In preparation for finals, the Academic Committee’s proposal that the Robert L. Carothers Library should extend their hours beginning two weeks prior to and during exams was approved at the Student Senate meeting. It was noted that the current library hours are inconsistent, but the library will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week during this upcoming finals period. It was noted that the 24-hour room is currently off-limits to students living off-campus, and that will change with the new hours.
Senate recognized the Student Philanthropy Council, an unfunded student organization, whose mission is to raise funds and awareness of student giving. It was a branch of the Student Alumni Association, but intended to break away from it because they wanted to focus on URI students giving back to URI instead of raising funds to university charities.
Senate also recognized the Organization of Students Learning Chinese as an unfunded student organization. It intends to be different from the Chinese Flagship Program because it will focus on language, and occasionally include bits of culture. Senate also approved the recognition of the URI Service Corps as an unfunded affiliate student organization and their five service trips around the country, as well as Adventures Abroad, a study abroad and international student community.
A bill for internal elections for open seats in Senate was also approved. There are vacancies for an Off-Campus Representative and the College of Nursing Representative. During this time, a discussion of URI’s Providence extension of the nursing program took place. It was noted that there will be transportation accommodations provided by the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) that will bring students from the Kingston campus directly to the new nursing complex, rather than routing to Kennedy Plaza.
Jodie Hawkins from Campus Rec also addressed the t-shirt policy at both Mackle and Fascitelli gymnasiums during the public forum. She explained that due to the MRSA infection outbreak in 2007, the university decided to strictly enforce wearing full-capped shoulder t-shirts, as well as wiping down machines after each use. One senator pointed out that the policy is not being fully enforced with every student or faculty member who goes to the gym, and she has seen others who still enter the gym completely disregarding the t-shirt rule.
Rhodimogis, a new paid app in App Store, was discussed in the public forum. It currently runs on iOS, and creator Kensey Auguste, a senior, is working on making it available to Android users as well. It is based off the famous Emojis keyboard, but with URI based logos and images.