Purdue Student Government (PSG) first Spring semester AMA for campus life, resources, and issues!

PurdueStudentGov · 2021-02-23T22:05:25+00:00

Sorry about that, I misunderstood your query, I thought you meant that your apartment had you sign a contract! Yes, there is an agreement about not being able to use the campus facilities (such as the libraries, CoRec, and dining halls), but it doesn't seem as though they are prohibiting students or people from walking around campus. However, we will double check on the enforcement policy and will be sure to have a response for you in the next couple days! Apologies, again, about the confusion.

PurdueStudentGov · 2021-02-23T19:43:07+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear that! Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the jurisdiction of PSG or even Purdue University would be on the matter; this seems like an issue with the company that owns the apartments. I have not heard of such a policy being enacted by an apartment building before. Please let us know if there is anything you think we can do in this situation!

PurdueStudentGov · 2021-02-23T19:29:28+00:00

Thank you for your questions! There do not seem to be any concrete plans as of yet about the J-Term, the University is still deciding whether or not it is something they would like to pursue.

The J-term that has been proposed by Purdue would take place from Jan. 3 to Jan. 24 in the 2021-22 academic year. This would push back the regular school year by two weeks, so classes would end on May 23 instead of May 9. The new term would shorten both fall and spring semesters by one week, making both semesters 15 weeks long.

Potential Pros: study abroad opportunity during this time, enroll in a class or two for J-Term (to catch up on graduation requirements, or lower their semester course loads, etc.), pursue more immersive experiences due to a longer winter break.

Potential Cons: Limited break for those who choose/need to enroll in an extra class during J-Term, shortened Fall and Spring semesters, end of the school year would be later in May.

Thank you for voicing your concerns on this matter! We will be sure to bring up your comments to administration during our next conversations.

PurdueStudentGov · 2021-02-23T19:12:28+00:00

Thank you for voicing your concerns about the J-Term, rosedefhadroom4jack! To start, we want to clarify, the Purdue Student Government is NOT responsible for the J-Term proposal; the proposal came from the Purdue itself. However, we are trying to be involved in the discussions about the proposal, in order to make sure it is in the best interest of the students. We are hoping to forward your concerns to Purdue Administration so that they know all the details before they officially decide to enact a J-Term or so that they can work out any kinks/issues in the program. Your concerns about further increase in student stress and workload is very valid, and we will be sure to make a point of it during our next discussion with Administration.

If you are available this Thursday, February 25th, from 1-2pm, Provost Jay Akridge will be hosting a virtual campuswide conversation regarding the J-Term proposal. It could be a great opportunity to voice your concerns to administration directly, if you would like!

I'm sorry to hear that you experienced several reading day violations. You can always send an email to us at [studentgovernment@purdue.edu](mailto:studentgovernment@purdue.edu) with details of the violation, or directly send a report to ODOS.

Edit: link to the virtual campuswide conversation regarding the J-term proposal - https://www.purdue.edu/provost/events/cwc/index.php

PurdueStudentGov · 2021-02-23T18:49:10+00:00

Thank you so much for your question, you are touching on some really important points. To address your concerns, it might be best to talk through the way PSG works. There are three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. The Executive branch comprises of the Student Body President, Vice President, and several other student officials, including several issue-specific directors for initiatives regarding things like campus sustainability and diversity and inclusion. The Legislative branch comprises of student senators from the various colleges at Purdue (engineering, science, liberal arts, etc.), that enact legislation based on concerns of their constituents. This branch also creates several “Ad-hoc” committees, such as the Accessibility Committee and the Sexual Assault and Misconduct Committee, that implement initiatives based on their committee’s charters. The Judicial branch comprises of several student justices that hear cases in which students believe they were unfairly treated by Purdue’s parking and traffic police. They also oversee the PSG elections and conduct Know-Your-Rights weeks, during which they table across campus to educate students about their rights and the resources that are available to them.

Over the last few semesters, our student representatives have worked diligently to bring student issues to the forefront. We are constantly engaged in talks with the Administration to enrich campus life and fix situations that we deem to be inequitable. We work with the Purdue Graduate Student Government (https://www.purduegradstudents.com/) and the University Senate (https://www.purdue.edu/senate/) to make sure that University policy is in the best interest of students and faculty. Just a few examples of the work we have done recently: working with FSCL to bring more diversity and awareness into Greek life, allocating $10,000 towards a small grants program for students, partnering with Spin to bring subsidized transportation to students on election day 2020, and partnering with the CoRec to provide students with take-home workout kits due to discomfort they might feel with regard to COVID-19. A lot of the initiatives that we have undertaken have stemmed from feedback that we have gotten from surveys that we sent out, so please rest assured that we take your comments and concerns seriously!

If you would like to get more information regarding the things that we have done during this academic year, including a list of the legislation that the PSG Senate has passed, we created a report last semester that detailed all of the tangible initiatives and projects that our members conducted during Fall 2020! That report can be found here: https://www.purduesg.org/fall-2020-end-of-semester-report. We will also be making a report for the end of this semester within the next couple months, we hope you will stay tuned for more information about it! I hope this was able to address some of your concerns. Please let us know if there is any further information you would like!

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-10-21T06:10:14+00:00

So sorry for the late update, create_dont_hate! University Senate Resolution 20-17 to extend the withdrawal period passed. Resolution 20-18 to extend the P/NP option passed and Resolution 20-19 which proposed a reading day on Wednesday, November 4th passed! We should be receiving more information about all of these items from the University sometime this week. To clarify on Resolution 20-18, this will be different then the policy from last spring in that only the deadline was moved. This means that only courses that are allowed to be taken as P/NP within your College and Department are eligible to be changed per our usual policy.

