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eBoard: on board for fall ‘09
Photo Credit: Shannon Hunter
E-Board members Sarah Rusch, Amanda Levesque, Mara Serven, Erin Menzer, Tess Carstensen, Amanda Hillman, and Sara Huck, from left to right.
Written by Shannon Hunter, Senior Writer
Erin Menzer, Tess Carstensen, Mara Serven, Amanda Hillman, Amanda Levesque, Sarah Rusch, and Sara Huck. These are familiar names on the Russell Sage College campus. Perhaps one of them is your friend, a roommate, a classmate, someone who lives down the hall or someone you’ve seen in passing. However, maybe their most important relation to the students at Sage is their positions on the Russell Sage College Executive Board, known as E-board around campus. As Executive Board members, these students serve as liaisons between the student body and the faculty and administration at Russell Sage, giving voice to the student community and addressing a variety of issues and concerns ranging from academic to social matters.
Erin Menzer, E-Board President, and Amanda Levesque, Academic Chair, are both Seniors at Russell Sage and have been members of E-Board for the past two academic years. Their familiar relationships and experience with both Dean David Milford, the Dean of Students, and Dean Sharon Robinson, the Dean of Academics, as well as multiple faculty and administration members, ensure that Russell Sage College student concerns, ideas, and issues are heard by the people most able to make changes and make a difference.
The other E-Board members, Junior Sarah Rusch, the Vice President of Sage Recreation Association, as well as Sophomores Tess Carstensen (Vice President), Mara Serven (Secretary), Amanda Hillman (Treasurer) and Sara Huck (Public Safety Representative), are all new members this academic year, and they serve important roles which also require extensive communication between Sage administration and the students to work towards an informed and satisfied student body.
Every fall, the normal activities for E-Board members concern group and club budgets and preparing for SageFest, a yearly tradition which takes place on the stretch of First Street that runs through the Troy campus to bring together students and their parents, entertaining them with food, club tables and activities, and other events. This year SageFest will take place on Saturday, Septmeber 26th, coordinating with Parents Weekend.
However, with a new President has come new responsibility and direction for the Russell Sage College E-Board. After meeting with The Sage Colleges President, Susan Scrimshaw, on Tuesday September 1st , along with the E-Board members from the Sage College of Albany Campus, the Executive Board members from both campuses are now working together to align with the goals and initiatives of President Scrimshaw.
At the top of the list of responsibilities is rewriting the Student Government Constitution. Currently, the Troy and Albany campuses have separate Constitutions as well as different E-Board positions. President Scrimshaw has asked that both E-Boards come together to create a single Student Government Constitution, writing individual addendums for specific campuses where necessary. Amanda Levesque, Academic Chair for Russell Sage College E-Board, states, “One of President Scrimshaw’s goals is for our campuses to align where strengths are apparent. By utilizing and recognizing the strengths of the other campus where we may have weaknesses, and by them doing the same, each campus will ultimately benefit and thrive.”
Though combining the Constitutions may concern those who are worried about Russell Sage College having its own separate identity from Sage College of Albany and within The Sage Colleges, Levesque states, “President Scrimshaw still wants to ensure that identities and traditions from each campus remain separate and strong. Aligning with the Albany Executive Board and campus is not about losing our identity as a College, it’s about making Russell Sage and Sage College of Albany the best they can be for the students who attend and the perspective students as well.”
Beyond rewriting the Student Government Constitution, both E-Boards are preparing for the inauguration activities for President Scrimshaw, the ninth President of The Sage Colleges, which will occur for a week in October. More information on these activities will be made known to students in the coming weeks.
If you are looking for a chance to speak to the Russell Sage College Executive Board members or to voice any concerns to other students involved in campus activities or groups, Senate is your opportunity. Senates are held on announced Sunday nights at 9pm in Bush Memorial. Erin Menzer, Tess Carstensen, Mara Serven, Amanda Hillman, Amanda Levesque, Sarah Rusch, and Sara Huck will be there to listen, ready to represent your concerns and be the voice of the Russell Sage College student body.
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