Comerford discusses debate plans at first Otterbein University Senate meeting

Comerford also swore in new committee members and proposed two academic calendars

By Will Day | Published 09/25/2019 1:37pm

In the first Otterbein University Senate meeting of the academic year, members discussed the upcoming Democratic debate and the new academic calendars. 

The Senate also swore in new committee members and approved the draft goals of the strategic plan for the Campus Center renovations. 

This meeting marked an exciting start to learning about government for new student Senator and freshman philosophy major Dustin Harter.  

Harter said, “I’m a very Democratic person. I like bringing people together and it’s a great way to learn about how government works.” 

Otterbein President John Comerford spoke in detail about the upcoming Democratic debate, emphasizing that he doesn’t know the exact details of what is coming. Comerford did tell the Senate that there is an in-house committee that will be working with CNN and the Democratic National Convention on setup for the debate. 

Comerford also praised the local community for being able to host an event of this size and impact. 

Comerford said, “This is a win for Otterbein, a win for Westerville, a win for Ohio.” 

The meeting also discussed that a new system called ‘Handshake’ will replace the job search board ‘Cardinal Careers.’ 

For Executive Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development Ryan Brechbill, this change in services will be welcome for users. 

Brechbill said, “We switched from Cardinal Careers to Handshake for a variety of reasons. Mainly, we found that Handshake was more user friendly. The other main reason is that it expands nationwide opportunities for our students.” 

According to Brechbill, there are over 800 institutions that use Handshake across the U.S. The website boasts “access to all types of companies, from Fortune 500 to startups.” 

David Schneider, the university registrar, laid out two possible academic calendars for the upcoming years. The planning committee will be working on solidifying these calendars before the next Senate meeting. 

The first plan involves making fewer changes, with the 15th week directly following Thanksgiving break. Spring semester would start on the second Monday of January. 

The second plan would implement a ‘reading day’ on the Wednesday of the 15th week and start finals on the Thursday of that week. Class length would increase to adjust for the loss of classes. 

Junior psychology major Frandie Francique said, “Between the two, I prefer the first option.” She went on to explain that the second option seemed confusing with all the changes to the finals schedule.