USG to work on residential housing project to make room draw information more transparent

The Undergraduate Student Government Senate discussed residential programming to make information about room draw more available to students during their first weekly meeting on Feb. 14.

Jeremy Burton '18, USG vice president, said the Senate will be working on a number of projects, some of which are continuations from past initiatives. These include increasing bike accessibility on campus, providing resources for co-op and independent students, residential housing and Princeton 2020 events for prospective members of the Class of 2020.

“We’ll look at room draw for all class years, not just res[identical] colleges,” Burton said, regarding the residential housing project. The project committee hopes to make information about room draw more transparent, and facilitate the process for rising juniors or seniors.

USG president Aleksandra Czulak ’17 explained that she wanted to keep students informed about the Princeton Perspectives Project website given that CPS, incoming students and RCAs are taking advantage of the resources offered.

Additionally, to increase transparency, Czulak said USG will be putting new information on its website, in order to hold USG accountable and make USG's efforts and work publicly accessible.

Czulak noted that multiple USG committees, including the Honor Committee, the Academics Committee and the University Student Life Committee saw a total of 76 unique applicants. USG opened applications for new members to committees in the previous week through an email to all undergraduate students.

According to Czulak, the mental health initiatives board and the academics committee saw the highest number of applicants this year compared to other committees.

Four freshmen and one sophomore were newly appointed to the Academics committee. Shannon Osaka '17, Academics chair, noted that their fresh perspectives will be helpful in pushing for improvements to underclassmen advising.

Following deliberations, USG Senate members appointed a new member, Micah Herskind '19, to the Honor Committee.

Dallas Nan '16, current Honor Committee chair, noted that former committee clerk Nicholas Horvath '17, who would have been in line to become chair, stepped down after becoming the president of Terrace Club.

With Nan also leaving his position as chair this semester, the committee will finalize next steps for its leadership.

The University Student Life Committee also appointed new members, given that many members were not returning due to study abroad or other commitments.

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In addition, USG approved a funding request for the Lunar New Year banquet, hosted on Feb. 19 by the Korean American Students Association.

Project Boards chairs Naman Jain '17 and Nick Fernandez '18 explained that KASA events are generally well-attended, and that the banquet would offer a chance for students to learn about culture.