About CORe

The Council of Olin Representatives (CORe) is a student-elected, student-led body that serves the students of Olin College and represents them to other parties. Olin’s student government is unique in the strong ties it has to the College’s governance structure, a high level and variety of representation, responsiveness to student initiatives, and a central role as a hub of information relating to the student body.

The preamble to CORe’s constitution:

We, the students of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, establish this Constitution to empower the student government to actively represent the interests and fulfill the changing needs of the Olin Student Body.

Responsibilities of CORe

CORe’s responsibilities within the Olin Community include:

• Representing the Student Body to the Olin Community and beyond,
• Overseeing the recognition and funding of Student Clubs and Organizations, and
• Providing for the general welfare of the student body.

Structure

The President is ultimately responsible for all functions of CORe and is the primary representative of the student body to the Board of Trustees, the President’s Advisory Council, and the outside community.

The other members of the Executive Board work directly with the President and include the Vice President of Student Initiatives, the Vice President of Campus Life, the Vice President of Finance and Records, and the Vice President of Communications.

The Vice President of Student Initiatives is responsible for filling and coordinating the working groups within the General Assembly. These working groups, each created with a charge to address a specific issue, will also include members of the Olin Community that are not part of CORe. The Vice President of Student Initiatives is also a resource and contact to CORe for student representatives to committees in the Olin Community.

The Vice President of Campus Life is the chair of the Caucus of Clubs and Organizations (CCO) and manages the Student Activities Committee (SAC) Chair and the Residence Hall Life Representative. While not part of the General Assembly, the CCO is an integral part of the budgeting process, and may also meet to resolve other inter-club issues without involving the rest of CORe. SAC plans campus-wide activities, is funded by CORe, and anyone interested may participate, regardless of whether or not they are on CORe. The Orientation Committee and Resident Resources (R2s) are also considered “interested parties” in their relationship to CORe.

The Vice President of Finance & Records is be responsible for keeping track of the budget, assisting clubs and organizations in working with financial services, and taking minutes at meetings.

The Vice President of Communication handles CORe’s correspondence – including displays around campus and the CORe website – and helps clubs and student activities promote their activities.

The General Assembly is composed of the Executive Board, the Student Activities Chair, the Residence Life Representative, the Honor Board Representative, Class Reps (two per class), and Area Reps (about one per floor). These representatives vote and serve on working groups.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I get involved in CORe?
2. How do I serve on a working group or committee?
3. What is the Res Life Representative? Is CORe responsible for the R2 program?
4. How do I start a club?
5. What is CORe's voting system?
6. How do I get CORe to address an issue?
7. How many positions can I hold in what organizations?
8. What is the ambassadorship position?
9. How can I get funding for my club?
10. Where does my Student Activities Fee go?

Q1: I want to get involved. How can I do this?
A1: A number of opportunities exist for individuals to become involved in CORe. Elections for the Executive Board are held in April of each year. The process specified in Article III, Section 2 ensures everyone equal opportunity to run for office and to establishes a community atmosphere in which the election takes place.

Shortly after the election of the new Executive Board, the President must appoint a Student Activities Chair.

In August, the Resident Resources (R2s) will elect a Residence Life Representative.

Class Representative elections are held in early May; Area and Freshman Class Representatives are elected each September.

Members of the community have the opportunity to be involved as “interested parties” by serving on working groups of the General Assembly.

Q2: How do I serve on a working group or committee?
A2: CORe sometimes solicits members of the student body to serve on working groups of the General Assembly, and is frequently called upon to appoint student representatives to committees in the Olin community.

In either case, the process is the same and starts with a call for volunteers and nominations. In response, you may nominate students you believe would represent you well, and you may apply for the position yourself. Usually, volunteering is as simple as sending a short email describing your interest and qualifications to the Vice President of Student Initiatives, but some committees may require a more extensive application.

The CORe Executive Board reviews the nominees and applications and selects the student representatives.

These representatives are responsible to the student body, and must place the student body's opinions before their own. It is best if student representatives on student committees appear to be personally impartial while strongly advocating the student body's general opinion, even when it disagrees with their own. The representatives must also make themselves available to the student body so that they may accurately reflect student opinion.

Student representatives must also bring the opinions of the other constituents of the community back to the student body and be prepared to address why a chosen solution might not reflect the view of the students. Student representatives are held accountable to the student body by CORe, whose Executive Board has the power to remove student representatives if they are negligent in their responsibilities, or if they choose to espouse their own views instead of representing students.

Q3: There’s going to be a “Residence Life Representative;” what is this job? Does this mean CORe is responsible for the R2 program?
A3: The Residence Life Representative’s responsibility is to make sure that the Office of Student Life, particularly the Orientation Committee and Resident Resources, has a direct link to CORe. While CORe will contribute as appropriate, it is not responsible for the R2 and Orientation programs. The Office of Student Life administers these programs.

