On Sunday, the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) will release its Annual Mid-Year Report, a document that highlights the accomplishments and progress of the Assembly’s various committees. The report touches upon everything from the WSA’s new office in Usdan to its new Organization and External Affairs Committee.

Last semester, the WSA worked closely with the University’s new president, Michael Roth, welcoming him to the community and working with him on initiatives such as the President’s Climate Commitment.

“We’ve developed a very good relationship with Roth,” said WSA President Matt Ball ’08. “I think that we’ve done a good job, in some ways, with creating continuity. The people on the WSA were here last year. In my opinion, we’ve been instrumental in conveying the general mood of Wesleyan to new administrators.”

The WSA began the year by addressing worker issues between new food service provider Bon Appétit and the dining workers’ union. Among the grievances aired were that non-union workers were being employed by Advanced Fresh Concepts (AFC), the franchise providing sushi in the Café at Usdan. Raquel Adorno and Sue Silvestro, representing the union, claimed that the presence of these workers undermined the strength of the union and violated Bon Appétit’s contract with the union.

Bon Appétit’s Regional District Manager Delmar Crim contacted AFC to inquire into unionizing the workers, but there has been no indication that they will join.

In addition to engaging Bon Appétit on labor issues, Chair of the Finances and Facilities Committee (FiFaC) Becky Weiss ’10, who also co-chairs the Dining Committee, pushed for decreased prices and better food for students. The committee’s achievements include successfully lowering prices in Usdan and changing the Marketplace into an all-you-care-to-eat venue. The lowered prices have already had an effect, with the student body spending $12,000 less on additional points this semester than it did one year ago.

“Considering the transition from Davenport and MoCon to Usdan, I think that we handled it as well as we could have,” Ball said. “There have been a lot of problems and it’s been pretty overwhelming, so I think the progress we’ve made has been commendable.”

The Educational Policy Committee (EPC), led by Sam Ruth ’08, pursued the implementation of online course evaluations. The evaluations received some resistance from untenured faculty, fearing that students would be more negative in the online evaluations, which are an integral part of tenure decisions. As a compromise, the evaluations will not go into effect for untenured faculty.

The EPC also signed off on the Summer Language Institute, approving a two-year trial period of the program.

The Student Affairs Committee (SAC) tackled issues of importance to the undergrads on campus, including Fire Safety inspection policies. The report emphasized that closets and drawers cannot be searched by Physical Plant or Fire Safety. An appeals process has been put into place for students who want to contest received fines. Fire Safety must also send students an e-mail about violations and return confiscated items at the end of the school year, with the exception of candles and incense.

According to the mid-year report, WestCo’s popularity fell 25 percent this year, leading the SAC to re-evaluate the program. After a meeting between SAC Chair Michael Pernick ’10 and the residents of WestCo, a decision was reached to continue the program in its current state.

In addition to the WestCo buildings, the committee also considered changing two of the Nicolson units to all-sophomore housing to increase sophomore access to Foss Hill. This proposal was also voted down, though it will remain an option in future years.

The SAC also revised the Political Speakers Policy and was instrumental in the hiring of a new part-time therapist for the Office of Behavioral Health.

The newly-created Organization and External Affairs Committee (OEAC) combined two previously existing committees, the Independent Projects Committee and the Coordinating Committee. Most recently, the OEAC decided to cut back the New York Times Readership Program to distributing 600 papers each day.

At the officer level, WSA Vice President Emily Malkin ’08 and Coordinator Izaak Orlansky ’08 have pursued initiatives leading to greater student access to the WSA, greater news coverage, canvassing in dorms and the publishing of “Wesleyan on Stack,” a blog organized by Saul Carlin ’09.

Ball, a president always pushing for progress, has high hopes for this coming semester.

“I think that our biggest goal is to do more outreach, to get more students involved, and to make it so that if students want to accomplish something at Wesleyan, they would do so through the WSA,” he said.