New MICA Building Hours

Dear Students,

As you may all know now from Dusty's email, MICA will be changing its building closing hours in order to cut costs, as well as save energy. The new hours are as follows:

--> Main Building and Bunting Center

-----Monday through Friday: 7am-11pm

-----Saturday: 8am-6pm

-----Sunday: 12pm-6pm

-->Brown, Dolphin, Fox, Mt. Royal Station*, and Studio Center**

-----Monday through Friday: 7am-2pm

-----Saturday and Sunday: 8am-3am

*Rinehart School of Sculpture students can access Mt. Royal Station 24/7

** Graduate Students may access the Studio Center 24/7

Now, before everyone freaks out, please, do me a favor, and read this note that I posted on Facebook concerning the new building hours.

Click here for the link.

I appreciate everyone staying calm and thank you for taking the time to read the note in advance.

-Meghann

Last SVAAC Meeting of the Year

Come to the LAST SVAAC MEETING OF THE YEAR! We are having elections for next year's Academic Affairs Council cabinet.  Those who are current positions will step down.  They are able to run again, but we are allowing an opportunity for new faces and opinions.  Should you be interesting in running or want to vote on your student government for next year, please show up!  Too many people complain that they have no idea who our student government representatives are or how they got elected, well, that's on you if you don't go.

April 15th: Last Student Meeting About the MICA Budget

The final MICA Budget Priorities Student Meeting will be happening Wednesday April 15th at 2pm in Main 160.  At this meeting, Fred Lazarus will be giving the latest updates about the budget picture, as well as walk through several scenarios about what might end up happening.  This is not a mandatory meeting for SVA but this is an OPEN MEETING for all students so please help us spread the word to get informed on MICA budget for the next year.

SVAAC Meeting Minutes 2-12-09

First Spring SVA Student Council Mtg
2/12/2009

1.) Welcome

2.) Review minutes
Review past meeting minutes from November 2008

3.) Working Group Reports
Financial aid

-Group corresponded via email
-Meghann met with Diane Prengaman last semester, talked about different things in financial aid
-Financial Aid office is already doing most of the things that we suggested but, to bolster what they’re already doing, talked about creating postcards to remind students about FAFSA due date
-Aaron Talbot is designing the new FAFSA reminder post card
-Also talked about moving all the financial info to mica portal from booklet to make for easy access b studs don’t always get the booklets

Documenting Artwork
Sr advisory council every yr , started two yrs ago to decide on commencement speaker originally to give studs a bigger voice in that area , - bring 10 students from across majors (srs) .. they also championed class gifts since 2007, soliciting ideas of what class gift would be (courtyard of gateway for 07; 08 donate money toward purchasing mac minis and projectors for stud space galleries so studs can have access to 3 projectors for galleries; 09 decide a space to document artwork, so they’re going to buy the equipment and in operations to find a space)
This is part of dpt’mntl resources work, space will be dedicated and can reserve space as much as you can reserve anything else

Next two subjs touch on next mtg


4.)Committee reports
Budget & Finance Committee

Representative: Andy Mangold
--> School is affected by economy, had hit on endowment which is really big
--> Two factors: cut in state grants (i.e. Sellenger grant) and the size of the incoming freshmen class (may be lower than past years)
--> School is cutting money from non-academic areas as much as possible in order to try and encourage more students in incoming freshman class..
--> Tuition goes up about 6.5-7% every year.. but next year it’ll only go up about 3% .. also putting a lot of money into merit scholarships.. to encourage students to stay despite economy..
--> Had a meeting for money with Fred Lazarus and Doug Mann which students were invited to in order to give their feedback on what should be cut and what should be kept but only 4 students came out
--> Starting a committee for this issue since it is students’ money, give andy your email address
--> Megan: we can’t predict what students will come to mica, so we’re projecting for the worst case scenario.. looking to cut some 3.5 million dollars out of budget. But for you all, we won’t really know until summertime what those numbers are.. student head count is what, grant is what – really important that since the decisions are made in the summer, our voices need to be heard this semester. So that if we get money back, we’re able to bring back some things on table for getting cut right now. Like a very hard ethics class, need speaking up right now. This is a moment to prioritize.. bldg hrs, paper usage, etc.. what is being maximized and what can be done without – students know best..

