Tag: student council

ECOS Strives to Rejuvenate CNM Clubs

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Story by Mark Graven

Staff Reporter

The Executive Council of Students (ECOS) met with Dean of Students Chris Cavazos to discuss the number of members and officers need to charter, or renew, a club at its June 18th on-line meeting. 

Currently, CNM requires that clubs have at least eight active members, with four of them serving as officers.

ECOS members and Cavazos discussed a proposal whereby five active members and two officers would be sufficient to charter a club.

“Five (members) would be great,” said Cavazos, adding that it would represent an effort by the college and ECOS to get students more engaged.

When students are more engaged, they are more successful, he said.

CNM had more than 25 clubs and organizations in operation before the Covid pandemic shut down in-person activities on campus.  Some clubs were able to stay active but others have fallen off over the last year and a half.  

ECOS, which is in charge of allocating funds for the clubs, which comes out of student registration fees, last year decided to allocate funds at 50 percent of previous levels, until the campus returned to normal operations.

The ECOS  board members discussed with Cavozos, the problem of club continuity, and officers being able to know the proper procedures in obtaining, and using, funds.  

Kristofer Gaussoin, CNM director of student conduct and responsibilities and the official advisor to ECOS, noted that the college is working on an on-line training program for club officers, which could help overcome the problem of getting officers to in-person training.

ECOS President Alex Crossland said that at a community college, there can be more frequent turnover among officers, so clubs might need to lean more on faculty advisors to help maintain continuity.

Colin Stapleton, ECOS outreach officer, noted that faculty advisors tend to have a wide range of involvement.

Cavazos said that the role of faculty advisors in maintaining club continuity was a factor to consider in deciding how to proceed.  ECOS is expected to revisit the question at its next meeting. 

ECOS is meeting every other Friday at 2 p.m. during Summer Semester.

Dean Urges ECOS to Advertise Stipend for Serving on Board.

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Story by

Mark Graven

Staff Writer


CMN Dean of Students Chris Cavazos says that the Executive Council of Students should feel free to advertise that a stipend is available to students who serve on the ECOS board. 

ECOS members met with Cavazos at its regular meeting of March 26th to discuss a range of topics, including how to increase student participation in ECOS, which is charged with parcelling out funding for a host of student activities with a fund that comes out of registration fees.

Cavazos recommended that ECOS frame the advertisement appropriately, noting that a stipend, like a scholarship, could be used by students “to help pay for their education.”  

ECOS is mandated by its constitution to meet with the Dean of Students, when its membership falls below five students.
Currently, the ECOS Board has three members, as it operates in an “emergency” mode:  Alex Crossland, president, Imane Bahji, vice president, and Colin Stspleton, outreach officer.

The three board members are in line to earn a stipend of up to $1,000 dollars, for the fiscal year, through regular participation in ECOS meetings and activities.  
Cavazos lauded the board for its efforts to improve remote learning at CNM, noting they had, among other things, raised student concerns with President Tracey Hartzler; met with the Faculty Senate; and fashioned a plan, in conjunction with Dean Phil Lister of the School of Math, Science, and Engineering  to improve faculty/student interaction within science and math courses.

“ECOS has been very active,” said Cavazos.  “You have been noticeably active, and we want to keep it going.”

ECOS members had been reluctant to emphasize the monetary aspects of board service over concern that students might join for the wrong reasons.  

But board members were ready to proceed with an advertising program, after Dean Cavazos made his point that the stipends serve an educational purpose.

