VSA Council dissolves special renovation committee

Elysia Glover Guest Writer

A motion to dissolve the current Vassar Student Association (VSA) Special Committee on Dorm Renovations was passed unanimously at the VSA Council meeting on Sunday, Sept. 16. In a second unanimous decision, the VSA Council appointed Andrew Bennett ’09, former Chair of the Special Committee on Dorm Renovations, to the newly formed position of Dorm Renovations Coordinator.

Vice President of Student Life Morgan Warners ’08 announced the changes as part of his goal to streamline the discussions between the student body and the Vassar Master Planning Committee.

“Previously we had two channels of contact with [Director of Residential Life] Luis Inoa. With the change, the Vice President for Student Life will be the main contact, and Bennett will report to me in his newly created position,” said Warners.

With the closure of Davison House for renovations next year and further plans by the Master Planning Committee to upgrade the residential quad houses, the restructuring of the current forum is expected to streamline student input.

“The Student Life Committee is also sufficiently large to balance the need for multiple perspectives with efficiency,” said Warners. In the case that large and important questions are raised, the Student Life Committee will undertake outreach planning to get broadly-based student input.”

The changes are expected to provide a more open, representative platform for discussion, and in necessary preparation for what will undoubtedly be a volatile topic of discussion within the student body affected by these plans.

The existing VSA committees, most notably the Committee for Student Life, chaired by Warners, will absorb the responsibilities of recently disbanded committee, while plans for opening the discussion to the greater student body in the near future are still in progress.

As the first Dorm Renovations Coordinator, Bennett will continue his role as liaison between the Vassar College Master Planning Committee—a joint committee of faculty, students, and administrators—and the Committee for Student Life.

“Andrew has a wealth of knowledge about the construction process at Vassar. He was instrumental in getting plans for swing space approved,” said Warners.

The changes passed at Sunday's meeting will allow Bennett to focus more closely on his work. “It is essentially the same position that I had before,” said Bennett of the change,
“only now I have less responsibility for organizing meetings, and more time to focus on the coordinating of more effective forums for discussion in the coming year.”