CGS SG may have new home

Members of the College of General Studies Student Government met administrators on… Members of the College of General Studies Student Government met administrators on Thursday with a series of concerns in another discussion concerning the placement of the government.

The meeting focused on the possible movement of CGS Student Government from under the jurisdiction of Student Affairs to under the administration of the CGS. The switch in administration would also entail a physical relocation, which would take the group from its location in Room 615 of the William Pitt Union to the fourth floor of the Cathedral of Learning.

CGS Student Government President Jillian Costigan expressed the concerns of her and her fellow board members that the students may be left out of the decision on moving the CGS Student Government.

“I am under the personal impression that the decision has already been made,” she said.

While Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Dean of Students Jack Daniel said he believes “the organization would be better served if it had a formal affiliation to CGS,” he emphasized that the meeting’s intention was not to force any decision upon the CGS Student Government and that no decision had been made.

“I have no intention of forcing CGS Student Government out of the Union,” he said.

Daniel requested instead, the students meet and decide if they want to move or not and then express their decision to him in written format. He also asked that the college write a concrete list of the benefits for the CGS Student Government if they chose to move under the college’s jurisdiction.

Costigan said the student government was concerned about the move since the nontraditional students of CGS already feel at times like they are out of the loop at the University.

“It’s more the isolation factor,” she said.

She hoped that a continued presence in the Union would help to further the connection between CGS students and the traditional student community. But regardless of whether the group changes location or not, she hopes that the student government can form closer ties with the college.

“Even if we stay in the Union, that is one of the things that has to be created again,” she said.