Congress Weekly: Members Discuss the New Course Registration System, Petition and Welcome Spooky Season

Many students have asked for clarifications on the new course registration system.

Last week, the News Blitz requested a statement from David, the Coordinator of Student Advocacy.

“The current course registration system has all the students of a program choose their courses and their section number within the same timespan of a couple of hours. The new system was put in place following a few years of complaints directed at the current one. Specifically, people mentioned the difficulty of getting the schedule that they had planned prior to registering, due to the high number of students trying to attain the same sections at the same time. Especially with Pure and Health Science students, this causes a lot of traffic on the Omnivox server, making it very difficult to guarantee the schedule you wanted. In the end, there were students who were left with none of the courses that they were interested in. What the new system hopes to change is guaranteeing that the student is given a schedule with courses that they know they wanted, and picked themselves.

The other issue, which is one reason why it would be so difficult to change the registration system back to how it used to be completely, is because in the coming year, the social science programs as well as liberal arts will undergo course changes. This means that their entire program will be split into two: those that follow the same progression chart as the current social science program, and next year’s cohort, who will be following the new progression chart. This means that there will be a very large amount of courses that will be offered, and the divergence causes complications for the administration. Under the new system, the process allows timely review and the system can sort through the courses much easier than the old one, which it needs to since there are going to be many more social courses offered for the different cohorts (First years will be in the new social programs, 2nd, 3rd and 4th years will be in the old one).”

Referendum Petition Updates

A petition for a referendum to reverse the new course selection system has circulated and the threshold of 200 signatures has been reached. A General Assembly will be held, where two students representing each side of the debate will be asked to speak. The members of the General Assembly will vote; if over 50% of the members vote “YES”, a referendum will be organized.

However, the College has the final say. Even if the referendum passes, the College can disregard the result and proceed with the new course selection system.

Congress members will soon release a letter addressing students. With the information provided by Director General Christian Corno, the members envision only a slim possibility of the reversal of the current system. Congress members, nevertheless, will fiercely advocate for the integration of student feedback for important future decisions.

Halloween Activities

Spooky season has arrived at Marianopolis College!

“Halloween this year is on a Monday, which is kinda trash,” said Coordinator of Social Activities Jamie-Ly. But Congress has nonetheless exciting activities prepared.

Cardiologists and dentists beware: cavities and heart attacks are incoming.

Thursday, October 27th, during AP

• Congress members will host a Halloween-themed movie at the auditorium. They’ll sell popcorn with proceeds going to charity.
• Coordinator of Charities and Volunteering Maria Ma is preparing a pumpkin decorating and carving contest. Beware, it can get messy, especially when you take out “the brain or whatever is inside the pumpkin,” said Coordinator of Cultural Affairs Andrew.
• Students will be welcomed to spin a wheel of fortune for candy and other sugary treats.

Monday, October 31st

• Congress members will host a costume contest. They will provide students with more information on the prizes via their Instagram page.
• Come to Congress’ office to trick or treat! Congress members will give candy to all dressed up students. Alternatively, you can exchange a fact for a snack. President Max likes facts about flies and their acceleration speed– the News Blitz hypothesizes that he’ll give more candy to those who impress him with fruit fly knowledge. Gymnasts, mark your calendar: Maria offers extra candy to anyone who can backflip!

Mr. Puffs Foodtruck

Bring your wallets: Mr. Puffs will be sold at the parking lot on Tuesday, October 25th during AP.

Martial Art and Self-Defense Workshop

Jamie-Ly has organized a martial arts/self-defense workshop. The activity will teach students about self-defense techniques in collaboration with Sensei Nicolas Bellevue-Fortin, a Fit/Kick teacher at Marianopolis.  

Jamie-Ly welcomes all students to sign up on the “martial arts/self-defense workshop Google Form” found in MSU’s linktree, on Instagram. The first 30 students to register can attend the workshop on Thursday, November 3rd during AP in F-105. 

Free menstrual products and other updates from Matthew

Coordinator of Social Justice Matthew and the Social Justice Committee are excited to announce that pads and tampons will be available for free in five washrooms: A-100, A-300 gender neutral bathroom, D-200, G-200, and the gym locker room. All products are biodegradable!

To fulfill his promise of continuous indigenous representation at the College, Matthew has also contacted indigenous performers. Marianopolis students can expect shows throughout the year.

Intercollegiate Film Contest

Several francophone Colleges are hosting a film competition. Coordinator of External Affairs Cindy invites all interested Marianopolis students to apply on the event’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/484026613659133?ref=newsfeed. To participate, students will have to submit a two-minute francophone film on a specific given theme. The winners of the contest will receive prizes totalling up to $2,000 in grants and film equipment rental. More information will be posted Tuesday on MSU’s Instagram page.