Exhibitions Committee

Representative: Kat Buckley
-->Only had one mtg last sem; decide in fall ’10 jerold and chris will put on an exhibit about tolerance.. get some artists (Williams Rosenberg, phiip dustin) to talk about how they view tolerance with their work.. and what tolerance means in this society. They’re looking for an intern to help with these things.
-->Faculty show this year, part time faculty not allowed in.. some sort of outreach and brainstorming for why that wasn’t so successful in terms of attendance

5.)Homework + Accreditation Visit
We have hw! Reps need to meet with dpt chair bc 2nd mtg is dptmntl reports are due
Mandatory mtg on Tuesday; if have class, get meghann or megan to give your teacher something
3/10 accreditation visit, a lunch – basically coming to see if what they read in the self study is true. Wants to hear from students. Will be here on Monday + Tuesday. Lots of questions, not really sure about right answers but about our experiences.. may not take it from dpt to dpt approach (climate at mica, etc)
talk with dpt head about self study issues
megan: reaccrediting is 10 yr cycles, write giant report about college and hand off to accreditors.. two bodies that work with MICA (nasad, a national agency. And a state agency)
the strengths + weakness sheet is a quick summary about mica.
When you come to this mtg, talk about broad ideas as opposed to specific issues of dpt.
What will happen after this is that MICA will or won’t be reaccredited, and given a report to help guide MICA in next 10 years. What MICA says they’re going to do and whether they’ve done it.
Megan will send out URL for self study again; report will also be available as a hard copy in the library

6.) Announcements
Christopher Whittey speaks about the Designer In Residence.
bill stimey made generous gift to school, so chris put together a team to discuss and select someone named Cameron Sinclair to come here
Cameron was a practicing architect, youtube him – 20 min talk of tet award..
Tet award based on wish; million dollar prize.. wish – housing for the world method. So started ‘open source architecture’ .. confer with some people in subsahara Africa; people with AIDS epidemic can’t get to doctors. Issue with space. Some kind of vegetation that grows 4 ft/2 days.
4/20 lecture @ falvey with Cameron Sinclair around 7 pm

Jan Stinchcomb:
gaming concentration has been talked about (inter disciplinary)
we may hear about it in the near future
18 cred concentration offered through IL, IM, animation, DR dpt; cluster of courses to give someone intro experience in gaming field
next step to expand that of a gaming program (like masters lvl like CAP prog) at MICA
infostrucure for next step
baltimore happens to be a hub of gaming industry; east coast.. they want drawing and painting skills (the gaming industry), which MICA’s program just defaults for most students

spr mtgs
3/10 @ noon accreditation visit + lunch
3/26 @ noon dpt reports
4/16 @ noon elections

Student Cost Containment Meeting Minutes

Student Cost Containment Meeting Minutes
March 4, 2009

A meeting was held on Wednesday, March 4 with students to discuss MICA’s financial situation, identify potential areas for cost-savings at the College, and to share the Vice Presidents’ perspectives on potential budget cuts moving forward to get student response. These are bulleted minutes to help share highlights of the meeting; if more information is needed, please contact Dr. Dusty Porter, Dean of Students, directly at HYPERLINK "mailto:dporter@mica.edu" \o "mailto:dporter@mica.edu" dporter@mica.edu.

Another meeting will be planned for early to mid April to continue to update students about the status of the MICA budget.

The meeting began with Dr. Dusty Porter giving an overview of how MICA is being affected by the nation’s current economic climate. The big three influences are: Potential reduced enrollments in next Fall’s class (thus affecting tuition income, as MICA’s budget is tuition-dependent), reduced funding from the State of Maryland through the Sellinger Program, and increased expenditures in Financial Aid to help keep students at MICA if their family’s income situation changes due to job loss, etc.