Q4: I want to start a club. How?
A4: First, please check to make sure that no other club at Olin is already doing the activities you have in mind. If your club’s activities are not already provided, the next step is to get three other students interested and write a mission statement. Then select one of the students to be President and approach the Vice President of Campus Life. The Vice President of Campus Life is your advocate in CORe, and will discuss your proposal with the Executive Board.

If the Executive Board approves your club or organization, it is officially recognized and may request startup funding from the General Assembly. If the Executive Board rejects an idea for a new club or organization, you may appeal before the General Assembly.

If you wish only to participate in a club, without worrying about leading it, you should check BaBOW schools as well to see if you can join an existing club.

Q5: Okay, what’s the deal with CORe’s voting system?
A5: In 1952, mathematical economist Kenneth Arrow proved that there is no consistent method of making a fair choice among three or more candidates. This remarkable result assures us that there is no single election procedure that can always fairly decide the outcome of an election that involves more than two candidates or alternatives. Still, there are a number of voting methods, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

For CORe, we use a system similar to “approval voting,” which is used by the Honor Board and at other institutions. With approval voting, people may cast a vote for every candidate that they would be happy to have serve in office. In CORe elections, we are only filling one or two positions with each round of balloting and need a higher standard than “approval,” so voters should only cast their ballot for the candidate(s) best suited for the position. This could be thought of as “excellence voting” – voting only for candidates that will excel in office.

Q6: I have an issue I would like CORe to address; how do I do this?
A6: CORe provides students with a number of ways to express their concerns and have them addressed.

For general issues, your first option is to bring it to your Class Representative. If the issue revolves around dorm life, it should be discussed with your Area Representative and probably your R2 as well so that s/he is also aware. Class and Area Reps are also your first point of contact to CORe.

If the issue is urgent, or the representative does not appear to be responsive, you should direct your issue to the appropriate Vice President (generally, Student Initiatives or Campus Life). The President is also there to listen to you, and all CORe meetings are open meetings (though the President may restrict the discussion at CORe meetings to a predetermined agenda).

Office hours, set at the discretion of representatives and Executive Board officers, are the best time to talk with members of CORe.

The last resort, if all other efforts to have CORe address your issue fail, is to call for a town meeting as per the procedures in Article VIII, Section 3, of the Constitution.

Q7: How many positions can I hold in what organizations?
A7: The answer to your question really depends on which positions. Other than the Honor Board Rep, no one may concurrently hold a voting position on CORe and a position in the Honor Board. Also, no one may hold more than one voting position in CORe.

Membership in clubs, organizations, the student activities committee, the orientation committee, or a CORe working group does not prevent you from holding a position in CORe. Neither does holding an R2 position. However, any Executive Board members who are also club officers must recuse themselves from the budgeting process.

We urge people to carefully consider how many positions of responsibility they want to hold. Olin’s curriculum will require 48-51 hours of your time each week, and that is not including Passionate Pursuits. Out of respect and consideration for your fellow students, it is important that you do not overburden yourself and become ineffective in office.

Q8: What exactly is this “ambassadorship” position?
A8: We see the ambassadors to Babson, Brandeis, and Wellesley as the anchors of the social aspect of BaBOW.

This position will develop as BaBOW schools grow closer and cross registration increases. Currently, ambassadors are responsible for communicating information about clubs and activities available at the other schools to the Olin student body, and for providing information about Olin’s clubs and activities to the other student governments.

Sometimes the ambassadors work directly with the other colleges’ student governments, at other times they help connect student organizations on different campuses.

In time, the student governments of BaBOW schools may work together to plan events or work with the colleges’ administrations to pursue common goals.

Q9: I’ve just been elected President of my club. How do I get funding for the year?
A9: Ten days after the Executive Board election, the new Executive Board allocates funds to each of the four broad CORe expense categories.

At this point the clubs and organizations will know how much has been allotted to them, and the CCO will meet to propose a budget allotted to clubs and organizations. You should go into this meeting with an ideal budget proposal for your club and then be prepared to compromise.

The proposal from the CCO is then passed along for approval to the Executive Board, which will usually approve it in its entirety. The Executive Board will most likely approve the entire CCO allocation recommendation, though, if they reject the proposal, it goes back to the CCO for revision or can be appealed to the General Assembly.

Clubs also must submit line items, the specific expenses for the club. These may be submitted at any time during the year, and many clubs find it helpful to submit an annual list of line items at the beginning of the academic year and then request modifications as necessary. You should submit line items to the Executive Board; if the Executive Board rejects the line items, you may revise and resubmit them, or appeal the decision to the General Assembly. Additionally, the Executive Board is obligated to spend conservatively, since there is no way to recover funds once spent, so if a line item is controversial, they may choose to pass consideration of it to the General Assembly.

Q10: Where does my student activities fee go?
A10: CORe receives the money collected through the student activities fee, as well as an institutional commitment. This money is then distributed among three expense categories: CORe operating expenses, Clubs and Organizations, and the Student Activities Committee. CORe also has the option of releasing some of its funds to the R2s.

For reference, the Academic Year 2003-2004 budget is shown below.

Academic Year 2003-2004 Budget Breakdown