Mission
The Student Steering Committee's mission is two-fold: (1) to represent student perspectives and interests to the faculty (e.g., on matters of policy and curriculum, or during the faculty hiring process), and (2) to pioneer community-building efforts amongst our students, staff, and faculty (e.g., by running events, creating shared resources for students, or English-ifying Johnson Chapel).
Resources
To that end, the Student Steering Committee gets three kinds of support: (1) a dedicated group of faculty who serve as liaisons to the committee, providing advice and support as needed, (2) a dedicated budget to run events and pursue new initiatives, and (3) support from department staff, who have, for instance, compiled a calendar of initiatives pursued and events run by committees past.
Committee initiatives include:
- Meeting with faculty about three times a semester
- Organizing events like the English Department Open House
- Representing the department at the annual Major Fair
- Putting together the monthly English Department newsletter
Please note that you need not be a declared English major in order to serve on this committee.
If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact smcardle@amherst.edu.