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10 October 2019

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OSE Policy Changes Perplex CLORGs OSE mandates weekend programming to "support campus vibrancy"

By Anna Gao ’21 and Crystal Juan ’22 Staff Writers

n Sept. 22, student leaders from O over 20 Clubs and Organizations (CLORGS) met with staff members

from the Scripps Office of Student Engagement (OSE) during a mandatory CLORG retreat. Attendance to the mandatory retreat was one of three new policies implemented for CLORGs this school year. The second policy requires Scripps CLORGs to host one “Saturday Program” during the academic year and the third policy introduces a new event registration process through OSE. Many CLORG leaders claim they were first informed of these changes at the CLORG retreat, including Grace Shao ’21, who serves as Scripps Associated Students (SAS) co-treasurer, Funding Advisory Committee (FAC) non-voting member, and Asian-American Sponsor Program (AAS) co-head. “I was there representing two of my other CLORGs and this was the first time I had heard of the new programming and how it worked in terms of how it was to be funded,” Shao said. “It was a lot of very, very new information.” According to Shao, there did not appear to be a clear channel of communication between SAS and OSE. “In terms of opening that communication line up, I think it would’ve cleared up a lot of confusion and would have allowed SAS to advocate for OSE with this new initiative,” Shao said. Many other student leaders also expressed frustrations with communication and transparency. “I appreciate the goal of the new policies, but I think the specifics are not thought out to accommodate the rich diversity of Scripps CLORGs,” President of Collage Club and Editor-in-Chief of Scripps Yearbook Julia Lohman ’21 said. “OSE admitted that they did not consult any student CLORG leaders on the changes, and I think if they had, the resulting policies would be beneficial to everyone.” Co-President of Scripps Politics Association Maggie Bynum ’20 echoed this sentiment. “I understand and a p p re c i a t e that OSE is trying to support CLORGs and the Scripps student community, but their poor communication has created a lot of confusion and frustration for me,” Bynum said. “I wish OSE would be transparent with student leaders about how and why they decided on these requirements. I also wish that they were more receptive to student feedback during the CLORG [retreat].” Many student leaders who were interviewed did not recall receiving any notification from OSE about the new policies.

However, Brighitte Preciado, assistant director of student engagement, and Brenda Ice, assistant dean and director of student life state otherwise. According to Ice and Preciado, “as part of the registration process in April 2019, CLORGs were informed they would be required to host one Saturday event during the 20192020 academic year.” The document in which the policy was mentioned was distributed to the Scripps student body on April 19 and April 23 of this year reminding CLORG leaders to register their clubs. However, these are not the same parameters that were outlined to student leaders at the CLORG retreat. The ninth out of 10 total bullet points under the section titled Spring 2019-Spring 2020 Registration Requirements states that CLORGs “must host one event during the first 6 weeks of school on Thursday, Friday or Saturday in support of campu[s] vibrancy and alternative programming initiatives.” According to Ice and Preciado, the Saturday Programming is part of the Residence Life Vibrancy Initiative, which works to support the Scripps Centennial Plan, under the Inclusive Student Success Initiative. The Scripps Centennial Plan “is a blueprint to ensure the College’s future is filled with infinite possibility in the 21st century and beyond,” according to its official website. The Inclusive Student Success Initiative is one of four theme areas; the others including Innovative Learning Organization, Distinctive Identity, and Mission Driven Outreach. The Inclusive Student Success Initiative strives to “enlarge the Scripps experience so that it represents all identities, amplifies each voice, and imbues every member of our community with confidence, courage, and hope” (Scripps Centennial Plan). “Our goal is to create programs that encourage students to connect with others outside of their residential communities to enhance their overall sense of belonging to Scripps,” Preciado said in an email. “The Saturday programs are but one way we are working to achieve that goal.” Despite these intentions, Saturday Programming has created some complications for student leaders. S o m e l e a d e r s struggle to see how their CLORG can create Saturday programming for the larger student body. “Yearbook is an application-based closed staff,” Lohman said. “Why do we need to host a public event? What would we even do at such an event?” Bynum also describe similar struggles with the Saturday Programming. “Weekend-appropriate program-

