DEAR NORTHWESTERN,We arrived on campus four years ago as doe-eyed freshmen in awe of the incredible intelligence and drive embodied in our peers. We were nervous, excited and completely unaware of what lay before us. A lot has changed since then, but after four years, we remain humbled each and every day by our fellow Wildcats.

When we ran for office, we made it our goal to make ASG relevant for every student who When we ran for office, we made it our goal to make ASG relevant for every student who marches through the arch. Inside, you will find a summary of the hard work that ASG has done over the past year. Whether you are graduating this year or not, we sincerely hope that you have had the opportunity to take advantage of an ASG service, attend an ASG event, or benefit from improvements to our community driven by the hard work of nearly 200 of your peers in your student government.

From the Deering Days BBQ to multiple housing fairs and food truck festivals to hundreds of From the Deering Days BBQ to multiple housing fairs and food truck festivals to hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements for our on-campus residences, our peers in ASG have accomplished a tremendous amount over the past year. We hope this document serves not only to inform our community but also as our way of saying thank you for their countless hours of work.

The diverse passions of our student body are the driving force behind our University. We The diverse passions of our student body are the driving force behind our University. We remain in awe of how much we can accomplish when we work together, united as one Wildcat family. It has truly been the opportunity of a lifetime to represent you over the past year. Until next time… Go ‘Cats!

VICTOR SHAOFORMER ASG PRESIDENT

BRAD STEWARTFORMER ASG EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

2012-2013 HAPPENINGS

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NEW TRADITIONS

DEERING DAYS BBQA new Wildcat Welcome tradition that brings various organizations across campus together on Deering

Meadow to showcase student talent and build community. This year, we partnered with Wildcat

Welcome, Sodexo, IFC, PHA, RHA, RCB, Mayfest, Homecoming, NCA, Quest Scholars, among others.

FOOD TRUCK FESTIVALSMonthly food truck festivals that give 15% of proceeds to groups such as Cats Care, Dance Marathon, Monthly food truck festivals that give 15% of proceeds to groups such as Cats Care, Dance Marathon,

and Spoon Magazine.

NORRIS EXAM RELIEFQuarterly partnership with Norris University Center to provide Reading and Finals week programming

to campus. This year included events such as yoga, meditation sessions, therapy dogs, and keeping Norris

open for 24 hours.

SERVICES & RESOURCES

CAMPUS VOICEEstablished an online platform for

crowdsourcing of ideas, concerns, and wants

open to the Northwestern community.

CATS CAREEstablished an emergency response group Established an emergency response group

within ASG in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Collaborated with Delta Upsilon, Phi Gamma

Delta, Red Cross, and Student Affairs to

fundraise over $1,500 to give to East Coast

organizations.

JOBCATAn online service to connect students with An online service to connect students with

Evanston residents for short-term employment.

HOUSING FAIRA venue for Evanston landlords, businesses, and

Northwestern administrators to interact directly

with students and answer questions about living

on and off campus.

BOOKSWAPRelaunched BookSwap to offer students a Relaunched BookSwap to offer students a

marketplace to buy and sell books.

THERAPY DOGSPartnership with CAPS and Happiness Club to

bring dogs to campus before Finals Week.

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STUDENT LIFE & ACADEMIC INITIATIVES

10K INITIATIVEReceived nearly 500 idea submissions, eventually selecting outdoor community spaces in a campus-wide poll.

CATALYST WORKGROUPSuccessfully negotiated student representation Successfully negotiated student representation on the working group tasked with implementing the University Strategic Plan.

DIGITAL PACKAGE NOTIFICATIONSLobbied for the elimination of paper Lobbied for the elimination of paper notifications for packages, and the adoption of an notification system that emails students when a package is ready for pickup.

ZUMBA ON SOUTH CAMPUSPartnership with NUFitRec to bring Zumba Partnership with NUFitRec to bring Zumba classes to South Campus, after a high demand for these classes were seen.

MLK DAYA day of remembrance for Martin Luther King A day of remembrance for Martin Luther King Jr., honored with guest speakers and other organized activities, in conjunction with the Center for Student Involvement.

QPR TRAININGTrained all Senators and Exec Board members in Suicide Prevention training.

LIGHT WALKLIGHT WALKSurveyed students to determine locations on and off campus needing improved lighting, and lobbied the administration to add recommended lights.

