Over the summer, members of the Tufts Community Union Senate spent time planning for the upcoming semester in various capacities. Members of the Senate’s executive board, composed of the TCU president, vice president, treasurer, parliamentarian, historian and diversity officer, have also brainstormed ways to adjust and improve the Senate for the upcoming semester.
TCU Senate Historian Defne Olgun, a junior, ensured senators were well-prepared for the start of the semester.
“This summer, I’ve just been getting my ducks in a row and making sure people are ready to have a good year in the Senate. That’s making sure senators know when our meetings are and front-loading some of the work in terms of creating resources for them,” Olgun said.
Olgun scheduled the senators’ annual retreat, training weekend and weekly public Senate meetings. As part of her historian duties, Olgun also updated the Senate website and brainstormed ways that Senate office hours can be more accessible to the wider student body.
“I’m planning on taking our office hours out into the [Mayer Campus Center] so people can just come find us and chat with us there,” Olgun said.
TCU Vice President Alexander Vang, a senior, said that over the summer, senators are less active in pursuing projects than they are during the school year, and instead work more on logistics and procedures.
“A lot of the work was trying to figure out ways to streamline processes and make them a bit more formal, so that they can be more organized going into the school year,” Vang said. “And trying to front-load a lot of that work so that a lot of things later down the line are figured out, or we have things in place ready to figure out next steps.”
Vang spent time restructuring and reframing how senators are able to pursue projects.
“We have a project bank of ideas that the [general board, the president and executive board] have come up with that we want to prioritize this next year, and we’re having senators choose which projects, out of the ones that we curate, they’re interested in pursuing, as opposed to having everyone create new ideas,” Vang said.
TCU Treasurer Brendan French, a junior, reviewed the Treasury Procedures Manual over the summer to improve the process for clubs and students on campus.
“The summer is that one time period where we have time to go back and look at our rules that guide us, to see if there are any adjustments or edits that need to be made in order to make our processes more efficient — easier for clubs who are trying to access the budgets or who are asking us for help and how to plan their events,” French said.
In addition to reviewing Treasury procedures, French has been brainstorming ways to create more councils, which oversee student clubs and are grouped based on the clubs’ interests and purpose.
“As of late, our miscellaneous council has been getting pretty big,” French said. “I’ve been thinking about how we can group those clubs that have been put into the miscellaneous council, because I think there are some common things being shared between them.”
Class of 2028 Senator Spencer Kluger spent the summer thinking about his priorities for the year.
“Myself, and I’m sure others, are thinking of: What can we do in the coming year? How can we continue past projects that we are really passionate about? Is there anything else that came up over the summer?” Kluger said.
Kluger will chair the Administration and Policy Committee, for which he has prepared several projects with the intention of supporting all committee members.
“I’m honored to have this opportunity … I have my intentions for the year, how I imagine each committee meeting is going to look, how I want to go about supporting everyone in the committee,” Kluger said.
For Kluger, the work senators do over the summer is about continuing to advance goals that help the student body and keeping the Senate organized.
“It’s all about how [we] can be as successful as possible as the senators, as a student governing body, and ensure the best outcomes for all of the people that we try to aim to help during the year,” Kluger said.
The Senate will host an in-person information session for students interested in getting involved with the Senate. The Treasury will also host training sessions for club signatories beginning the week of Sept. 9.
