The Student Association assembly announced plans to install heat lamps at bus stops and increased the amount of funding available to student organizations during its weekly meeting on Monday.

At the meeting Monday evening in Maxwell Auditorium, an Information Technology and Services representative described the NetID password change, which will begin in November. The Student Life Committee also announced plans for a trial program to install heat lamps at South Campus bus stops and assembly members passed a bill which will increase the maximum amount SA can give to different student organizations.

Syracuse University ITS sent Cindy Hoalcraft to the meeting to give a presentation about MySlice’s new NetID password policy. The policy states that every student must change their password on an annual basis for security purposes. Hoalcraft said this policy “limits exposure” of MySlice accounts and their “potential for misuse.” Additionally, inactive accounts will be eliminated from the site so they will not be hacked.

The process will officially begin in November, but students are able to change their passwords before then if they choose, she said. The link to change passwords is below the login box on MySlice’s home page and is also accessible once the student is logged in.

Students are required to update their password one year from the day they change it this semester. Administrators will send email notifications to students routinely beginning a month before the password’s expiration date. There are no changes to the password rules and the question-and-answer requirement.

Assembly members also passed a bill that increases the amount of money student organizations on different tiers can receive from SA. The tier system divides organizations into four tiers depending on how much funding they typically require.

“By bumping up the amount each tier can get, it also helps organizations who want to move up a tier but aren’t ready yet,” said Comptroller Patrick Douglas.

In other business, the Student Life Committee was recently able to convince administrators to install heat lamps in sheltered bus stops on South Campus and at College Place. The committee told administrators that blood vessels close to the skin begin to constrict at and below freezing temperatures, and individuals are more susceptible to frostbite. The presentation included testimonies from students who live on South Campus and take buses to and from main campus several times a day.

According to the presentation, the goal of the Student Life Committee and SA is “to create an environment at SU that accommodates the needs of all of our students, regardless of living location.”

Administrators accepted the committee’s proposal and will run a pilot program with the heat lamps installed next semester. The next step for the committee is to meet with Risk Management and the Department of Public Safety to ensure that DPS officers will include these bus stops in their regular campus route.

Published on October 21, 2014 at 12:54 am

Contact Alexa: atorrens@syr.edu