Students Ideas for Cost Savings

Paper use on campus – double sided copies could be encouraged. Paper use in the Bunting labs is too much and paper goes right into trash instead of being used as two-sided. Is there any way paper costs could be limited by reducing the amount of paper used by student. Tom Hyatt, VP of Technology, noted that creating a technology system to track paper could be very expensive to implement ($15,000 to $20,000). Chris Bohaska, Director of Administrative Services, noted that the College used to spend $150,000 per paper annually and that has been reduced by making Departments responsible for their own paper usage. Another student recommended that the College help faculty understand how to make more effective use of technology to reduce paper copies (BlackBoard, PDF usage, etc). However, some students felt that students would have a hard time knowing how to make notes on the screen when using PDF, etc.
Electricity use on campus – students felt that too many computers stay on – how can the policy be changed so computers get turned off? Also, it seems like the lights in hallways in buildings are always on – how could these areas be controlled by an electric switch in the future? Mike Molla noted that in Bunting, offices are on automatic shut off, but the hallways stay on due to city code. Mike felt like it was most important to create a culture where MICA can succeed in cutting 10% of its energy usage over the next 3 years (which is the College’s goal).
Students filling staff jobs – there was a general sense that perhaps students could be used for some of the staff jobs, creating a “double win” for the College and for students. Another student raised a rumor that work study was being reduced, and Dusty noted that was not true, that work study funds may actually increase under the President’s and Congress’ stimulus package.
Landscaping and Lighting – students perceive that money could be cut from the landscaping and exterior lighting budgets of the College. How were the lighting plans determined? Mike Molla noted that Glen Shrum was used as a consultant when designing the lighting for both Station and Gateway and that many of the lighting systems slowly fade over the evening hours to save money and promote a conducive environment in the evening.


Vice Presidents’ Areas for Budget Cutting (Actual and Planned if Needed Based on Actual Enrollment Scenario)

Across Campus: Salary freezes, eliminating travel support
Technology: Reducing staff, delaying technology updates, reducing supplies
Academic Affairs: Eliminating special contracts, reducing leave time for faculty special projects, replacing/reducing money for guest lectures, reducing staff
Operations: Reduction in building hours, reducing staff
Student Affairs: Reducing/eliminating Colltown Shuttle, reducing expenditures in all Departments

Final Thoughts

Several students wondered if an electronic bulletin board could be created for students to share resources, similar to Craigs List (e.g., “looking for wood for a sculpture,” or “have extra canvas to share.” Similarly, students expressed interest in a “shop and swap” during the academic year.
How can students help continue to reduce trash and increase single-stream recycling?
How can Baltimore artists be more utilized in classroom/lecture visits?

Town Hall Meeting Minutes

SVA Town Hall Meeting
Minutes – February 25, 2009

2:30 PM INTRODUCTIONS

Meghann:
Hello, I'm Meghan Harris, President of the Student Voice Association’s (SVA) Academic Affairs Council. On the behalf of SVA I would like to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come to our first Town Hall meeting of the year. We know how important it is raise questions, have your voices heard, and elicit change.

Christina:
Welcome, I’m Christina Cooke, Vice-President of the SVA Student Life Council.
Over the last three years of SVA we have represented the student’s voice in such committees as finance and budget, student life, exhibitions, and food service. We have actively sought out your opinions through polls and surveys. And we have helped get the bike racks, improve the shuttle system, gain recycling on campus, and improve the registration process.

