Global Student Council

Start a Club!

There are many student clubs already active on campus, a full list can be found on the GSC website http://www.mum.edu/gsc under student clubs and organizations. We encourage you all to start your own clubs to share your interests, knowledge and passion with your fellow students and enrich the educational and recreational opportunities on campus. The procedure is outlined below.

On Wednesday, March 11, GSC will be hosting a "Clubs Day" for recognized clubs to recruit members and share what they are doing with the whole student body. In order to participate, please apply for recognition as a club before March 4th (instructions are below). Both new and existing clubs must reserve a table by contacting Katie Cleary at clearykatieb@gmail.com by March 4th.

Forming a Club:
• A student wishing to start a club should scout out student interest and get a tentative number of members.
• The founding student also must seek out a faculty member of MUM to be the faculty adviser. They will facilitate relations between the University and the club; help the club find space for meetings; and are responsible for the actions of the club. Mostly the faculty adviser gives direction and help to the club.
• The Club President will fill out the Application for Recognition as a Student Organization. Contact information for the President and secondary contact person must be included as well as the faculty advisor. (forms are available online to download and print at www.mum.edu/gsc/clubs.
• The form will be submitted to the Senate President Katie Cleary, who with GSC, will decide if the club operates within the values and goals of the university. Assuming it does, it's a club.
• Clubs must resubmit an application for recognition each year in order to remain an active club and keep the contact person up to date

Funding a Club:
• If the club needs funds to further its progress the President will fill out the Fund Request form and contact the Senate President to arrange a time to come to Senate to present the request.
• It is best for the club appealing for funds to have a steady number of committed members to be more credible. Research must be done prior to appearing before senate on prices and options for equipment, materials, meeting place, or other costs, including shipping if applicable. The request should be prepared ahead of time and organized.
• It is up to the club representative to convince senate to approve funds.
• After the club has presented and answered any questions senate members have they leave the room while senate again discusses.
• There must be enough senators to constitute a forum in order to vote. If the amount requested is over $500 the senators have the option to take a week to think it over and discuss with other students.
• Clubs may request up to $500 each semester
• Vote is taken confidentially by raising hands.
• A choice of financial allotments should be presented. These typically should include zero dollars, the full amount requested, and a middle choice and any other amount suggested and seconded by senators.
• The option with half or more votes is the amount the treasurer will write on a check. A second round of votes (after eliminating a choice or to) may be necessary to have a vote of more than half.
• When there is a tie the President votes to make the final decision
• The club should submit a copy of its receipts to the Senate Vice President or President who will keep track of funds.
• All equipment or materials purchased with student funds through senate remains Student Government Property to benefit students. It does not become club member property and should be collected by student government should the club dissolve.

Feb 18, 2009 4:53:38 PM

Monday Jan 12 GSC Meeting

Sleep Challenge
Puki and Charles will be meeting with Ken Daley, Fred Travis, and Mariam Daudi during lunch on Friday to organize the sleep challenge that will be held during the spring forest block. GSC is still in the process of obtaining prizes for this event.

Presentations for new students
GSC will be at the welcome desk when new students arrive between 5pm and 9pm on Wednesday, Jan 14th and Thursday Jan 15th. (There will be another group arriving on Jan 28th and 29th) Introductions to GSC will also be part of the orientation for the incoming students.

GSC Blog
This blog will begin to be regularly updated every monday evening. These regular updates are intended to keep students informed of the work that GSC is doing and to provide consistency in communicating with the student body.

Open GSC positions
GSC has several positions that need to be filled: Senate President, Senate VP, and GSC Secretary. Any students interested in GSC should contact us ASAP. (If you don't know who we are, our info is on the GSC bulletin board in Annapurna.) Work study is available for these positions.

Student Senate
GSC is working to spice up the format of our student senate meetings on Friday afternoons. (3:15 in the Dreier building basement) There has been very little attendance at these meetings and we want to change that. Katie Cleary has expressed an interest in filling the Senate president position. She will most likely be voted in at the next student senate; no other students have expressed an interest in applying for this position.

Sustainable Living Survey
Todd Ashelman is conducting a survey for Sustainable Living students and other students who are interested in Sustainable Living projects. The survey can be completed by going to: http://sites.google.com/site/mumslclub

GSC TV show
We discussed the idea of starting a TV broadcast for GSC to communicate with the student body. This idea was brought up last year as well. Currently GSC does not have the human resources to implement this idea and concerns were brought up about difficulty in integrating a TV broadcast into the class schedules. Currently this idea is on hold.

This concludes the weekly GSC update. GSC needs to hear from students about the issues that are on their minds. If you have a topic you would like to bring up for discussion, please talk to any of the members of GSC: Puki, Todd, Charles, Olivia, and Sujan. (Joao and Tegan are currently travelling out of the country.)

Jan 13, 2009 9:38:18 AM

Updates on Projects

Updates from Craig Pearson on two projects that we discussed last semester.

1. Student kitchens -- We are putting a kitchen into the high rise currently being renovated (140, I think). We would like to see how that goes and then, assuming all's well, put them into other buildings. The issues will be keeping it cleaned up and no cooking of meat.

2. Student website -- I've had several interactions with Michael Matzkin about this. He's keen to do it. He has been studying the software that would allow password protection. He's on my list to talk to again.

