Minutes 12.14.16/Agenda 12.21.16

Post date: Dec 20, 2016 6:35:28 PM

Agenda 12.21.16

• 1. Approval of Minutes

  2. Reports

  3. Shadowing Bylaw Notification

  4. Athletics Over Break Motion

  5. Service on Transcript Motion

  6. Notes and New Business

Council Minutes 12.14.16

“Honor bespeaks worth. Confidence begets trust. Service brings satisfaction. Cooperation proves the quality of leadership.” - James Cash Penney

• 1. Approval of Minutes

  2. Reports

     • A-Mod: Hoping to meet with Mike Jackson this week to get official wording of the policy he has implemented on Athletics over Break.

     • Treasurer: Council Fund: $5,816.04, Co-Curricular: $5,013

     • Secretary: Staff alternate can vote

     • Curric: Discussed Curric survey to be sent out around the end of the semester

     • SAC: Checking in with clubs

     • Admin: Discussed MLK plans

     • OEC: Discussed handbook edits

     • SL: Discussed a shadowing field trip and joining Mr. Stokoe’s committee

     • Exec: Mr. Campbell would have likely vetoed the Religious Holidays Motion had it passed because of issues around school law

  3. Shadowing Discussion

     • Straw poll on who would support it being mandatory for Council

       • Overwhelming majority supports non-mandatory but encouraged

     • Straw poll on whether the entire school should be allowed to participate

       • Large majority favors it being open to the whole school

     • Wording should only apply to Council members but the school should be included

     • Adding it to the list of PR responsibilities would make it part of Council’s culture

     • Priority should be given to Council members and then invite the school

     • Should do a trial run with Council members before expanding it to test it out

     • It shouldn’t be just going to visit another school but we should make sure students are reflecting and getting something out of it and reporting back on the experience

  4. Service on Transcript

     • Students would have the option to report community service hours every year and those reported hours would be placed on your transcript. If you didn’t report it would not be placed on your transcript. The logistics are unsure at this point.

     • Designed to be an opt-in solution that will increase participation in service

     • This gives people who are interested in service but are concerned about time allocation an incentive to do it without being a mandate

     • What would it look like on the transcript? Would it be on everyone’s transcript?

     • Many schools require a letter from someone who is not a member of your family describing what a person has done and for how long. This is the system YIA used to use when there was a requirement.

     • This creates an incentive for service other than the value of service

     • How could this impact students who opt-out and chose not to report service

     • People who go out to pad their college resumes might discover how enriching community service can be and become more involved

     • There are other ways to report community service to colleges such as an outsider letter of recommendation or as an activity in the Common App

     • Helping the community is never a bad thing regardless of incentives

     • Common Ground teachers could record service for their students

     • That it is an option to report service must be clear to underclassmen because students aren’t always thinking about their transcript in freshmen or sophomore year and those hours should be counted

     • We can’t legislate caring but we can get people involved in the community

     • Everyone has a different application and colleges wouldn’t make a decision based off that single factor and the Common App is limited in size so this is a way to give students more reporting options

     • We value and emphasize athletics and grades and we are saying we value service so we should display and promote that

     • The old 16 hour requirement fell apart because of the logistics of reporting on the transcript but technology may be able to fix the problem now

     • This reduces some of the stress of a requirement

     • A transcript is great but that isn’t public recognition of just how much service is happening in the community and we should do that

     • Those hours should be placed in context of how a student spends their time as a whole and every hour dedicated should be significant

     • A small community service is not a burden and might take one or two days in a year to fulfill but would be enough to give people a taste of service and encourage more

     • We could have a minimum requirement that is low and attainable and then note on the transcript if students exceed that number so everyone can report something

     • With a requirement people often meet the bar rather than going above that where if there was no requirement there might be more service overall

  5. Meeting Adjourns