Meghann:
At this time, I would like to welcome President Fred Lazarus, Vice President of Student Affairs Dusty Porter, Undergraduate Dean Jan Stinchcomb, Vice President of Operations Michael Molla, and Chris Bohaska Director of Operation Services. As administrators, they have taken the time to get to know students and value their opinions.
We will begin today’s meeting with remarks from Fred and Dusty


2:35 PM OPENING REMARKS from Fred, Dusty, Jan, Mike & Chris


2:50 PM QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM THE STUDENTS

Meghann:
In traditional Town Hall Meeting format, anyone can ask questions. If you have a question, please write questions and your email address down on the index cards given to you as you entered the room. Megan & Karol from Student Activities will be collecting the index cards and our moderators will convey your questions. Please keep in mind that questions should be broad in scope and of interest to all students. Our panelists will stay after to answer any specific questions you have or will email you if you are unable to stay. To help get things started, SVA has prepared a few questions:





Question 1: (Christina)
Students are concerned with the meal conversion policies in Café Doris. Parkhurst began enforcing these rules mid-semester with very little communication to students. Café Doris staff and students still seem to be confused about which items can be purchased as a meal and when. How can MICA work with Parkhurst to improve the communication of such policies to all students? And what can be done if students are unhappy with the variety of options presented for meal conversion?

Response (Chris):
-MICA selected Parkhurst to be our food vendor because of their service
-Regarding meal combos/meal exchange program:
-wanted the changes to take place in middle of year to allow students to chose meal plan for Spring semester
-reasoning for the plan:
Pre-packaged meals are more expensive
combos are cheaper and they meal plan expense down- (only raise 5% for next year compared to 11% at neighboring school.)
-also having designated meals combos gives choices, but provide a complete balanced meal that encourages students eat healthier
-acknowledges faults in communication:
-there wasn’t an e-mail sent out because he didn’t doesn’t know that if that was the most reliable way to tell
-there was supposed to be signage but up by Parkhurst that was not accomplished

-Plan to make it better:
-Working with Parkhurst to train staff better
-pictures of Justin, Kevin and Libby [general manager, head chef, and _____ respectively] in Myerhoff to invite students to talk to them
-there are Comment cards in Myerhoff because students feedback is wanted
-join the Student Food committee
-let me [Chris] know of any problems
Question (student):
Why couldn’t their be simply a credit system where the exchange is not measured in meals but dollars?

Response (Chris):
the meal plan is hybrid with meals and dining dollars and all you can eat in Myerhoff and not in Doris

Complete debit program at Hopkins is strange, confusing, and an unfair exchange.
-the debit program at Loyola just failed

Extra money from unused meals goes to necessary things that keep a business going such as fixing equipment and replacing old broken down equipment



Question 2: (Meghann)
The declining economy and the imminent budget cuts are on the minds of our students. How does MICA plan on balancing the budget in the upcoming year and when will the administration let students know what is being cut? Will students have an opportunity to weigh in on these difficult budget decisions, like cutting studio hours, the collegetown shuttle, and field trips? And once the cuts are made, will they ever come back into the budget?


Response(Fred):
-MICA will be affected and going through and extensive budget review on potential effects.
-Increase in demand for Financial Aid, should increase in Fall due to financial situation of current students.
-State Program provides aid to private colleges, that has been some cuts in that program
-Endowment in down because of stock market
-the potential oss enrollment might decrease overall revenues from students

-Extent of impacts not known.

Budget in draft form:
-most final decisions will not be made until next summer
-first round of final budget cut decisions will be in April
-Budget Committee; meets Next Wednesday 3:30-4:30 in Board room and is open to students to voice their opinions and concerns, and to generate ideas.
-Don’t want to make quick decisions- want to make informed decisions
Reduction of budget will inevitably have some negative implications:
Goal is to make decisions and choices that will have minimal impact.
-one thing that is being looked at is College Town Shuttle and how to make it less expensive
.

Question 3: Budget meeting e-mail only to student leaders and time of meeting overlaps class time.
Response (Dusty): Open to everyone- that’s why announced at this meeting, and sent to leaders in hopes they would inform others.
-Look at time and try and generate better time for others
-meeting next week is still the same time: Wednesday at 3:30

Question 4: What, if anything, is being done to improve the energy efficiency of the Gateway? For a “green” building, it has many issues including drafty doors and inaccurate thermostats that seem unnecessary.