Jan 11, 2009 1:45:20 PM

Chang is in the Air

Change is in the air. It’s a new year (wait a minute…who ran off with 2008?), our new president is about to take office, and most importantly to all of the students we have a new RC grading policy that will take effect in the spring semester.

MEDITATORS
-- We have added another meditation hall, so now students can meditate by affinity group.
-- We have moved the earliest meditation program even earlier, so students can start right after class and make efficient use of their time afterward.

EVERYONE
-- We have simplified the grading system: the grades are now Honors, Pass, and No Pass
-- In response to students' requests, we will have an opportunity to reflect on and discuss experiences in each block.

GSC will be starting the New Year by creating a vision and plan for all the projects, goals and events we want to make happen in the second semester. If you have any ideas or suggestions or dreams, please let me know as soon as possible. That’s why we are here—to make your dreams come true. By the way, that is our temporary joke-theme for the year—GSC: Making dreams come true.

All the Best,

Puki Freeberg
GSC President

Jan 2, 2009 3:31:41 PM

Notes from GSC Meeting 11/3/08

The main topic of our meeting was the continued discussion on the RC grading policies and related issues. We summarized the students thoughts, feelings and ideas that were expressed in the open forum on Friday, all of which were openly received by the administration. We are all working together to create an ideal solution that everyone is comfortable with. For a detailed outline of what was presented, please see the GSC bulletin board on the north wall of the Annapurna Dining Hall.

Another topic that was brought up by the administration, was to inform all the students that action is being taken towards solving the mold problem that has been reported in a few buildings on campus. Someone has been hired full time to use a non-toxic fog machine that kills mold and is actively working in all of the reported problem areas. Testing to determine the exact kinds of mold will begin soon. Also, for art students, the roof of the old SU building will be fixed soon with the addition of skylighting. I believe that David Streid, who is in charge of all of this, will be sending an email to students updating them on the details. But be assured that it is actively being taken care of.

Also, a big thanks to Eero and Rianna with student activities who did a fabulous job putting on the Haunted Fairytale Halloween Ball. Everyone had a blast. Pictures will be posted soon!

Nov 5, 2008 3:49:08 PM

Notes from GSC Meeting 10/27/08

*First off a very warm welcome to the new Compro Representative, Sujan Gautam! He has already been a great addition to the GSC team and we look forward to his many contributions.

*At this Friday's Senate Meeting we will have an open discussion about RC and related policies. All students are invited to attend and voice their opinions.

Bellow are the notes from Monday's (10/2/7) meeting attended by GSC members and Craig Pearson:

Kitchens in Dorms and/or Public Buildings: We discussed having kitchens available throughout campus to allow students to prepare their own food. A test kitchen is going to be set up to see if this idea works and if we can keep them clean in compliance with health regulations.

Website: GSC proposed a new 'current students' website with better and more visible features. We are currently working on solidifying exactly what we want on the website. If you have any ideas for features that would be useful for enhancing the student experience, please let us know.

Increased RC attendance: We were trying to think of ways to increase RC attendance and enthusiasm by inspiring people to put more attention on their meditation. We hope to show some documentaries from the David Lynch Foundation and bring in inspiring speakers.

Recipes: If you have a recipe that you would like to see in the dining hall please pass it on to a member of the Food Committee and they would be happy to bring it to the chefs.

If you would like to join the Food Committe, or have any comments about the food please email foodcomm@mum.edu

also remember to check out: http://www.mum.edu/gsc/clubs.html if you would like to be part of any clubs on campus

and: http://calendar.mum.edu/ to keep track of the many events.

If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to write to gsc@mum.edu

We are here to help make your ideas happen.
GSC

"Be the change you wish to see."

Oct 28, 2008 2:48:52 PM

Events Calendar

It has come to the attention of myself and the other members of GSC that the communication about events on campus is not nearly as effective as it could be. Last week I made it a priority to figure out how to best use the resources we have to solve that problem.

We met with the calendar master for the MUM website and he has now trained the Student Activities department to update the calendar with events that they are hosting. Soon the Senate President and Sustainable Living President will be trained to post relevant events from their departments. With this system, we hope to have a fully functioning calendar to inform the campus community about all of the wonderful events, club meetings, and opportunities that are available in the most efficient way.

The calendar is located at www.calendar.mum.edu. Please check back regularly to find out all the amazing things we have going on here.

Sep 18, 2008 9:54:16 PM

A Year of Solutions

Welcome to the Global Student Council (GSC) blog. This is your captain speaking, or president, or whatever you wish to call me. Most people know me as Puki. I will be keeping this document updated throughout the upcoming school year with news, events, photos, accomplishments, goals and anything to do with student life at Maharishi University of Management.

I have proposed that this year we make it the standard to focus on solutions, rather than dwell on problems. That means that whenever you bring an issue, concern or challenge to GSC, we ask that you:

1. Identify the source of the problem.
2. Create a vision of how you ideally see it solved.
3. Propose how we can make that vision a reality and what role you will play in that process.

We all know challenges will arise. Let’s look at them as opportunities to learn, grow and evolve, because there is always a solution. With this attitude in practice we can make anything happen!

Sep 3, 2008 8:18:53 PM