The full text of these resolutions will be posted on our website, which will be up by the end of the month. In the meantime, feel free to e mail Britni at britni.henderson@trinity.edu to obtain a copy of these resolutions.
Divestment in Sudan
The Sudanese government spends approximately 80% of their revenues for military purposes which currently supports the genocide in Darfur. A number of universities and states have taken action by implementing policies of divestment from companies that conduct substantial business operations in Sudan.This campaign has led several companies to terminate their business with the Sudanese government. ASR passed a resolution that was introduced and written by members of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) in which we urge the Board of Trustees Committee on Investments to adopt and implement a policy of targeted divestment of all University assets from companies that conduct significant business operations in Sudan. Dr. Brazil has agreed to take the case to the Board of Trustees.
Course Evaluation Form
For the last two years, the faculty has been attempting to create a new, substantially revised course evaluation form. There is a need for significant student input in this process. ASR passed a resolution that called upon faculty to involve more students voice in the revision process. We ask that faculty holds forums in which interested students and faculty can discuss the issue, conducts some sort of pilot to determine the form's effectiveness in practice before it is used on a university wide basis, and includes significant student membership in any committee that deals with the revision process. The resolution was sent to interested faculty members and the chair of the Faculty Senate, Dr. McCaughrin, circulated the resolution to all professors in the Faculty Senate.
OpenCourseWare
ASR's resolution in support of OpenCourseWare calls on the faculty and administration to institute this program in a timely fashion and to make the necessary financial and human resources available. OpenCourseWare is currently in its initial stages at Trinity as the necessary technological and financial requirements are being considered, and the specific aspects of the program are being tailored to best suit Trinity. ASR will continue to support this program as it evolves. OpenCourseWare is an initiative to place course documents such as syllabi, lectures or lecture notes, assignments, handouts, tests, exams, and suggested reading lists as well as audio and video media online for free access by both Trinity students as we all the general public.
Open Access
The Open Access resolution expresses ASR's support of the Federal Research Public Access Act, sponsored in Congress by Trinity Alumnus John Cornyn, which would mandate that most government funded research be made publicly available online public six months after publication in a scholarly journal. Currently, libraries
across the country, including Trinity's, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for subscriptions to these scholarly journals (some costing upwards of ten thousand dollars annually) which are the exclusive source for much cutting-edge research. Dr. Brazil has already joined many other university presidents across the country in support of this bill, and ASR's resolution follows similar resolutions by other student governments across the country. ASR is actively working to recruit more student governments to pass such a resolution and enhance the impact of these efforts.
R TALES