Boston University’s Student Government confirmed Boston Intercollegiate Government Representatives and a Quarantine Learning Support Act, as well as heard cabinet updates in a meeting Monday night.
BIG is a coalition of greater Boston area undergraduate students representing 14 different universities, each with two different representatives.
The meeting began with the confirmation of BU’s BIG representatives: Alex Theon, a sophomore in College of Arts and Sciences, and Katherine Sabido, a CAS senior.
Sabido previously served as BIG’s Vice Chair last year. With her confirmation by StuGov, she will continue to hold the position.
“BIG is kind of a baby organization that started back up during quarantine … which is why I think it’s really important to keep the same people who are in there,” she said.
Theon said one of his objectives was to bring BU’s City Affairs Department and BIG “closer together.”
Theon and Sabido were confirmed as BIG representatives with 36 votes in the affirmative.
The meeting continued with StuGov’s introduction of their Quarantine Learning Support Act.
The bill would “grant faculty in all colleges and departments the ability to record and post lectures for students unable to attend in-person lectures due to the following extenuating circumstances: a. COVID-19 infection b. Family emergencies c. Medical emergencies d. Sickness e. Missed COVID-19 test appointment (yellow badge.)”
The introduction of the bill followed an Aug. 25 announcement from Provost Jean Morrison recommending students reach out to friends in classes for notes should they be placed in quarantine or isolation housing. Faculty were advised not to record classes or allow students to join remotely.
“Right now, the Administration is going out of their way to discourage faculty from recording, but what needs to be happening is they need to be supporting us as students and encourage faculty to do that,” said Dhruv Kapadia, vice president of the Advocacy Committee and a sophomore in CAS.
The bill would also allow for faculty to restrict video recordings if students began to abuse this accommodation.
To support the bill, Richard Segalman, chair of the Expect More Committee and a junior in the Questrom School of Business, conducted a survey from Sept. 22 to Sept. 26 through the Instagram accounts of @cas_stugov and @bustudentgov and the Facebook groups for the Classes of 2022 to 2025.
Of the 711 students surveyed, 97.6% said they found the current accommodations for students quarantining and isolating to be unfair.
“Below 1% found that this was fair,” Segalman said. “In fact, more students actually had no opinion than [those who] deemed that it was fair.”
Moreover, 99.58% of those surveyed said they believe the University should have enhanced learning accommodations for those in quarantine or isolation. Segalman said only one student voted against this option.
Kapadia said the plan is to survey faculty next, with similar results expected.
“Their expectation simultaneously is to meet one on one, or in a private setting with their students virtually on their own free time, and then reteach the lecture that they just taught,” he noted. “So it’s either that, or they record it once.”
The bill passed with 32 votes in the affirmative, bringing StuGov members one step closer to petitioning BU’s administration for the policy’s implementation.
The meeting ended with cabinet updates.
City Affairs Director Ana Obergfell and Communications Director Ting Wei Li are continuing their positions from the previous year.
Li noted his celebration of the BU StuGov Instagram recently gaining over 3,000 followers. Obergfell said she was planning on continuing City Affairs’ work partnering with BU Votes, a group of students, faculty and staff who organize voter registration drives.
Social Advocacy Director Vivian Dai promoted upcoming town halls throughout the semester, including one where transgender and nonbinary students can share their experiences with Student Health Services.
Final updates included an October movie night, information on the continued progress on the Student Information System redesign and work on making compost more accessible to students living in residence halls.
