UC Ratifies Stance on J-Term

The Undergraduate Council advanced its plans to chime in on a recent University decision to cut programming for the “January Term” at its general meeting yesterday, voting unanimously to approve a policy paper that recommends that the College adopt generous standards for assessing whether particular students are allowed to remain on campus during the January period.

The Council also approved a question to be posed on the “J-term” issue at a Faculty of Arts and Sciences town hall meeting on the economic crisis scheduled for tomorrow.

The policy paper recommends that housing students during the month of January be defined in a way that allows students to stay on campus to participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities and other programs that are deemed productive.

The stance is in opposition to what some believe might be an overly restrictive need-based standard for deciding which students can remain on campus in January. A letter about the “J-term” decision sent to members of the community last week by Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith suggested that students with a need to remain on campus “may potentially include varsity athletes, international students, thesis writers, students conducting lab-based research, and others who cannot reasonably accomplish their work in another location.”

The Council’s official question for the Town Hall meeting includes a summary of the Council’s position on the J-term issue along with several questions about the process that will be employed for approval of a student’s stated need to remain on campus in January.

UC president Andrea R. Flores ’10 said that Council members will be “asking as many questions as we physically can” at the Town Hall.

The Council also voted yesterday to approve a letter to Hammonds inquiring whether a report on the Ad Board set to be delivered to the college dean by a student-faculty committee charged with considering the issue be made public. Former UC President Matthew L. Sundquist ’09 sat on the Ad Board committee and Ad-board reform was one of his campaign platforms when he ran for president last year.

Daniel V. Kroop ’10 said he thought it was important that students see the report so that they could discuss the issues it addresses.

The Student Labor Action Movement, a Phillips Brooks House Association program that focuses on promoting labor rights on campus, also addressed the Council during yesterday’s meeting.

Alyssa M. Aguilera ’08-’09, a member of SLAM, emphasized that the Council is in a unique position to advocate for students to the College administration and that it is important for SLAM to utilize its connections with the organization.

—Crimson staff writer Brittany M. Llewellyn can be reached at bllewell@fas.harvard.edu. —Crimson staff writer Eric P. Newcomer can be reached at newcomer@fas.harvard.edu.