Shimer Welcomes 7 New Alum Trustees!

Seven new (or restored) trustees have joined the Shimer College Board of Trustees as of September 27th. They are Barry Carroll, Katherine Chappell, Mary Lou Kennedy, Robert Keohane, Peter Hanig, Sandra Hockenbury, and Linda Levy.

Our thanks go out to them, and to all trustees of good will, for helping to preserve the awesomeness that is Shimer.

Read the full report at the Shimer Alumni Alliance page.

Summer summary

I've been remiss in updating this blog about various events in and around Shimer. Selected recent events are summarized below.

(This seems like a good time to note that any interested Shimerian is welcome to post here; just ask me or SaraDevil for posting rights if you don't have them already. )

The latest in hot trustee-on-trustee action:

• A few weeks after his unceremonious removal, Tom Lindsay filed suit against the College and numerous individual trustees, making accusations which I will not befoul this blog by repeating. Tom was joined in the lawsuit by his puppeteer, Patrick Parker. The suit is now wending its way through the Chancery Division of the Cook County Circuit Court. At this point it seems unlikely that the wrecking crew has anything resembling a case. It's not entirely clear what they are playing at, though one likely possibility is that they're angling for a large cash settlement.
  
• In its most recent meeting, the Board of Trustees changed its bylaws to permit board members to be added and removed by a simple majority vote, thus depriving the rump Lindsay-Parker faction of its pernicious veto over student and faculty representatives. Thank you, Trustees!
  

In news of the internal community:

• The College beat its alumni fundraising target for the past fiscal year. Kudos to Don Moon, Aaron Garland and Noah Kippley-Ogman! Thanks must also go to noted money-bomber Nate Lefebvre and many other alums who dug deep to support the college.
  
• Shimer also exceeded the enrollment target for the coming semester. Kudos to Amy Pritts and Cassie Sherman! And to 38 brilliant young souls who made the right choice.
  
• The Admissions crew has been putting out some very interesting student video blogs.
• Shimer-in-Oxford has begun, under the capable leadership of Stuart Patterson.

In news of the external community:

• Over the summer, former Shimer President Don Moon toured the country and met with alum groups in cities including New York, Washington and Seattle.

• New members have joined the Alumni Association board, including 90s alums Erik Badger, Beth Matthews and Sarah Delezen.
• Thanks to the yeoman efforts of alum Chris Vaughan, the Shimer College article on Wikipedia has gained Featured status -- no easy task.
• Alum Ron Rothbart has posted a number of Mt Carroll and otherwise Shimerical photographs on the Shimer College Flickr stream. If you also have photos to share, please consider sharing them there.
  
• Two alum reading groups have been meeting regularly in the Chicago area, thanks to the efforts of Bill Arnold and Jack Sigel. A good time has been had by all. The next such group will meet on Wednesday, 9/29, at 6:30 PM in the Infinity classroom at Shimer. The text is Roberto Bolaño's By Night in Chile. (Note: date recently changed)
  

Webcast of Assembly of September 12

The following information was recently disseminated by Speaker Albert Fernandez. The livetweet of this Assembly will be at @shimerians, with overflow to @saradevil if needed. The agenda is here.

Sunday’s meeting of the Assembly, starting at 4 pm CST, will be webcast. To access the site, go to http://shimer.na5.acrobat.com/assembly091210/

If you have never used an Acrobat Connect webcast site before, you can get an overview at http://www.adobe.com/go/connectpro_overview , and you can practice at http://shimer.na5.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Many thanks to Shimer Data Services Administrator Steven Parker for arranging the webcast.Please remember that, according to the Constitution of the Assembly, only members present may address the Assembly, vote, or introduce motions or resolutions.

Shimer College Assembly Meeting, 9/12/2010

The Assembly of Shimer College will hold its first meeting of the 2010-2011 academic year this Sunday, September 12th, at 4 PM in the Cinderella Lounge at Shimer College. The agenda is pasted below.

A webcast is likely, but details have not yet been announced. There will be a livetweet, assuming the community does not object.

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THE ASSEMBLY OF SHIMER COLLEGE

AGENDA FOR THE MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I Approval of the minutes of the meeting of May 2, 2010

II Committee reports and responses from the floor.

III Amendment of the Constitution of the Assembly
Motivated by the Ad Hoc Committee to Study the Agenda Committee
The Speaker of the Assembly to be elected from the membership.

Wording changes:

Section IV:1

From: The Assembly shall elect from among the members of the Agenda Committee (Section V) a Speaker, who will be responsible for publishing the agendas for all Assembly meetings, for convening and chairing the Assembly, and for chairing the Agenda Committee.

To: The Assembly shall elect a Speaker early in the Fall term from among the members of the Assembly. The Speaker will be responsible for publishing the agendas for all Assembly meetings, for convening and chairing the Assembly, and for chairing the Agenda Committee.

Section V:4

From: The Committee shall be composed of four persons elected early in the fall term, at least one of whom must be a staff member.

To: The Committee shall be composed of the Speaker (Section IV:1) and three members elected early in the fall term. At least one of the four persons on the Committee must be on the (academic or administrative) staff of the College.

IV Elections
General procedure: Before each of the elections listed below, the Speaker will ask for nominations, including self-nominations, and for acceptance or decline of nominations by those nominated.

1) Admissions Committee: “two faculty members, one student from the Weekday Program, and one student from the Weekend Program. Community members employed in the Office of Admission and members of the Financial Aid Policy Committee are not eligible for election to this committee.”

2) Quality of Life Committee
“six other members of the community, at least one of whom must be a staff member and at least two of whom must be students in the Weekday Program.”

If proposed constitutional amendment is adopted:
3) Speaker
“From among the members of the Assembly.”

4) Agenda Committee:
If proposed constitutional amendment is adopted:“Three members. . . . At least one of the four persons on the Committee must be on the (academic or administrative) staff of the College.”

If proposed constitutional amendment is not adopted:“Four persons . . . , at least one of whom must be a staff member.”

If proposed constitutional amendment is not adopted:
5) Speaker“From among the members of the Agenda Committee”

6) Other Officers of the Assembly:
Secretary
Ombudsperson
Parliamentarian

7) Shimer College Representative to the IIT Student Government

V Announcements