For those of you who were looking for my report the past couple of issues, I purposely did not write until this week. The reason is that my break consisted mostly of sleep, work and vacation, meaning that my report on the progress of the Big 4 would have been short, to say the least.I do, though, have updates on the Big 4 from this month. Note that it is somewhat sparser than previous reports. The reason for this is simple: most of the work is already done. We’re now finishing up. As a quick refresher, more swag is about bringing more Oakland University gear to campus, more space is about expanding the Oakland Center, more outlets is about getting more outlets, and more 4.0’s is about fixing OU’s atrocious grading scale.More Swag: Last semester we focused on the "Finally FamOUs" theme and swapping out shirts from other universities for OU sweatshirts. This semester, our Marketing Director, Adam George, is planning on bringing in some new items. Stop by the office in the basement of the OC; we still have a few shirts left from last semester and the new stuff will go fast!More Space: In case you missed it from the final report last semester, Oakland is now in the process of expanding the OC. The administration sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP), which is the first step. Next, OU will pick an architect to design the expansion and a company to build it. To be frank, I won’t be President at that time. Regardless, you students have a job to do. This is our building. Our student union. We should be at the forefront of the discussions about what goes into the expansion. I will be pushing for what students want in the new expansion, but when I leave, you, my friends, need to make sure that the next president is doing the same and is vigorously fighting for what you want in the plan for the OC.More Outlets: This is related to the more space initiative. As I’ve mentioned in previous reports, it is highly expensive to put outlets in existing buildings. Sadly, this means that no new outlets are going in old buildings unless they are getting expanded (think the OC). Administration does plan to put more outlets in new buildings and in expansions/renovations, as was done in the Pioneer Food Court in those long curving tables.More 4.0’s: In the grading scale committee (I know, I know, it sounds incredibly boring to say that the more 4.0’s initiative is in a committee phase, but trust me when I say that that’s how every change at a university starts) we’re discussing the impact of changing the grading scale at OU. Being a student, I’ll admit that there were some perspectives on making this change that I wasn’t aware of. I will say, though, that there continues to be major incentive to change, and not just from students, but also from faculty and administration.As always, if you have any questions about this or anything else OUSC-related, shoot me an email at [email protected] or stop by my office in the basement of the OC.