Response (Mike): Most interesting energy efficient systems that is pretty advance but we’re still trying to figure it out.
Student have control over the Cold/hot setting in their room
- Weather strips are in the process of being installed throughout the building
- Having student turn off lights would help make everything more energy efficient too
Students: There are problems with heating not getting hot at all. Frustrations with lack of temperature control. Temperature is never right because temperature measurers are right next to heating pipes. Smoke alarms are also next to the stove. There are also problems getting in touch with someone to fix things in Gateway like a leak in the room causing paint to peel last semester. Peeled paint still not fixed.

Chris: smoke detectors will be moved to fix that problem
Dusty: talk to Mike Patterson about specific problems.
Fred: There could be generated a comment sheet circulating throughout building to take inventory of issues
Mike Patterson: Housing is working on survey to give to students for feedback.

Student: Problems with Mount Royal Row Houses being overlooked:
-mouse problem and only one mouse trap provided from FACMAN
-had no water for three days with no one response from anyone including Res. Life and FACMAN.
Mike: Direct question and concerns to Mike P, Scott, and Stephanie and they’ll try and help fix the problems.

Question 5: With MICA facing at least a 3.3 million dollar deficit, will the computers in the labs across campus be updated for next year?

Response(Fred):
- yes. each lab is on a different update cycle. But still plan to keep on updating things
-Idea with converting a space in Gateway into open computer lab for students to use after Bunting is closed.
Students:
Worried about Interactive media and animation not getting updates because they only use PC.
Response (Jan): set up next to be updated.

Question 6: I hear about meetings (an example being budget meetings) that are open to students. However, students are not informed about when these meetings occur. Is there a place this information can be posted (maybe bulletin board style) on the new website?

Response (Megan): information is posted on Cobalt Soup. People in SVA also get these e-mails because they’re on our list, so if you want these e-mails you are welcome to join.
New website: can log on to portal and personalized websites so you can see this information if you want.
Meghann: Other resources to find out what it going on
Blog for SVA (for both councils)
Can be found on Facebook. SVA group page [http://micasva.blogspot.com/]
Dusty: Christine Holmes is student representative to the Budget committee, if interested can contact her.
Karol: Leaders and members of SVA can also spread word for information about these meetings

Question: There are a lot of vending machine that don’t work properly. Non functional vending machines, will they be fixed? Specifically Myerhoff and Dolphin: Problem with flex card not working at all machines or being charged 7 times when I swipe once. Buttons don’t work either.
Please put swipe on vending machines in Main.
Response (Mike): Vending contractor takes care of machines. The flex card is a student accounts issue. Let me know when it happens.

Students Question : No trashcans in classrooms since single stream has been introduced. Is there any way to monitor paper waste around campus labs (ie. recycle bins with overflow of unnecessary print-outs…) Is there any way for non-single stream recycling so there so maybe paper can be re-used?

Response: Thought less trashcans in classroom and more trashcans in central located place would cause people to think about what they’re throwing away.
Have single stream allows for less bins, and bins are expensive. Also requires less decision making when throwing away a recyclable.
Questions and ideas about sustainability on campus can be directed to Trashtalk. Meets first Friday of every month at noon at Firehouse (behind Gateway).
Trashtalk president: blue paper recycling bins in Brown, maybe can have in more buildings.

Is space going to be made for growning departments like animation, and animation for Senior with independent studios
Student Question: Is space going to be made for growing departments, like illustration, for studios and specialized classrooms?

Jan: There have been labs added and there will be an academic resources and space survey to chairs of departments soon to assess what accommodation should be made.


Question: Is it possibly to send out mass e-mail on all about the change in Doris policies?
Response(Chris): yes, there are also signs up in Doris about the meal combo.

Question: Instead of spending so much money on landscaping, what about planting plants native to the region so they require less maintenance and less watering?

Response(Fred): All the plants are native and are focused on needing less about of water. Also bamboo requires little maintenance and watering.

