The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate has taken steps toward establishing three new committees. To be comprised of senators, others students and administrators, they will address the university's alcohol policy, on-campus social life and the freshman experience.
The Committee on Alcohol Policy is meant to be diagnostic, according to TCU President Neil DiBiase.
"This committee ... will hopefully examine our policies compared to other peer universities and also look at how we explain those policies to students," he said.
DiBiase feels it is an issue of student safety when alcohol policy is not clear to all. "I don't think we do a good enough job of being transparent in our alcohol policy," he said.
He also fears that the current policy might be discouraging students from taking the necessary actions to get their friends proper medical attention.
"We've been hearing reports of students not calling emergency services for fear of punishment and in my opinion, there should never be any hesitation on the part of students to get help for fear of a repercussion," DiBiase said.
In the next few weeks, Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carter will determine who will sit on the committee, but she said that she does not yet have any further information.
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman thinks that the current alcohol policy, which was developed three years ago, was a middle-of-the-road one at the time it was unveiled, but said it would be a good idea to evaluate it now that time has passed.
"Three years is about the average lifespan of a policy like this and then you have norms that change in terms of how people socialize, where people socialize, how people think about different actions and reactions of TEMS, of the Tufts police, of the administration and so on," he said.
The second committee, the Task Force on Social Life, will determine whether Tufts needs more on-campus social programming and will brainstorm ways to fill any such needs.
"We've received a number of complaints from students that Tufts' social life isn't up to par," TCU Historian Alex Pryor said. "So we want to form a committee to evaluate what's wrong with it, if anything is wrong with it."
The group will then try to come up with a collective solution.
"We're going to bring people together from all different groups on campus to have them make suggestions," she aid.
The task force will meet for the first time Monday and will be co-chaired by Reitman and DiBiase.
Also sitting on the committee will be three other senators, as well as Carter, Senior Director of Health and Wellness Michelle Bowdler, Director of Student Activities Jodie Nealley. Representatives from the Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Office, the Public Safety Office, the Community Relations Office and the Programming Board will sit on the committee as well.
The Committee on the First-Year Experience, which is set to meet today, will consider ways to better the lives of freshmen.
Among the areas it will consider for improvement are post-enrollment communication with incoming freshmen, orientation and advising programs, freshman housing and freshman-specific social programming.
"It's difficult for any one person to figure out what the freshmen are feeling and what would make their lives better," Pryor said. "So you want to bring people together who can speak to different aspects of the freshman experience - their social life, their living situation, their advising, their classes - and just try to put together the best possible situation for them."
Reitman, Coordinator of Programs and Special Projects James Ryan, Director of Advising and Scholarship Programs Kate Nash, former and current executive orientation leaders, two other non-Senate students, Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser, and representatives from the Senate and the Office of Residential Life and Learning will sit on this committee.
