Illustration by: Maddie Bataille | Photo Editor
This week from the Student Senate: a speech from President Marc Parlange, a warning to partiers in Narragansett and recognition for three new organizations.
To begin this week’s Student Senate meeting, Parlange took the floor to discuss a multitude of topics, including highlights in enrollment and future goals.
He started by highlighting this year’s enrollment numbers, stating that there were 25,400 applications for fall, which was a record high. There are 3,300 new first year students, and 17,000 total students.
Parlange made a point about improving the University’s Narragansett Bay Campus. He claims that Rhode Island is going to be the area to define the “blue economy,” and how the ocean is going to be treated in the future. Parlange is aiming for the University to be on the forefront worldwide of oceanographic research, which will require a revitalization of the Bay Campus.
For this, Parlange has been campaigning statewide for “Vote Yes on 1,” which would give URI the necessary funding to renovate and revitalize the Bay Campus. He is hoping to make it a location students can sail from and ocean research can occur.
“The location is beautiful, but the buildings are in atrocious conditions,” Parlange said of the Bay Campus.
The goal with the push for voting yes on question one is to turn the Bay Campus into a hub for the “blue economy” of the future.
Parlange also addressed some goals for the University in the next five years. He acknowledges that the University is highly ranked nationwide by multiple polls, but he believes it can be better. Parlange said the school can be committed to both its land and sea grant missions and that the school can work together with international institutions such as the University of Tasmania in Australia and the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada in a push for the University of Rhode Island to become a leading global research university.
Parlange also addressed ongoing position searches in the University and two new hires — Mark McDonald, vice president of communications and Sean Edmund Rogers, vice president of community equity and diversity. He also recognized that the searches for provost, vice president of student affairs, dean of the college of business, dean of university libraries and dean of the university college for academic success are still ongoing.
He ended by acknowledging that tuition has increased, but also that he is working on obtaining more state and federal funding to balance financial aid.
The committees came to the floor following Parlange, addressing a few issues.
The External Affairs Committee put out a warning for students living in Narragansett. The Narragansett Police Department has collected a large number of “Party House Stickers.” These stickers are assigned to houses which have received a large amount of noise complaints or have noticed excessive student presence at the houses in Narragansett. If a house has been designated a “party house,” it is more likely to be investigated by Narragansett police for any given reason. The committee warned residents to not have too many other students over and to not be a nuisance to their neighbors in order to avoid being designated as a “party house.”
The long lines at Union Express were addressed by the Campus Affairs Committee. They acknowledged that Amazon deliveries were the main issue causing the backlog and long lines, and are hoping to get Amazon hubs to be located around campus. There is already one outside of Hope Commons, but it receives limited use. The Senate is hoping to release a video to show how they work, and are hoping the addition of more limits the lines at the Union Express.
Fall Fest has partnered with the Gloria Gemma Foundation, a breast cancer resource foundation, to raise funds for awareness, according to the Executive Affairs Committee. They will be hosting a ten-dollar cornhole tournament during the Fall Fest with half of the funds going to the foundation.
Three new clubs were unanimously recognized by the Student Senate this week. First, “Dress History” was recognized. They aim to recognize history through the form of fashion and clothing. Second, the “Science Fiction and Supernatural Club” was recognized. They aim to explore the medium of science fiction. Third, the “Women’s Network” was recognized, aiming to connect women with industry leaders and professionals.
The Senate will next meet on Wednesday, Oct. 12.