis said.
"No matter what resolution we talked about, cost was something that we always talked about," he said.
In this vein, the Senate supported the implementation of a textbook rental program through the campus bookstore, according to Wallis.
The Senate in March passed a resolution calling the university to weaken its penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
It also advocated that the university change its policy on fines for off-campus noise violations. The noise violation resolution specified that the school should allow students the option of performing community service in lieu of a $300 fine to the Tufts University Police Department.
The change would help students who are facing financial difficulty or who receive financial aid from the university, incoming Senate President Tomas Garcia, who guided the drafting of the resolution, said.
"I see this as a first step towards finding a replacement towards all monetary fines," Garcia, a rising senior, said.
The Senate this year supported the possibility of establishing a fully equipped kitchen space that would be open for student use and could serve as a venue for cooking classes. Trustee Representative Alix Boulud, a graduating senior, pitched the idea to members of the Board of Trustees during their visit to the Hill in February.
An effort made possible by $50,000 in Senate-allocated funds brought a fleet of 30 bikes to the Hill in a new bike-share program marked by high participation and satisfaction among users in its first weeks.
