Student activities took center stage at last night's Duke Student Government meeting.
Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta kicked off the evening by announcing a sweeping restructuring of the Office of Student Activities. Later, legislators approved a referendum question proposing an $8.50 per semester increase in the DSG component of the student activities fee. Last semester, the Duke University Union approved a similar referendum question calling for an $11 per semester hike in its component of the fee, and both questions will appear side by side on the ballot of DSG's spring executive elections.
Moneta offered few details about transforming the Office of Student Activities to the new Office of Student Life, but cited Executive Vice President Tallman Trask's reorganization of the Division of Auxiliary Services as motivation. Trask's reorganization will transfer oversight of student events and student center facilities to Moneta's office July 1.
Current Director of Student Activities Sue Coon will vacate the position May 31, Moneta said, to be replaced by a new Director of Student Life.
"[Coon] has been wonderful in trying to manage the transition from the old arts-oriented Office of University Life to the student-focused Office of Student Activities," Moneta said after the meeting. "But as we move towards an even more comprehensive model, we needed a different skill set than she had. It is not at all about competency. She's been terrific."
Coon, who has worked at the University in four different positions for more than 19 years, said she has enjoyed working in Student Affairs and is weighing various options for her career, including opportunities both inside and outside the University.
"I respect my colleagues in Student Affairs and am excited about the change," Coon said after the meeting, which she attended with Moneta and Assistant Vice President for Campus Life Zoila Airall. "I will lend my support as long as I can. There is very challenging work ahead."
Moneta said staff were notified of the changes Thursday morning.
"They were obviously very concerned about Sue first and foremost, because they are longtime colleagues of hers," Moneta said. "They're also concerned about the implications of this, and I've tried to make it very clear that I have no hidden agendas here."
He added that there are no future personnel changes on the horizon, and he said he hopes to hire the new director by the end of the semester as progress continues on the new student village.
"It's a continuation of what has been called the shakeup of Student Affairs," said Union President Jesse Panuccio. "I think that it makes sense to organize the division in a more logical manner, but personally, Dean Coon has been a great adviser, a strong supporter of the Union and a good friend to me personally, and I will be sorry to see her leaving that position."
Discussion of the potential increase in the student activities fee also highlighted the DSG meeting. If both referendum questions are passed by the student body, the overall fee for the entire year would increase by $39 to $167. DSG's Student Organization Finance Committee would receive $89 of that fee, up from $72 this year, and the Union would receive $78, up from $56.
SOFC Chair Pushpa Raja said the hike for the DSG component would provide almost $120,000 in additional funds available for student groups. The SOFC distributes money each year to groups through annual budgets and programming funds.
"We receive requests for over $1 million in funds, but can cover less than 40 percent of that," Raja said. "Much of that shortage comes from the exponential increases in honoraria and tech costs, which greatly surpass the yearly inflationary increases in the fee."
Panuccio said the Union is under similar pressure, as the annual inflationary increases are not enough to offset the rising costs of the Union and its committee's programming.
"We have found the level at which we used to be able to program is no longer being met because our revenue has not increased proportionally to the rising costs," Panuccio said. "This trend has been especially pronounced over the past 15 to 20 years, and so the reason we are pursuing such a significant increase is to correct for this and to provide Duke with the level of programming that a school of its caliber deserves."
He noted that the additional approximately $130,000 would help bring in better and more major speakers and major attractions, possibly reduce the price of Quad Flicks, and allow for multiple performances for Broadway at Duke shows, thereby increasing the options of bringing in touring shows.
"It's pretty evident to a lot of people if you look at the amount, the quality and the notoriety of speakers and bands that we have, we don't necessarily compare favorably to schools of similar size or caliber," Panuccio said.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: Legislators heard the first reading of a possible change to the election by-laws, which would require a candidate to receive a majority vote in the presidential election or face a run-off election with the next highest vote-getter.
If approved at the Legislature's next meeting, the move would virtually guarantee that every DSG presidential election would end in a run-off. A presidential candidate has never garnered more than Lisa Zeidner's 48.4 percent in 1999.
Executive Vice President Justin Ford said the executive committee felt the change would help with presidential elections with a high number of candidates, and that the committee chose not to pursue other options, such as allowing for a several-member ticket.
â_¢ Andrew Liebeskind, Jeff Parks, Johanna Rogers and Matthew Slovik were elected as at-large legislators, filling spots vacated since the first semester.
â_¢ The Legislature approved a resolution supporting the Duke Greening Initiative, which has also garnered the support of Campus Council.
â_¢ DSG Vice President for Student Affairs Troy Clair proposed major changes to the SOFC recognition and charter process. The proposal will be considered at the body's next meeting.
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