USG and MTU staff are working quickly to adjust to federal policy changes in regards to DEI. It has posed a great challenge and is being handled with extreme care by the university. MTU must comply with these changes quickly, as the penalties for noncompliance under the False Claims Act are too great to risk. Any day now, the Vice President for Research could be given a box to check and sign that indicates we are following these executive orders.
It’s equally important to keep in mind there will always be staff on campus to support you, meeting each student where they are at in life. When talking to Cole Pierucki, President of USG, it became clear that USG members are driven by “a passion for the Michigan Tech community and our students” and that we should all remember, “students are what make Michigan Tech special and make this community somewhere we want to be”.
Some students are concerned about losing the diversity statistics and resources on MTU web pages. Some of these details have been lost purely due to the required immediate action. We can expect a lot of this information to again become available to students as time passes. Students are encouraged to read Laura Bulleit’s email on the new changes.
A new system is in the works to further support the success of RSOs. USG looks to connect organizations who share similar goals and encourage them to collaborate. There will be about nine different pools of RSOs, and each group will be assigned a staff member to meet with as a council regularly. The hope is that RSOs will develop long-standing relationships with these staff members, creating success and smoother transitions between leadership. Many RSOs have lost touch with their tax filing process; there are plans to hire a professional to assist with RSOs’ taxes.
When it comes to this year’s RSO Budget hearings, USG will be strengthening bylaws and will continue to become more strict on what RSOs spend their money on. Things such as memberships, subscriptions, or things used to turn a personal profit will be cut from budget proposals. Student organizations overall greatly increased the amount of money requested from last year in their proposals by about 60 thousand dollars. USG will be thoroughly reviewing and making decisions during this budget hearing process.
If you have any questions, USG holds office hours in MUB 113, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
