Week of October 21

General Meeting Notes:

  • Shubhanjana attended a president’s meeting over the weekend with the presidents of other school boards at Columbia
  • Key takeaways:
    • Other schools have vastly larger budgets than we do (we have the smallest budget of all the schools)
    • The Columbia SPJ board is not recognized by the school or by SPJ national
    • There is a necessity for a conversation about what our role as a student government is and what our powers are moving forward
    • Trying to find a safe way for students to voice concerns and have them actually get acted on by the administration
    • Admin is looking for an event that brings communities on campus together by October 28th (brainstorming)
  • The first newsletter for the student body will hopefully be sent out by Monday
  • From the part-time student chair:
    • Because of part-time student’s class schedules, they are unable to go to the Journalism Now lectures
    • Since this event is only mandatory for full-time students, part-time students aren’t considered access-wise
    • No option to join via Zoom, and no recordings of the events
    • Need to place more emphasis on the access and inclusion of part-time students
  • From the university senator:
    • Working on a policy that focuses on each school deciding when they shut down classes due to protests instead of university-wide rules
    • Going to bring this up at the next senate meeting
    • Also going to bring up election-day safety
    • There needs to be a conversation about student journalist access to campus during campus-wide protests
    • On October 7th many JSchool students were told they could not enter the protests to report, even though the school previously said we could
      • Disconnect between the admin and public safety officers

Academic Affairs Chair:

The academic affairs committee is run by Megha Gupta. Megha can be reached at mg4771@columbia.edu.
  • Panel on reproductive rights and abortion in association with Women in Media and the Dart Center
    • All things paid for
    • Will occur in either November or December
  • Google folder of academic resources for students ready for review
    • Hoping to launch November 1st
    • Pending review by the board
  • In the early stages of creating a noon block workshop on freelancing with Columbia Journalism School professors who freelance
  • Working on setting back up coffee and conversation with professors
    • Getting together a list of professors who would be interested in speaking
  • Still working on a social media-focused noon block workshop

Student Life Chair:

The student life committee is run by Laïny Jernidier. Laïny can be reached at lainy.jernidier@columbia.edu.
  • Color for a cause coming up! (Check socials)
  • Halloween movie bash in final stages
    • October 31st (Halloween night), costumes optional
    • Snacks and movie provided at a charge of $5 per student
    • $5 must be in cash, for international students we can figure out a digital payment if cash is inaccessible
    • Have to charge money because we don’t have the budget to cover this
  • Working still on setting up peer support groups
    • One idea is having students pick times that would work for them and creating groups based on that
  • Setting up student government drop-in hours for students
    • Each board member will be available for an hour at a set time and day during the week that works for them
    • Any students who want to talk to a board member directly can during this time
    • Tentatively starting the first week of November
  • Planning on coordinating with Ask Alex admins to create a JSchool-specific mental health block via Zoom
    • This would be based on topic need
    • Need 15-20 people who will attend to make this work

Speaker’s Director:

The speaker’s committee is run by Reeno Hashimoto. Reeno can be reached at rh2984@columbia.edu.
  • The first event is confirmed!
    • Event on October 30th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the World Room
    • Discussion with Lewis Simons, a Pulitzer Prize winner, foreign correspondent, and journalist with National Geographic
    • Simons will be having a conversation with Columbia Professor Michael Shapiro
    • Look at the SPJ Instagram or the events tab on the website for more info!
  • In the process of setting up a fashion panel
    • Speakers have been determined–wrapping up final planning
  • The next events will be a sports panel and the event in association with the film/doc committee

Film/Documentary Chair:

The film/documentary committee is run by Mason Leath. Mason can be reached at mpl2159@columbia.edu.
  • The first screening will be “Stripped for Parts”
    • Hopefully screening in November between election day and Thanksgiving
  • Working on setting up 2 more screenings
    • One in association with Women in Media
    • Another is in association with the speaker’s committee
      • Screening followed by a discussion with the creator

Community Service Chair:

The community service committee is run by Augostina Mallous. Augostina can be reached at am6521@columbia.edu.
  • In the process of coordinating an event with Food Bank for New York City
    • Poll was sent out to students last week to figure out what times work best for most students
    • Options include:
      • Community food distribution which includes distributing grocery bags to community members
      • Community meal service which includes welcoming guests and serving hot meals to community members
    • The date and time will be determined this week
  • Thinking of coordinating a letter-writing initiative soon