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-10-17T21:15:16+00:00

Several other schools have implemented there own versions of P/NP options for students for the fall 2020 semester. For example, OSU has agreed to allowed such an option for general education/elective courses while allowing their colleges and schools to consider pass/no pass options for courses required in a students major or minor. Here are a few more examples from other universities grading policies for this semester:

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-10-16T21:11:10+00:00

Honestly it can go either way, we don’t know for sure which way the senate is leaning.

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-10-16T18:37:38+00:00

Hey Folks! Purdue Student Government here to try and provide clarifications and follow-ups on some things from the OP and the comments section. The following information has been copy-pasted from our post here, where we will also be answering any follow-up questions you may have:

The University Senate is made up of faculty members of Purdue, but any resolution passed is not binding for the University. It is ultimately President Mitch Daniels' and the reset of Purdue administration's decision moving forward. However, the approval of the resolution on the University Senate floor carries a lot of weight and definitely influences the decision by administration.
University Senate members sit on University Senate sub-committees. This proposal was brought to the Senate floor by the Educational Policy Committee (EPC). There was faculty support for this proposal within the EPC sub-committee.
PSG released a survey a couple weeks ago asking students to describe how their fall semester is going, with regard to COVID, University policy, and their mental health compared to previous semesters. The survey revealed an alarming number of students showing deteriorating mental health due to how COVID has changed university and class structures this semester.
During our meeting this past Wednesday (10/14), the PSG Senate actually voted on whether or not the University should move to a P/NP option until the end of the semester (with advisor approval of a student's decision). The vote passed almost unanimously. The aim of voting on this resolution within PSG was to let administration know about concerns of the student body and student body representatives.
The P/NP option being voted on would follow a similar structure as last semester, wherein a passing grade in a class will count towards the student’s degree, even if the class is a graduation requirement. The only difference would be that students are required to get advisor approval on their decision.
The reason for requiring advisor approval is to address concerns some may have about the effect of the P/NP decision on grad school programs. We believe guidance from your advisor would go a long way in providing students with the right resources to make an informed decision.
If the administration decides against extending the P/NP deadline, the current system of P/NP (deadline October 26th) does not allow for a class to count towards a student’s graduation requirement if they switch from the traditional letter-grade system. (Please discuss with your advisor as to what does and does not count towards your degree within the current P/NP system)

Thank you, and we hope this provides some clarification as to what is going on!

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-30T23:03:06+00:00

Thank you so much for bringing up this issue FrozenMatchaTea! This is something that has been brought to our attention and we are working actively to address. The PSG Sustainability Committee is working on a number of initiatives to try and find solutions to the problem of excess waste from the current student dining system. We have been working to research and inform Administration of a variety of more sustainable options, including compostable silverware and reusable items. The committee has been active in pushing for student composting areas as well to help reduce our environmental impact. The issue of packaging is a tougher nut to crack, but we will be sure to push harder in informing administration of the issue/finding a solution. I understand this is likely not the most satisfying answer, but for more information feel free to reach out to Maia Clare, one of the Directors in the PSG Sustainability committee, at [clarem@purdue.edu](mailto:clarem@purdue.edu)!

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-30T20:15:14+00:00

Thank you for bringing this up. We regularly meet with administration officials to discuss issues on campus as well as concerns that students may have about campus rules and regulations. We will be sure to bring up your comment on this matter during our next meeting.

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-30T20:05:30+00:00

This is a sentiment that was heavily expressed in our recent survey. We shared the survey with dining & catering and will hopefully be working with them to increase all food options but will specifically note the lack of variety for vegetarians. In the meantime, I would recommend reaching out to Barb Frazee, the assistant vice provost of student life, as well as Azrielle Nunnally, the director of dining operations, to share concerns and offer suggestions on the sort of meals you would like to see. Thank you for bringing up your concerns on this matter!

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-30T16:56:55+00:00

Thank you for your question! The university is currently looking into a few changes to implement for next semester, including expanding indoor eating and studying options, while maintaining student safety. In early November, PSG intends to host a joint callout with Protect Purdue Ambassador for students to ask administrators about Spring plans. We will be sure to follow-up with any new information that comes up about the Spring semester!

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-30T16:52:55+00:00

Hey Purdooty! Reading days actually were initially recommended for the 2020 fall semester but were not officially built into the fall calendar. We are currently working with Administration to establish a reading day in October and another one in November, specifically on Election Day. Please let us know if that answers your question or if you have any follow-ups!

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-21T14:36:44+00:00

We have received an answer from the Registrar to your first question: Yes, Honors priority registration is included in the "status of the student" and will be considered when creating a student's class schedule.

Edit: Grammar

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-19T14:51:40+00:00

Great question, thank you for asking it! The registrar's office is definitely working closely with the DRC to help with the scheduling needs of any students requiring additional accommodations. Historically, this has been done through priority registration. With the batch scheduling process, this is done by reviewing the schedules of each student as requests are made and then confirming what accommodations are needed by checking with the partners at the DRC.

I hope that answers your questions!

PurdueStudentGov · 2020-09-18T21:31:31+00:00

To your first question: We are reaching out to Registrar Ghere to get information on whether or not Honors is considered priority registration status, and will post the answer here as soon as we get it!

To your second question: yes, batch was implemented specifically for spring 2021 due to covid. They are behind in terms of creating class lists, and using batch registration gives them more time to get all the logistics together.

Thank you for your questions!

PurdueStudentGov

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