Summer has reached its apex and we are fast approaching the return of life to the Rensselaer campus. Sure, there is Summer @ RPI, which many students take advantage of to whittle away their credit hours, plus the campus hosts many summer camps and conferences. But nothing compares to when the academic year will begin on August 31st, when everything (clubs, sports, and yes, classes) fire up again.

I would like to welcome our incoming freshman to the campus for their Student Orientation as well as the Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond experience. Once you get through the class registrations, mandatory lectures to attend to, make the most of your visits. It showcases the best part of student life in the college experience, without all the worries of classes and homework. Make friends, find activities that interest you, and discover the great parts of the RPI campus (my favorite: the Student Union). I look forward to meeting our new freshman at Convocation on August 30th.

Those of you stepping onto this campus during the end of summer for the first time and those returning will see the completion of Rensselaer's new East Campus Athletic Village, you will meet the first residents to occupy the Howard N. Blitman, P.E. '50 Residence Commons, and you will participate in Reunion '09, which will bring alumni and alumnae here during the school year.

Besides the Class of 2013, there are some other new faces coming to join the Rensselaer family. I would like to acknowledge our new Dean of Engineering Dr. David Rosowsky, our new Dean of Architecture Evan Douglis, and our new Vice President for Enrollment Dr. Paul Marthers.

Summer is a time for relaxing by the beach, visiting the far reaches of the world, or seeing what it's like to make in the real world (if only for a few months with an internship). It has been for me and the Student Senate a time for reflection on the past year and planning for the year ahead. We are looking at all we've done and feedback we have received, both the positives and negatives, and determining what we do next.

This summer we have been working with the division of Student Life on the CLASS initiative, we have done classroom assessments to see what needs to be fixed, we are compiling a guide to student government to inform students and encourage your involvement, and we are refreshing our websites and infrastructure to better serve you.

The Student Senate is at the heart of many projects to better your world at RPI; we've introduced Shuttle Tracking-so you can find where those pesky buses really are, Concerto-THE digital signage system on campus, Pizza with the Cabinet-food and Q&A with RPI administrators, the Union website- a refreshed portal for all your clubs and activities, and many others. But we're always interested in hearing what your thoughts are. Have a comment, concern, or question? E-mail me at gm@rpi.edu, find me on twitter at www.twitter.com/rpigm, or come visit me and the Student Senate in the Student Government Suite on the 3rd floor of the Student Union, we're there almost anytime.

Filed in Top Hat

0 comments so far