The college’s senate met on Nov. 17 to discuss and present various issues on campus.

• Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Budget – Matthew McManness, vice president of finance, shared the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Budget-to-Actual Variance Report. “We have over a million dollars more in our operating budget this year,” he said. This increase can be attributed to the larger freshman class, which is bringing in additional revenue for the college.

• Kelly Commons Budget – The Kelly Commons building has reached $47,689,601 on project expenditures. The target spending on the building was $48,061,523, which means the project has stayed on track and the college has not exceeded the budgeted expenditures on the building. Currently, MC only has $30,726,636 in cash receipts for the project.

• Mapworks – William Clyde, college provost, presented on a report from the Educational Affairs Committee and discussed Mapworks, a new system that will “put all our conversations together,” he said. Mapworks is an online program that emphasizes student retention and success and is available to faculty and the freshman class this year. Next fall, the system will be rolled out for all undergraduate classes.

• Designated smoking areas – The senate passed a motion to approve the Campus Smoking Policy proposed by the Campus Life Committee, with the exception that the area below Founders Bridge be removed from the proposal. This decision creates designated smoking areas on campus and replaces the previous policy of smoking being allowed a certain distance away from building entrances. “That means that once the policy is implemented–probably Fall 2016–smoking will not be allowed anywhere on campus except the designated areas,” Matthew Jura said. The proposal is open to view by all students on the senate’s Moodle page.