Ivy Council

 
Ivy Policy Conference 2008 PDF Print E-mail

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SATURDAY OCTOBER 11, 2008

URIS HALL, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY

 

Since the founding of the Ivy Council in 1993, delegates from the Ivy League schools have gathered on one of the eight campuses for a weekend of information exchange and brainstorming every fall and spring semester. Conference location is based on a rotating schedule. Typically, attendees are from their schools’ student governments.

The Ivy Council's Ivy Policy Colloquia (IPC) are important learning experiences for all who attend. Each student leader engages with his or her peers from the other campuses, sharing ideas, debating issues, learning best practices, and tackling challenges. In the past, the colloquia catered solely to student government leaders and student government issues. In Fall 2008, however, the Ivy Council expanded the program and included prominent cultural organizations and LGBT organizations from across the League. The 2008 IPC featured two streams of programming, one for student government leaders and one for student group leaders. Both streams of programming facilitated cross-collaboration and discourse between campus leaders. Topics follow:

Student Government Topics of Discussion Cultural and LGBT Student Group Topics of Discussion

 

1. Revisiting the Drinking Age
This session evaluated Ivy-wide alcohol abuse policies in light of the more recent national debate concerning the drinking age and its effect on campuses throughout the country.

2. Environmental Sustainability
Environmental sustainability has become a growing concern for both students and administrators on campuses around the world. In this session, students reviewed policies enacted across the Ivy League and discussed future steps that could be taken to increase awareness of the issue.

3. Intellectual Property in the Ivy League and the Free Exchange of Information
Does the public have a right to access coursework submitted by students? This session examined privacy and intellectual property in this context by reviewing different policies throughout the Ivy League.

4. Administrative Transparency and Accountability
Are Ivy League administrators responsive to student inquiries? What hinders and helps the development of collaborative relationships between student government leaders and university administrators? This session examined these issues and their relevance to other issues currently being debating by Ivy League student governments.

5. School Spirit and School Social Functions
Ivy League students have long been known for their academic ability, but turnout at athletic and other school-wide events has been a cause for concern at several Ivy League universities. How can students motivate each other to attend athletic and other social events, and does student government have a role to play in the cultivation of school pride?

1. Organization Structure & Internal Best Practices

Student groups presented the structure, operations, accomplishments and challenges, objectives, and history of their organization. In exchanging information, participants identified best practices for internal operations including board dynamics and relationships with administrators.

2. Campus Issues

Student groups discussed specific issues that the organization and its members face on campus. Groups interacted with their direct counterparts as well as the other cultural and LGBT groups to find common issues and shared experiences and ideas on these issues.

3. Communication on Campus

This session focused on how each organization maneuvers campus bureaucracy to communicate and work with administrators, other student organizations, and the student government.

4. External Best Practices

As student groups of renowned universities, many also engage the world outside the campus. This session facilitated a conversation about ways in which groups could be more active in the local, national, and global community. Additionally, groups discussed how they reach out to external organizations for sponsorships and partnerships.

5. Collaboration Across the League

How do we take the interactions sparked at this conference to the next level and maintain communication and engagement throughout the year? What can several groups join together to achieve? How can the Ivy Council or any other organization help facilitate this?

 

IPC 2008 REPORTS

 

Student GOV'T Session Report Student GROUP Session Report
Download Here Download Here

 

 

 
 
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