Question: Shuttle service: effectiveness: The shuttle drivers seem to avoid the gateway and the station building. The average wait time I experience (and other students experience) is 35 minutes to an hour. Is there anything to be done about minimizing this wait time?
Students being dropped off at off campus housing are not picked up because the shuttle drivers think there is a party.
Mike: Wait time depends on demand for shuttle based on weather and time. Can talk to Scott Rufus of Operations about problems.
Shuttle service is for campus to off campus, or off campus to campus. Suggestions: take cabs, walk in big groups and avoid alleys.
Make connections with Mr. Rylie and Miss. Yvonne and other drivers to develop trust and communication so that they know you’re sincere when there is no party.
Question; What are the limits of the shuttle route, how far in Mt. Vernon does the shuttle take you?
Response (Dusty): The map of the shuttle routes can be found on MICA’s website. There is also a planned revision of Shuttle route, contact Mike Patterson or Dusty to be apart of this shuttle revision committee.
Question: Is MICA going to become a more performing arts focused school now that we have the BBox? Have there been any decisions regarding student performances, such as plays, (ex. Hair, Fall of the House of Usher) in the BBox? Will they be able to continue?

Response: This year has been exciting with the BBOX and we’re still figuring out how best to use BBOX to organize time and in a co-curricular way. Probably not a plan to have performance majors, but opportunity to open it up for installation space and for classes and organizations to use it for performance based art..
At Gateway: audio system in Café at Gateway. And stage in courtyard at Gateway that is available for performance space as well.

Question: In regards to experimental animation department: Is there any plans to designate space for stop-motion animation and senior during thesis and provide new computers for the 3D lab? What can we as students do to accomplish and gain the assets that our major needs and how can you the administration help us?
Response (Jan): we just added space for 3D animation. Encourage continual discussion on how well its working. It’s a fairly new program and its is seen as an important part of the interdisciplinary art at MICA.

Open Floor:


Question: Is there any plan of having courses on current events, not just history but classes that are specifically focused on current events as far as liberal arts classes are concerned.

Fred: Could have student activity club created discuss this interest to and start this conversation that is outside of the classroom. Also bring in those ideas to classes.
Jan: Hopes that current ideas are imbedded in curriculum, e-mail her with these ideas
Shipley: There have been courses on ideas based on current, so if there is interest a class on it might be a possibility. Also there are a number a speakers being brought on campus that deal with current ideas and events
Comment: Open life drawing sessions are really nice, could have that on other nights than Friday. And also with themes and costumes?
Response: Student Will Koffman is in charge of the club and open for new ideas. He can be reached at regular Friday night open life drawing sessions from 7-9pm.

3:50 PM CLOSING/HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH SVA

Christina:
Unfortunately, we cannot read all cards because of our limited time. If your question was not addressed, please come forward at the end of the meeting to speak with our panelists or we’ll email you a response. If these issues and others interest you, please get involved and consider joining the Student Voice Association. If you fill out the SVA Interest Form located in the back of the room, we will contact you to attend our next meeting. Thank you for coming!


Questions on Cards that did not have time to ask/answer:
Shuttle:
At last semesters meeting a staff member asked if money will be set aside in the budget to pay for seminars and professional development opportunities. The response was that because money is limited and perhaps we should share resources with other schools in the area to have more seminars. Fred, you suggested using the Collegetown shuttle. This resource is invaluable to our community. Is there any way to save it from the budget chopping block?
Is there any truth to the rumor that Collegetown shuttle services will be canceled? If so, why?

Food:
Can we have wheat-free bread options? Even the rye bread contains wheat! Oh, and cookies would be nice, too.
If a student ordered an exact meal from the Doris menu, then why was I still charged 50¢ extra from the meal (bagel egg and cheese, fruit, tea), and when I asked why, the lady said the “prices were raised.”

Raw Art Sale:
There were a lot of issues with this February's Raw Art Sale.
Placement- The blackbox, while new, is not an advantageous, high traffic space for such and event. We were told it had moved because of space, but because of the risers, there was no more space than at the Meyerhoff.
Low earnings- In past years, students have made upwards of $400. The highest this year wasn't even $300.
Treatment of the artwork submitted- The prints were casually tossed on the floor and people rummaged through them. This allows a high risk of damage to the artwork.

Town Hall Meeting