On Jan. 19, the Tufts Community Union Senate met for its first meeting of the spring semester, in which it held internal elections for Parliamentarian and Diversity Officer, presented data from the TCU Senate Student Experience Survey, and voted on proposed changes to the Treasury Procedures Manual.
Africana Senator Jesse Kitumba, a sophomore, was elected Diversity Officer and Class of 2027 Senator Anastasiya Korovska was elected Parliamentarian. Both of these positions are part of the Senate executive board.
“This semester, I’m really excited to increase our outreach to student groups and hear their issues and see if we can make these resolutions more personal to student groups and student concerns,” Korovska said. “I’m really excited to increase the execution of our resolutions and make our resolutions more prominent on the student campus.”
“We have lots planned for the semester, we have lots to build on,” Kitumba said. “Everyone in our community has a special love for the communities they represent and I also have a love for all our diversity centers, so I really want to help build them as much as possible.”
Administration & Policy (A&P) Committee Chair Spencer Kluger, a sophomore, discussed the results of the campuswide survey sent out by the A&P Committee last semester that garnered 497 responses. Kluger noted that responses in all categories trended above average or neutral, indicating general satisfaction among the student body.
Students expressed strong interest in a 24/7 dining option, and the majority of them want to see example syllabi before registering for courses.
“The idea of open syllabi was very, very positive … 97% of respondents liked that idea and wanted to see it,” Kluger said.
Many respondents recommended a more detailed first-year roommate survey when prompted for suggestions.
The survey also found that students generally do not feel well supported by the Senate, do not know what it does and do not really understand the club funding process. Kluger described these findings as “one of the less positive things in [their] results,” and mentioned wanting to create “a more transparent and communicative student Senate body” in the future.
Survey respondents are self-selected, and Kluger noted that responses are not necessarily representative of the wider student body’s opinions.
“I wanted to preface that we have 500 responses. It’s not representative of the whole student body and people generally feel positively,” he said.
TCU President Dhruv Sampat, a senior, updated the Senate on the upcoming tuition transparency town hall event — which will take place on Feb. 10 from 6-8 p.m. — emphasizing the size and importance of the event.
“There are several very senior administrators, including the people that are really in charge of the budget on the trustee level,” Sampat said. “It’ll just be a really, really great opportunity for people to ask questions about things that they’ve always wondered about when it comes to tuition.”
The Senate also voted on three changes to the TPM, including two bylaws changes and a change to subsection 2.4.1.2 under Section 2 of Title VI.
The first proposed change was to Bylaw 25, which pertains to miscellaneous funding in club budgets. The second proposed change was to Bylaw 24, which relates to what it means to abstain from Senate votes relating to club funding.
“I know we kind of always give guidelines for what it means to abstain, but it’s not technically ever written down anywhere on what it means to abstain, or what is allowed for abstaining,” TCU Treasurer Brendan French, a junior, said regarding the motivation to change the TPM.
The third proposed change was to sub-section 2.4.1.2 under Section 2 of Title VI, which allows the treasurer to approve up to $1,500 for clubs recognized by the TCU Judiciary in the spring semester.
“This amendment is to help clubs who might have a smaller, not so large budget get through the approval process, so they can receive a budget sooner,” French said.
All three changes passed in the Senate, meaning they are a formal part of the TPM.
The Judiciary approved 22 clubs for the spring semester, each of which will receive a budget from the Senate.
The TCU Elections Commission will be hosting special elections in February to fill numerous empty seats, including Class of 2026 and 2027 seats and numerous Community seats, including the LGBTQIA+ seat, the Indigenous People’s seat and the SWANA seat.