BLUE LIGHT EVALUATIONWorked with ISBE to survey students regarding the need for additional blue lights on and off campus.

ONLINE WORK ORDER REPORTING SYSTEMLobbied for the implementation of a new system Lobbied for the implementation of a new system that allows students to report their own work orders.

FACULTY HONOR ROLLAn event honoring faculty members across campus, as nominated by students at-large.

FACULTY-STUDENT INTERACTION GRANTSFully piloted allocation of $6,000 for Fully piloted allocation of $6,000 for interactions between students and faculty.

TEXTBOOK AFFORDABILITY INITIATIVECollaborated with other colleges in Illinois to lobby Illinois government officials for more affordable college textbooks.

NON-PARTISAN GUN CONTROLResearched and wrote letters to members of Researched and wrote letters to members of Congress to support productive discussions on the topic of gun control.

PRINTERS IN RESIDENCESWorked with Residential Services to bring “Freenters” to campus for the 2013-2014 academic year.

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SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

CONDUCTING RESEARCH

SAFERIDE IMPROVEMENTSLobbied for a new SafeRide assistant, who was

recently hired.

SHUTTLE IMPROVEMENTSAdded stops at Park Evanston and Elder

Residential Community.

SOCIAL INEQUALITIES AND DIVERSITIES ACADEMIC PROPOSALWorked over the past year in response to

student concern and worked with stakeholders

across the university to develop a proposal

RESPECTNU AND BIAS RESPONSE POLICYCollaborated with administrators to help set up Collaborated with administrators to help set up

these services and policies

FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENTCollaborated with other students and

organizations across campus to lobby the

administration to divest the endowment from

fossil fuels.

SUSTAINABILITY FUND AND COUNCILLobbied and drafted the bylaws for a Lobbied and drafted the bylaws for a

sustainability fund to sponsor projects and

programming across campus. $50,000 was

approved for the 2013-2014 year.

SUSTAINABILITY INITATIVESExploring areas such as biofuels for shuttles, Exploring areas such as biofuels for shuttles,

CarrotMob for Evanston, expanded plastic bag

recycling, and a carbon market.

LOW-FLOW SHOWERHEAD AND TIMER DISTRIBUTIONPartnered with Axe Sustainability to receive and

distribute hundreds of low-flow showerheads

and shower timers.

SUSTAINABLE EVENTS CONSULTING TEAMCoordinated efforts of the Deering Days BBQ to Coordinated efforts of the Deering Days BBQ to

make it Northwestern’s first waste-free event.

Also partnered with Dance Marathon to make

DM ’13 carbon neutral.

ALCOHOL POLICY AND CULTURECollaboration with IFC, PHA, RHA, RCB, and

SSDP to research and recommend changes on

Northwestern’s alcohol policy and culture.

GENDER-NEUTRAL FACILITIESCollaborated with Rainbow Alliance to research Collaborated with Rainbow Alliance to research

and recommend next steps for increasing the

amount of gender-neutral

facilities on campus, particularly in the Norris

University Center and Main Library.

UPPERCLASSMEN MEAL PLAN OPTIONSWorked with CASE to evaluate potential meal

plan reform in regards to upperclassmen

options.

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COMMUNITY RELATIONS

STUDENT GROUP SUPPORT

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GRANTAwarded $500 to Arts in the Community, NU Emerge, and SEED’s Elementary Environmental Education Initiative.

NU VOTES AND VOTE EVANSTON PARTNERSHIPSEngaged the Northwestern community to vote in Engaged the Northwestern community to vote in the national elections, as well as the local Evanston elections.

RENUVATIONAn organized cleanup of various areas in Evanston on the day after Dillo Day.

BIG BITE NIGHTAn event in Evanston that allows students to sample foods from Evanston restaurants for free. Partnership with Downtown Evanston.

EVA JEFFERSON DAYA day of activities honoring Eva Jefferson, an NU A day of activities honoring Eva Jefferson, an NU alumna and civil rights activist, where NU students mentor kids from local-area schools.

STUDENT GROUP FUNDINGAn allocation of almost 1.2 million dollars towards student groups for student programming on campus.

FALL ACTIVITIES FAIRHosted the largest activities fair in NU history, Hosted the largest activities fair in NU history, with nearly 300 booths and over 1,000 attendees. Collaboration with the Center for Student Involvement.

