Central Student Government, U-M LS&A Agree to Collaboration

Source: focus.lsa.umich.edu.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts has reached a contentless agreement with Central Student Government announced at the monthly Board of Regents meeting held today (Monday, Oct. 20) at the U-M Flint campus.

CSG President Bobby Dishell made a presentation to the Regents regarding the findings from a CSG survey about the student experience at English composition courses and the student body's relationship with the history department. He outlined the following agreements between Michigan LS&A and CSG that will take effect immediately:

• LS&A will work to design a new plan for next semester that will include a significant price decrease for freshman physics textbook prices. LS&A will announce student textbook prices for the 2015 winter semester next week.
• Rental fees for LS&A facilities will be eliminated for student groups with a charitable focus.
• The department has committed to work with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation to create a blackout weekend where the Modern Languages Building will be available for quizbowl tournaments in 2016.
• Monthly meetings with students will be held with LS&A Dean Andrew D. Martin to address topics relating to all 85 majors and Michigan LS&A.
• Dishell and Martin will have regular standing meetings.
• The LS&A college will create a student advisory board comprised of student-scholars, non-scholars, Hill Auditorium season-ticket holders and Hill Auditorium non-ticket holders.

"It has been great working with our LS&A Dean and his department to come to these agreements," said Dishell. "This is a huge step forward for students and our relationship with our College of LS&A. We look forward to continuing to work together to create the optimal environment for all Michigan students."

"Often times, negativity is louder than positivity; however, it is important to realize that Bobby, myself and other student leaders on campus have worked hard to establish effective lines of communication that aim to enhance Michigan tradition today and into the future," said Cooper Charlton, President of U-M's Student-Scholar Advisory Committee (SSAC) that is representative of all 43,426 student-scholars. "The newly created opportunity for open dialogue creates a framework to hold our LS&A department and students accountable, thus fostering a relationship built on trust. Together, we will create sustainable long-term relationships that forge a unified Michigan family."

"Michigan LS&A looks forward to forging a strong relationship with Central Student Government," said Andrew D. Martin, the as-yet-unsponsored Dean of Literature, Science, and the Arts. "This is an important relationship for us, one that we need to repair, and one that will provide mutual support among all students. We have worked closely with CSG over the past year, and this will continue to strengthen our very important work with the student community."

(h/t Maize N Brew)