Chris Segal
News Assistant
With the diminishing number of Wednesday Convocations and the disappearance of double credits, some students are scratching their heads about whether they will be able to earn an A in Convocation this semester.
Plans are in the works to change this situation. SGA, the voice of the student body, passed a resolution last week asking for changes to the Convocation schedule.
The Convocation Policy resolution recommends that the Convocation Office offer enough Wednesday morning programs for all 14 Convocations required to earn an A, or to re-establish the double-credit program.
The resolution, written by Ryan Breedyk, senior class president, also suggests decreasing the number of Convocations needed to earn an A grade.
The resolution says, “The Convocation office can solve this by hosting enough Wednesday morning programs or re-implementing double-credit programs to fill the 14 necessary on Wednesday morning.”
As reported in the Oct. 28 edition of the Graphic, Guy Chmieleski, Convocation and Student Ministries coordinator said, there are 14 Convocations offered Wednesday mornings this semester. Only 12 Convocations are being offered at the student-preferred 10 a.m. on Wednesdays, but there was a Convocation opportunity Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 7 a.m., and an upcoming Thanksgiving service at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday Nov. 17.
The resolution does not specifically request 10 a.m. Convocations. The resolution may be ineffectual considering that there are already 14 Convocations offered Wednesday mornings this semester.
“SGA wants 14 Convocations but it’s not possible … ,” said SGA Convocation director Bethany Rogers. “It’s just to let the administration know what the students want, which is good.”
According to Rogers there are currently 108 Convocations offered this semester, 56 of which are not language chapels. SGA wants 14 Wednesday morning Convocations because some students are unable to attend Convocation at any other time, according to the resolution.
In previous years there have been fewer Wednesday morning Convocations at 10 a.m. than needed to receive an A, but students received double credits to balance it out.
“I believe that this is probably the case more often than it’s not,” Chmieleski told the Graphic. “There will always be dates like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, spring break, ‘dead’ weeks, etc. that will decrease the number of Wednesday morning opportunities.”
SGA President Carl Kasalek met with the dean’s council to go over the recent resolutions that have been passed. According to Kasalek, the Convocation Policy resolution was not discussed because it is not a dean’s level item.
Nine resolutions have been presented to SGA this semester, only two of which have failed: the SIFE resolution and the Sigma Chi Derby Days resolutions asking for philanthropy funds.
11-11-2004