The Heights 11/20/2014

EDGE OF GLORY

JUICE-Y

STARTUP SCENE

SPORTS

METRO

SCENE

Jameis Winston & Co. stand in the way of another upset to a top-10 team, B8

Two sophomores are making strides in Boston’s competitive startup scene, A8

A look at how the BC band Juice has grown since winning Battle of the Bands, B1

www.bcheights.com

HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

established

1919

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Vol. XCV, No. 46

Advisors aid fellowship applicants

BC names Lochhead new EVP

BY JULIE ORENSTEIN Assoc. News Editor

Former Holy Cross administrator will replace Pat Keating

Editor’s note: This story is the second part of an ongoing series about fellowships advising at Boston College. In most applications for major national fellowships, students are asked to, essentially, plan out their lives. At Boston College, over 20 faculty members serve as coordinators for each specific fellowship, aiding applicants as they work through various portions of the process, particularly the essay questions in which they must discuss their future career goals and plans to use the education or funds they will receive if selected. For adjunct associate professor of political science Paul Christensen—the Fulbright Program advisor for BC—the heavy workload of advising dozens of individualized Fulbright applicants is spread out between him and four other faculty members who serve as advisors. “That helps give us the time we need to advise people in a way that we feel comfortable, because it is a very timeintensive process, as anyone who applies will tell you,” Christensen said. He noted that during the fall semester—when his Fulbright commitment is most intense—his contract provides for a teaching reduction by one class. In recent years, BC has consistently ranked among the top producers of Fulbright grant winners from the U.S., producing 19 winners from 85 applicants in 2013-14. Two years ago, BC produced 21 winners from 73 applicants for the 2012-13 application cycle. “Our success has been a combination of good students and dedicated advisors,” Christensen said. Associate professor of political science Kenji Hayao, who has been advising for the Truman Scholarship for over a decade, does not receive any kind of teaching reduction during the fall semester, and said the balance between his advising work and his teaching responsibilities can be tough. “In the past, it certainly has been almost like another class, because I’m advising, say, a dozen students on their applications, which involves … past activities, leadership, as well as the future, and they have to do a policy proposal as part of that,” he said. “It can be a lot of work.” Hayao said he handles Truman applications mostly without assistance from the University Fellowships Committee (UFC), which oversees some outreach efforts for fellowships and provides support to the coordinators for each individual program. “For the most part, the coordinators are left pretty much to deal with their [fellowships] as they see fit,” he said. “We can ask for help … but we’re free to figure out how we want to shape the process.” He also said that, unlike Christensen, who has a group of Fulbright advisors with whom to share the workload, he advises Truman applicants on his own, with other faculty members acting as informal advisors. In the long term, he said, it would be better if the process changed somewhat to provide more support. “I think we do need a broader support network of people who are involved,” Hayao said. “One of the problems of relying heavily on one person is, if I go on leave or something like that, who’s going to take it over? We need to have more of a committee-like structure for some of these things to spread out the workload

See Fellowships, A3

BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor AND

NATHAN MCGUIRE Asst. New Editor

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The UGBC Executive Council met with other members to discuss the fallout surrounding last week’s succession to the EVP position.

After backlash, UGBC leaders reconsider succession legitimacy BY ANDREW SKARAS Heights Editor UGBC President Nanci Fiore-Chettiar, A&S ’15, announced yesterday that the UGBC Executive Council—a group comprised of the president and all of the vice presidents—has decided to seek confirmation from the Student Assembly (SA) for the appointment of Connor Bourff, VP of Student Initiatives and A&S ’15, to the position of UGBC Executive Vice President (EVP), a position from which Chris Marchese, A&S ’15, officially resigned on Sunday. In an open letter to the student body released yesterday, Fiore-Chettiar apologized for failing to follow the Constitutional guidelines for appointing a new EVP when she announced to all of UGBC on Sunday that Bourff would accede to the position, effective immediately. Bourff is now the Executive Vice President-designate, and SA will hold a confirmation vote this Sunday. On Monday evening, the Executive Council met with the SA Leadership Conference—composed of the

six committee chairs, the EVP, the President Pro Tempore of the SA, and the conference leader—to discuss how the Executive Council had handled the decision to appoint Bourff as Marchese’s successor, and whether constitutional considerations should dictate a change in procedure. Several of the committee chairs expressed concern over the constitutionality of the procedure that Fiore-Chettiar and the Executive Council used to select a new EVP. “I went into [the Monday] meeting and I felt that I really needed to vocalize, you know, a little frustration,” said Alison Takahashi, SA Conference Leader and A&S ’15. “I feel like a lot of the [SA] members at the time wished that they had been included in the discussion.” Takahashi said that, although she disapproved of the procedure by which Bourff was chosen, she believed he was the best person for the job. This sentiment was shared by Matt Hugo, Chair of the Policy Development Committee and A&S ’16.

