Update: WCGA Working for YOU

The 2014-15 academic year continues to add remarkable chapters and memories to the history of Wilson. As promised, WCGA has furthered its outreach and engagement in the Wilson community by collaborating with many committees to spread awareness and emphasize the role of students in regards to a variety of issues on campus.

WCGA has worked with the newly-formed faculty senate to re-create the traditional Spring Convocation and plan

“Pushing up Daisies,” an event dedicated to honoring the senior class. The event took place on Feb. 10, and brought the Wilson community together, including faculty, staff, and students, to celebrate the seniors’ accomplishments and memories at Wilson.

In addition to funding different student organizations and clubs, WCGA has apportioned money to the senior, junior, sophomore, and freshmen classes to help with expenses. The amount given per class depended on its size. WCGA has also funded several trash cans and recycling bins due to their absence in public spaces.

WCGA has helped facilitate communication between the student body and the Middle States Committee in order to educate students about the process. Through the Chat n’ Chew sessions, WCGA hosted Professor Dana Harriger, the Chair of Middle States Committee, providing students with the opportunity to ask questions and get more information. Also, the WCGA Executive Council members were educated about the process in order to answer any questions that came up outside of the Chat n’ Chew sessions.

As the Wilson community grows, more questions about the smoking policy on campus have emerged. WCGA held another Chat n’ Chew session to discuss this topic with students and hear what the have to say. The session included maps of the campus and asked students, smokers and non-smokers to mark where they wanted to see no-smoking signs.

There was a great consensus on enforcing the campus non-smoking policy, therefore, WCGA has formed a smoking-policy committee that includes smoking and non-smoking faculty, staff, and students. The committee’s goal is to further discuss the smoking policy and find ways to implement sanctions. The committee has met with the previous committee members and learned more about the non-smoking policy. Currently, the committee is working on gathering information about the policy and looking for more members.

One point worth mentioning is the American Bear Project. Wilson became part of the “American Bear” tour in Fall 2014 as WCGA sponsored a fun, educational experience and brought it to the students. “American Bear” is a film that captures young Americans exploring their own culture and yearning for nation-wide connection as they interact with strangers.

WCGA hosted Sarah Sellman and Greg Grano, the directors of the film, and held a Q&A session after projecting the film. The film raises questions about how the American identity is defined and encourages students to face their fears and navigate barriers in society.

As for this spring semester, WCGA members continue to pursue the goals set at the beginning of the year by addressing the students’ concerns and increasing student participation in clubs and organizations by raising awareness of the available resources on campus. WCGA will also continue to work with the smoking-policy committee to make progress. In addition, we will continue to use the following methods to reach out to the student body:

•WCGA General Assembly and Senate meetings are still being held in the Dining hall during lunch hours to attract a larger audience.

•Chat n’ Chew: night time sessions that discuss current topics, issues or suggestions that the students have.

•WCGA Office hours: each member of the Executive Council has four office hours a week. Four hours in the office, and two hours that are available to schedule appointments which provides an opportunity for students to easily access WCGA officers for questions, suggestions, and concerns.

With the WCGA already hard at work, we are happy to see students at this level of energy on campus who are actively cooperating with us. The Executive Council will continue to serve as student leaders and to contribute to helping the Wilson College community.