Attendance Present: Kevin, Tola, Justin, Kai, Sean, Gao Excused: Veda, Isaac, Ella, Tarini, Emin Unexcused: N/A
- Key Updates
● Credit Overloading Survey received administrative approval and is ready for dissemination. ● Plan established to present survey and action items at the next GBM. ● Upcoming dean meeting (Student Center, in-person) confirmed for Tuesday at 12 PM.
- Credit Overloading Survey
Background ● The committee began drafting this survey in October 2025. It aims to collect student feedback on current credit overloading policies, which differ by school and graduation year. Key differences discussed: ● WSE upperclassmen: up to 23.5 credits (advisor approval required). ● KSAS upperclassmen: up to 21 credits. ● Class of 2028/2029 (WSE): capped relative to previous max credit load. Survey Content Includes: ● Graduation year ● Transfer status ● Primary school (KSAS/WSE) ● Overloading experience ● Awareness of policy ● Perceived academic flexibility ● Research participation and whether research would increase if overload were loosened ● Free response section Rationale for Research Question: ● Committee discussed potential advocacy for increased flexibility specifically for research credits, as this may be more administratively feasible than a broad credit cap increase. Survey Logistics: ● Dissemination Date: February 16 ● Open Period: 2 weeks ● Data Analysis Begins: March 6 ● Plan to create visual summaries and present results at March meeting. Dissemination Strategy: ● Initial email blast ● Instagram promotion ● Consideration of reminder email (discussion on balancing visibility vs. inbox fatigue) Committee agreed to include clear action items in a presentation slide rather than draft a formal bill. Course Transparency Initiative Sean presented a proposal to revive historical course transparency practices once used at Hopkins (1968–2005), including publication of grade distributions. Historical Context: ● Past course guides included detailed grade distributions by course. ● These were student-run and discontinued within the last 20 years. Proposed Tool: A student-built, SGA-backed website that: ● Publishes anonymized aggregate data (e.g., % below a B by course/section). ● Uses student-submitted transcripts processed locally on-device. ● Extracts only structured grade/course data (no full transcript storage). Privacy & Technical Overview: ● Transcript parsing occurs locally via PDF parsing library. ● Only structured JSON data (course, credit count, above/below B) transmitted. ● Raw transcripts are not stored. ● Emails stored separately for access verification. ● Website access gated to verified submitters. Student Interest Data: Sean collected preliminary survey data (n ≈ 24–25 students): ● 92% would use the service. ● 92% believe it would have positive effects. ● 83% would voluntarily submit transcripts. Concerns Raised: ● Privacy and FERPA compliance ● Administrative approval feasibility ● Risk of grade inflation or student comparison stress ● Long-term maintenance and backend stewardship Sean stated intent to: ● Open-source the code ● Pilot for one semester ● Transition maintenance to future CS-affiliated SGA members Committee agreed this proposal will likely require significant GBM discussion time New Initiative Proposal ● Student-built, SGA-backed tool to increase transparency by publishing anonymized grade distribution data (e.g., % of students below a B by course/section), using student-submitted transcripts with privacy protections. Next Steps ● Finalize survey presentation slides for GBM ● Disseminate survey February 16 ● Promote via email and social media ● Analyze survey data beginning March 6 ● Prepare dean-facing materials for March meeting ● Refine Course Transparency proposal before full SGA presentation