ECOS Makes Contact with Letter

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Story by

Mark Graven

Staff Writer


The president of the Executive Council of Students (ECOS) Alex Crossland, says he believes that the CNM Administration will respond positively to the ECOS Board’s call for improvements to its remote learning program.
Crossland offered the opinion after the Board’s December 11th meeting– at which it was noted that ECOS had received a response from CNM President Tracy Hartzler to a letter that ECOS had sent out through email the previous week to Hartzler and a half a dozen key people in the administration, calling for reforms to remote learning.
Crossland said he was “encouraged” by Hartzler’s response, but that he did not expect the administration to react precipitously. 
“I believe that our letter was effective, and that the administration is listening to us,” said Crossland, adding that he expected that administrators would give ECOS ideas careful consideration, and not just slap a “bandaid” on the problem. 
He said he is hopeful that the process will result in improved remote learning during the upcoming intercession and the conduct of Spring Semester.
Kristopher Gaussoin, director of student life and discipline at CNM, also the advisor to the ECOS board, said that the ECOS letter has already been taken up at an administrative meeting.  Gaussoin has been urging the board to frame its concerns about remote learning in a constructive manner to get good results with the administration– which he predicted would welcome input from ECOS, the voice of the student body.
Remote learning has been the main topic of discussion for the ECOS board at meetings held over the last two months. The ECOS letter to CNM administrors was drafted by ECOS Vice-President Imane Bahji, and then approved by the full board on December 4th.  
Bahji has consistently criticized the fact that many remote learning classes lack a lecture component, wherein students can ask professors questions in real time, and clarify difficult concepts or processes.  
She has said that there is a danger that when student’s don’t understand, they might quit classes, or even drop out of school.
Crossland said that, in fashioning its letter to the administration, ECOS got input from students through conversations, and through a Suggestion Box, set up on its CNM web page.  The Board also considered information from surveys conducted by CNM that included questions about remote learning.
CNM turned to a largely remote learning format during Spring Semester, after the onset of Covid-19 cases in New Mexico,  although some classs were allowed to meet on campus during the fall.
Linda Martin, a representative of CNM’s Office of Data Strategy, appeared at Friday’s meeting.  She said that the most recent information on student enrollment and retention is still being processed, so that the statistical picture of the impact of remote learning on enrollment numbers and finances is still unclear.
Crossland said that ECOS would not immediately release for publication the letter to the administration, or the administration’s response, although it might do so at a later date.  Such an approach could be more productive in the short run, he said.

ECOS Frustrated by Lack of Communication with Students

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Story by

Mark Graven

Staff Reporter
As the CNM Executive Council of Students (ECOS) delayed its project of submitting a letter to the college administration regarding concerns about remote learning, ECOS members voiced complaints about their inability to communicate with fellow students.
ECOS President Alex Crossland said, at a remotely attended meeting on Friday, October 16th, that he sensed that many students  feel “isolated,” but that is hard to substantiate because of a lack of communication.

Board Vice-president Imane Bahji said she knows she is frustrated by remote learning, and the difficulty in having “give and take” with professors,
“I go through my weekly cry sessions,”  said Bahji, adding,  “I might have to finish my degree, never sitting in another classroom.”
Bahji suggested that ECOS should hold an on-line event where students “can vent”  on remote learning, if they want.  
No students from the student body at large attended Fridays ECOS meeting.  The meeting are advertised on  ECOS CNM web page, which provide the remote connection to the meetings.  

ECOS does have a Suggestion Box on their CNM page, set up by ECOS Outreach Officer Colin Stapleton, although this has been rarely used.  ECOS said it did receive one suggestion, in the week prior to last Friday meeting.
Stapleton has emphasized that suggestions can be made anonymously.
ECOS has been discussing ways that it can interact with students, and the many student clubs it funds, in one place, but has yet to settle on a solution. 
ECOS members decided to give themselves to the “end of October” to finish their letter to the administration.

Crossland said it may be difficult to have an impact on remote learning for the current semester, but that the letter could help with the Spring term.

Student Council Elections

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By Hilary Broman, Staff Reporter

Elections for nine open positions in the Executive Council of students will be held on Friday September 30, said Tisha Hudetz ECOS president.

The open positions include: budget officer, administrative officer, satellite representatives for Montoya, South Valley and other campuses and 4 council members, Hudetz said.

Students interested in joining the council can fill out an application form at the dean of student’s office or the student activities office on main campus, Hudetz said.

The commitment for all ECOS members is a 2-year term, she said.

The council are looking for students who are able to represent the diverse nature of the CNM student body, Hudetz said.

The requirements to become a member of the council are as follows: the willingness to be an active student representing on at least one CNM standing committee; have some degree of leadership experience including leadership on the job, volunteer experience, or involvement with other student activities; the willingness to be introduced to the student body in the form of an article written in the CNM Chronicle and the ability to maintain a 2.5 GPA minimum, Hudetz explained.

“As representatives of the student body, we are held to a high standard. Active participation and serious consideration are key,” Hudetz said.

A committee made up of one student from the current council, one student who is a member of another CNM student organization, one faculty member and the Dean of Students, Hudetz stated, will choose new council members.

Current council member Tim Turner is in the running for the budget officer position, Hudetz said.

“I am looking forward to what the future will bring,” she said.