See Succession, A3

Marchese compelled to resign by Office of Student Involvement BY CONNOR FARLEY News Editor After initially stating that he voluntarily resigned from his position as Executive Vice President (EVP) of UGBC, Chris Marchese, A&S ’15, said yesterday that his decision was based on an ultimatum delivered by Director of the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) Gus Burkett to either resign or be forcefully removed from UGBC for conductrelated matters. Despite originally citing “personal reasons” as prompting his decision to vacate the EVP role, Marchese said that OSI imposed the resignation on him following a sanction issued on Oct. 27 that put Marchese on University probation—a sanction he said he believes was unjustly applied. Mark Miceli, associate director of OSI and advisor to UGBC, confirmed that Marhcese was no longer in good standing and had been given the instruction to step down by OSI. “I can say he was no longer in good standing at the University,” Miceli said. “I think the implications are pretty obvious there, because you have to be in good standing to be an executive in UGBC, so I think we sort of said, ‘You can either step out gracefully or we’ll enforce the policy about you having to be in good standing.’” In the section governing the eligibility of a student organization’s president and vice president, the Student Organizations Manual stipulates that he or she must maintain two qualifications: have and maintain a minimum 2.5 grade point average, and remain in “good standing” with the University—which is defined as the avoidance of

academic or disciplinary probation. A subsequent clause in the manual states that “Failure of any executive board member to maintain good standing with the University and the failure of any president or vice-president to maintain a minimum 2.5 grade point average may result in the removal from office.” “So I think [Marchese] mentioned in his resignation [to UGBC] that he was involved in a judicial case, so I can’t talk about that, but you can imagine that, as a result of the judicial case, that he was no longer in good standing,” Miceli said. The OSI learned about Marchese’s conduct case, Miceli said, directly from the Dean of Students’ Office (DOS), as is the standard practice for student conduct cases that could affect a student’s eligibility to lead an organization. He said that the practice is for someone in DOS to contact either Burkett or the advisor of the organization in which the student is a leader. In this case, he said that the DOS followed standard protocol and reached out to Burkett. Burkett declined to confirm that he was contacted by DOS regarding Marchese’s case, on the grounds that he is unable to comment on a student’s information. “Technically, I can’t even confirm from the University’s point whether [Marchese] is in good standing,” Miceli said. “That would be a FERPA violation—that is the law that governs student records.” “I strongly disagreed with the outcome of my hearing because I thought there was no evidence to support what the conduct officer had found me responsible for, and when I had subsequent meetings about my hearing,

See Marchese, A3

On Monday, the University announced that Michael J. Lochhead, BC ’93 and CGSOM ’99, will succeed Patrick J. Keating as executive vice president (EVP). The current Vice President for Administration and Finance and Treasurer of the College of the Holy Cross, Lochhead’s succession as EVP follows Keating’s decision to retire from the University after serving as EVP since 2001. Lochhead graduated from Boston College with a degree in accounting, and he subsequently obtained an MBA from the Carroll School of Management in 1999. Within his new role, Lochhead will oversee the University’s strategic and planning efforts, according to the Office of News and Public Affairs (ONPA). Lochhead brings a diverse resume of experience in finance and higher education. He began his career in higher education at BC as a senior financial analyst in the controller’s office in 1995, and then he worked at Holy Cross for 10 years as the chief financial officer and treasurer. According to ONPA’s online press release, Lochhead worked with the university to develop strategic financial initiatives as a manager for the Higher Education Consulting Practice at Arthur Andersen LLP, a Chicagobased accounting firm. “I am delighted that Mike Lochhead will be our new executive vice president,” said University President William P. Leahy, S.J., in the press release. “He has broad experience in finance and administration, knows Boston College and Jesuit higher education well, and is passionate about our mission.” Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley echoed Leahy’s praise of Lochhead in the press release, calling him a natural leader and someone who is committed “to strengthening Boston College.” The EVP is responsible for working with the President and the Board of Trustees to oversee the University’s strategic and campus planning efforts. Lochhead, a father of four daughters and whose wife Christina graduated from BC as well, told ONPA that he is honored to return to BC. “Boston College has had a profound impact on my intellectual, spiritual, and professional development,” he said in the press release. “I have always envisioned returning to BC in a leadership capacity and have geared my professional development over the years to best prepare me for this opportunity.” Lochhead will begin his term as EVP on Feb. 9. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Lochhead, a double Eagle and former vice president at Holy Cross, will begin his new position as EVP on Feb. 9.