WINTER ACTIVITIES FAIRAn opportunity for student groups to feature An opportunity for student groups to feature their organizations, and for students to get involved with student groups on campus.

SAFC CHANGESRecognized Special Olympics as A-status.

SPRING LEADERSHIP TRAININGA training session for all student groups with A training session for all student groups with regards to SOFO policies, ASG policies, interactions with the Center for Student Involvement, and other important information necessary to leading a student group at Northwestern. Partnership with Center for Student Involvement.

STUDENT GROUPS COMMITTEE STUDENT GROUPS COMMITTEE RESTRUCTURINGFormed three sub-committees to assist student Formed three sub-committees to assist student groups more effectively: Events Planning, Funding, Logistics and Transitions, and established a New Student Groups Committee to specifically assist current and potential T-Status groups.

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ADMINISTRATIVE & TRUSTEE ENGAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES

DISTINGUISHED SECONDARY TEACHING AWARDSAn award honoring 5 distinguished high school teachers that had particularly strong impacts on this year’s graduating class, based on nominations and interviews.

INTERVIEWS FOR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR INTERVIEWS FOR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NORRIS POSITIONServed as the student voice in the interviews for candidates for the Executive Director of Norris University Center.

INTERVIEWS FOR THE DEAN OF STUDENTS POSITIONServed as the student voice in the interviews for candidates for the Dean of Students position.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES PRESENTATIONThree meetings with the Student Life Committee Three meetings with the Student Life Committee of the Board of Trustees to discuss relevant issues on campus.

STUDENT APPOINTMENTS TO UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES A process of appointing interested students to a variety of administrative committees.

- Parking and Traffic Committee

- Classroom Committee

- Course and Teacher Evaluation (CTEC) Program Advisory Committee

- University Hearing and Appeals System (UHAS) - University Hearing and Appeals System (UHAS) and Sexual Assault Hearing and Appeals System (SAHAS) - Committee on Athletics and Recreation

- NUIT-ASG Committee

- Campus Coalition on Mental Health

- University Library Committee- University Library Committee

- Sustainability Working Action Group

- MLK Day Planning Committee

- Campus Coalition on Sexual Violence

- Catalyst Workgroup

- One Book One Northwestern Selection Committee - One Book One Northwestern Steering Committee

- Lakeside Athletic Complex Building Committee- Lakeside Athletic Complex Building Committee

- Norris Needs Assessment Executive Committee - NUPD Advisory Board

- Campus Safety and Prevention Committee

- NU Votes Leadership Council

6

ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

ONGOING INITIATIVES

CHIEF OF STAFFCentralized recruitment and human resources in one dedicated position.

OPERATIONS COMMITTEEAudited Senate and committees to identify areas and initiatives for improvement.

PARLIAMENTARY BODYPARLIAMENTARY BODYEliminated the Clerk position and rolled up responsibilities to Parliamentarian. Elevated Caucus Whips to Parliamentary Body.

FINANCIAL STRATEGYEliminated the Treasurer position and rolled up responsibilities to Executive Vice President. Streamlined the budget-setting process.

STUDENT LIFE DIRECTORSEstablished positions for residential life, campus Established positions for residential life, campus safety, dining, and transportation.

STUDENT LIFE ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTSEstablished Associate Vice Presidents for Diversity and Inclusion and Sustainability, each with their own committee within the Student Life Department.

NEW STUDENT CENTER INITIATIVEAn initiative to raise awareness for a new student center on campus, with the goal of creating a more functional student center and addressing the constant demand for a greater sense of community.

ACCOUNTING COURSESACCOUNTING COURSESA push to create more accounting courses to address the needs of students across all majors who would like a broader base knowledge of accounting.

ENHANCEMENT OF THE UNOFFICIAL STUDENT GUIDEAdding and editing content to the Unofficial Adding and editing content to the Unofficial Student Guide to serve as an introduction to campus for incoming students.

NEW ASG WEBSITECreating a brand new online resource for students to learn about and get involved in ASG’s projects and services, and providing an online forum for student feedback.

THREE-UNRELATED ORDINANCE REFORMWorking with administrators, city officials, and Working with administrators, city officials, and landlords to better understand the Evanston ordinance restricting occupancy, and voicing student concerns over the ordinance.