OSE admitted that they did not consult any student CLORG leaders on the changes, and I think if they had, the resulting policies would be beneficial to everyone -Julia Lohman '21

ming does not align with [Scripps Politics Association’s] mission statement,” Bynum said. “I do not think students want to attend an academic or pre-professional-focused event on the weekend.” “I appreciate that OSE is trying to improve social life at Scripps because I agree that it is lacking,” Lohman said. “However, in making these new standards universal requirements, I think they are ignoring the different needs of different clubs.” Blend, which is a SCOREbased affinity group that serves students who identify as multiethnic, multi-racial, transracial adoptees or third culture kids, is one such club. “What [Blend mainly does] is to host weekly meetings for students and we can’t simply move the day — I know for me personally, having that community space weekly on the day we do is really important for my health and success,” said Blend Treasurer Madison Gates ’21. According to Gates, Blend doesn’t have the funding for Saturday Programming; the club’s budget only covers meetings. However, Ice and Preciado have taken steps to ensure that funding will not be an issue. “Funding for Saturday events is supported by the Office of Student Engagement,” according to Ice and Preciado. “CLORGs who need assistance with program planning can contact ose@ scrippscollege.edu to learn more about our Program In a Box initiative.” The Program In a Box includes activity instructions, a program layout, a list of supplies which OSE will provide and a flyer template, and one snack and one drink from a list of options. Some Program In a Box examples include Game Night, Minute to Win It, DIY Stress Balls, Trivia and Treats, Lawn Games and Cookies and Conversations. However, most CLORGs that have already submitted Saturday Programs elected not to participate in the Program In a Box initiative. “Their suggestions for events we could throw that were ‘free or low cost’ were things that showed they didn’t respect the very serious work most CLORGs are doing, whether it be educational/pre-professional or the community building/mentorship programming of SCORE CLORGs,” Gates said. Bynum also expressed economic worries. “I am concerned we are wasting resources, like our SAS budget and our time on an event that no one will attend,” Bynum said. Gates also notes how the burden of creating a more vibrant campus for Scripps disproportionately impacts student of color leaders at Scripps.

“As student leaders who are already doing so much work to create spaces for students of color on campus, spaces that the school itself should but doesn’t provide, we don’t have the time or energy to be doing more,” Gates said. “We aren’t getting paid for all of the work we do to ensure that POC at Scripps have community spaces and to require more of us is ridiculous.” An additional change introduced by OSE includes a new event registration process was also documented in the 2019-2020 CLORG registration requirements. This document states that CLORGs must “track events hosted throughout the year.” The event registration process includes a proposal form that must be submitted at least 10 days in advance to OSE. Information that must be provided on this form include event location/time, projected number of attendees, a detailed outline/ plan of the event, projected cost with a budget breakdown and the advertisement for the event. Once submitted, OSE staff review the event proposal. If the event proposal is rejected, CLORG leaders will receive guidance for resubmission. They must receive approval from OSE before they may move forward with the event. Following the event, CLORGs must also submit a Post-Event Tracker form. CLORG leaders must give a short description of the event including if the goals of the event were reached, if the CLORG would repeat this event, if this event could be improved and if items were given away. They must also include final program cost, final number of attendees and a photo of the sign-up sheet that includes name, student ID, email and signatures of attendees to promote accountability and sustainability of CLORGs, according to Preciado. “We get our budgets from SAS, which is a completely separate nonprofit from Scripps College,” Gates said. “No Scripps College office has any right to see our budgets or suddenly demand changes that impact our budgets, especially without talking to SAS first. SAS already is very thorough in auditing clubs budgets, and so it’s unnecessary and patronizing for OSE to suddenly demand to also be allowed to know how we are spending our money.” Despite initial reactions, the longterm effects ofthese new policies on CLORGs and their student leaders remain to be seen. “They really should have done better to build trust with the community and not spring this on everyone in the way they did," Gates said. "It really shows a lack of respect for the student leaders who do so much for the Scripps student body.” Illustration by Gabi Seifert