SGA Unveils $ 225,000 Initiative to Hire Internship Coordinators to Help Students With Expenses; College makes no announcement of plans

Jack P. Carroll ’24

Editor-in-chief

The Student Government Association (SGA) Budgets Committee has developed a $ 225,000 initiative to support students throughout the semester and years to come. the tripod recently spoke to SGA MP Joshua Jacoves ’23 about the initiative. Using residual funds from last fiscal year’s Student Activity Fee (SAF), the committee worked with various offices and institutions earlier this year to create a full-time position for internship coordinators and set up individual funds for printing, textbooks, research and senior contributions.

This is the first time an SGA member has publicly discussed the details of these initiatives. September 23rd News update on the website of the library and information center Raether thanked the SGA for an “extremely generous donation” with which students can purchase all the textbooks they need worth more than 50 US dollars. However, the College has not issued an official statement on the Committee’s initiatives by Monday October 4th.

Jacoves told it tripod that the budget committee transferred $ 30,000 to the dean of the faculty office to pay the internship coordinator’s salary for the first year. $ 120,000 was made available to the Raether Library to raise funds for printing ($ 50,000) and textbooks / research ($ 70,000). $ 75,000 was invested in a senior equity fund jointly managed by the Office of the Dean of Studies and the Office of Student, Activities, Participation and Leadership (SAIL).

Trinity’s budget director Marcia Johnson confirmed the numbers provided by Jacoves.

These initiatives were developed in the spring semester of 2021 after Trinity’s COVID-19 restrictions prevented many clubs and organizations from using their funds. Jacoves said these initiatives were approved in late May after the committee met with Vice President for Academic Achievement and Enrollment Management Joe DiChristina; Dean of Student Life and Director of the Bantam Network Jody Goodman; and Director of SAIL Nikia Bryant.

DiChristina confirmed that the college met with members of the SGA late spring to develop these initiatives. He said that tripod “There can be a small amount left over every year. Funds are normally carried over into the summer to pay any final budget items received after June 30th. ”He added,“ The institutional budget cycle ends on June 30th. Last year, with the current COVID restrictions, more funds were available. The funds were available because SGA and student organizations could not offer so many activities. ”

“We all agreed that this money should of course be used for student affairs, student initiatives and things that should benefit the students – instead of being withdrawn from college,” said Jacoves. The three administrators then gave the committee approval to pursue these initiatives. Student representatives in attendance included Jacoves, Camille Valentincic ’22 (Vice President Finance), Isabella Yung ’22 (Finance Secretary), and Jedick Estrella ’22 (then Senator). Jacoves stated that he, Yung and Valentincic continued to develop the approved initiatives until they were completed in September.

Jacoves responded to questions about the lack of communication related to these initiatives tripod“We wanted to wait until it was all set in stone so we could get it all out at once.” “We didn’t want to make promises that didn’t happen,” he added. “We want everything to be printed from a single source so that there are no multiple iterations.”

When asked whether the committee had received input from students outside the SGA, he stated that “due to the start of the initiatives at the end of the academic year, a forum with finals could not be held due to lack of time”. The committee chose these initiatives “on the basis of” [sic] Conversations with deans, students, and members’ experiences through the SGA with what students have requested as “big ticket” items over the past few years. ”He also confirmed that the committee plans to hold meetings at the end of the semester , “To find out how the rest of the surplus funds should be distributed”. Jacoves did not disclose the total amount of money remaining in the surplus fund; instead he stated: “The extended funds were put into the current years [sic] To use the SAF account for the fall semester. ”

Jacoves told it tripod that the internship coordinator supports the students in finding an internship and getting credit. He also claimed that the college intends to have an internship coordinator on campus by spring. Mitchell Polin, associate dean of the curriculum and professor of theater and dance familiar with the initiative, said the tripod emailed that the Internship Coordinator position “began contacting the SGA Budget Committee (in July) to give Trinity students more opportunities to engage with the newly revised curriculum”. He also stated that Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Executive Director of Career Life and Design Center Joe Catrino “identified the need for an internship coordinator to support an expected increase in students doing internships at Trinity.” Polin stated that the college has not yet started looking for an internship coordinator. He did not answer questions about the existence of a search committee, the timing of the search, and the type of work the position entails. “Instead, the funds available allowed the college to hire an internship coordinator advisor on a shorter-term basis,” said Polin. Catrino didn’t respond to that tripod‘s position inquiries.

However, DiChristina said that tripod Tuesday that the college has already hired the internship coordinator. The person works 12-18 hours of peer week with Catrino in the Career Life and Design Center. DiChristina did not answer tripod Inquiries about the search of the college for the position and the tasks of the internship coordinator.

The library currently manages the printing and textbook / research funds. Valentincic said that tripod by email on Monday that the money for these funds is “monitored by two different library offices.” Funds for printing dollars were sent to Access Control and Card Services; Assistant Constituency Director Rose Bernais received the $ 70,000 for the Textbook ($ 50,000) / Research Fund ($ 20,000).

The printing fund was created for students who have used up their allotted printing dollars for the year. Students can access these funds once a year by requesting additional print dollars through the Trinity finance portal.

The textbook and research fund is administered by the library. The Textbook Fund covers textbooks from the bookstore that cost more than $ 50 and do not have single-use access codes. Jacoves told it tripod that the library bought 41 volumes for the semester. The library assumes that the fund will cover school book expenses for the next ten semesters. In addition, the research fund can be used to pay for “databases, data sets, certain books and research tools”.

Katie Bauer, director of collections, discovery and access services, said the tripod Sunday the library spent $ 5,000 on textbooks for the fall semester. She also made it clear that the research funds are reserved for research projects at junior and senior level, with the approval of a faculty advisor. Bauer stated that students would have access to the research funds from Monday October 4th.

The Senior Equity Fund is jointly managed by the Dean of Studies and the SAIL offices. The senior citizens’ contributions can be paid with the money that is currently available to the students. Seniors can apply for funds from the account using a form administered by the Dean of Studies. Jacoves told it tripod interested students should contact SAIL or the Dean of Studies with an inquiry. Dean for Community Life and Standards Robert P. Lukaskiewicz did not respond to that tripod‘s inquiries about senior equity funds.

The online version of this article was updated on Tuesday October 5th to include an administrative comment from DiChristina. The print version was created before this statement was received.