SENATE MEETING MINUTES
32nd LEGISLATION
SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
Meeting called at 8:49 pm
I. Call to Order
Roll Call
II. Approval of Agenda
A. President Gabriel motions to approve the minutes. Senator O’Grady so moved.
B. President Gabriel motions to amend the agenda. Senator O’Grady so moved. President Gabriel adds to her agenda guest speaker Kent McGowan Director of Financial Aid. AVP Dann adds Blue Cards wrap-up, AVP Kennedy adds Movie Night and AVP Hassan adds Overview of Senate Agenda. President Gabriel motions to approve the agenda. AVP Yazicilar so moved.
III. President Gabriel Report:
A. I would like to recognize Kent McGowan to give a brief overview of Financial Aid and the Scholarship Office. Mr. McGowan discusses the closure of the Financial Aid office. Mr. McGowan states that they found with Banner there is not a lot of paper work because things are done through e-mail. There is not a lot of paperwork for secretaries to do but at the same time there is no decrease in the amount of customer service we needed to do. The Scholarship office is not a separate budgetary entity and they were part of my staff. When I spoke with the scholarship coordinator she would tell me she was behind on work because they didn’t have the resources to get the work done. I had six secretaries with not enough work to do but then I had another one with too much work to do. We had a few retirees so now we have a pool of secretaries that do the work. Another thing is that there was a complaint filed by a employee that by having the back door unlocked we were in violation of the law. By closing the back door down and doing some reorganization we solved several problems at once. I got the extra federal support for the scholarship function I have enough work for the other ladies and we resolved the complaint about the back door. There have been no changes in the services we provide. Everything we were doing before are still being done except now you come to the front counter when you want to speak to the scholarship office and set up an appointment. Floor is open for questions. AVP Dann asks has this has been successful. Mr. McGowan states yes. Senator Hamilton asks why the student body was not aware of the scholarship office closing. Mr. McGowan states because we didn’t want to advertise the office was closed because that would imply that the service was no longer available. We did not want people to get the message that the service was no longer offered because if you come to the office the service is still being provided. AVP Kennedy states you have to wait in line at the Financial office to meet with the person at the Financial Aid Office. Mr. McGowan states that is one option the other option is you can call the Financial Aid office to make an appointment. Treasurer Dobney asks what steps were taken to notify the students that the office was closing or the lack of office. Mr. McGowan states no mass communication was taken. Treasurer Dobney states that she thinks it was inappropriate to not make the students aware of this. President Gabriel asks with the use of the new banner system, wouldn’t students be able to find out about scholarships as they would about their Aid. Mr. McGowan states that the academic history was just loaded in and converted they haven’t allowed us to put forward a request for customization yet. AVP Kennedy asks how frequently the scholarship website is updated because when I went on it there were scholarships from 2006. Mr. McGowan states that is one of the reasons why I thought we needed to get more help because that was the part they were falling behind on. What will happen right now two months in advance of the dead line date for scholarships the secretary will go n and review the scholarships. President Gabriel states if anyone has any more questions they can go and see Mr. McGowan.
B. Homecoming – I would like to thank everyone who participated in Homecoming it was really exciting. We participated in the Pep Rally, handed out chicken dinners, gave away t-shirts, the banner competition, carnival and shopping cart parade.
C. USG Conference is this weekend at Whispering Pines Camp. The Organizations will be coming down and this will be an informational meeting. We will be focusing on leadership workshops and time management so that they can program together, work together and advance.
D. Bi-Organizational meeting was cancelled due to Senate training. We’re looking to reschedule this sometime in October we will let you know the date.
E. The New York Times is looking to go online. Students will be able to access the paper online by using your email. There will be a free trial starting in October to see if this is actually going to work for the students.
F. Academic Convocation will be this Thursday during Bengal Pause. If you can attend please do so.
G. Free Practice Exams - the Career Development Center will be giving free graduate practice exams for the GRE, MCAT, LSAT and GMAT. They will be bringing in Kaplan and it will be on October 23rd. If you are interested you have to see me so I can sign you up. Once you get the results you can see where are.
H. Appointments - I would like to nominate Senator Sam Hemingway for the position of Senator Pro Tem. Senator Hemingway is recognized and floor is open for questions. Vote is taken to appoint Senator Sam Hemingway as Senator Pro Tem and passes unanimously. President Gabriel nominates Senator Darryl Hamilton as Rules and Regulations Chair. Senator Hamilton is recognized and floor is open for questions. Vote is taken to appoint Senator Darryl Hamilton as Rules and Regulations Chair and passes 15 yeas, 3 nays and 1 abstention. President Gabriel swears in new Senator Pro Tem Hemingway and Rules & Regulations Chair Hamilton. We will now move forward to five new Senate appointments; will the following people step forward: Tabitha Richardson, Sigourney Weaver, Aisha Davis, Raisa Uwerni and Amanda Bahr. Senator Perez asks how we can have new Senate appointments when we had no Senator Pro Tem. President Gabriel recognizes Senator Pro Tem Hemingway. Senator Pro Tem Hemingway states he reviewed them with Vice President Watson beforehand. President Gabriel states we will do this individually each person will state their name the position you are applying for (Senate) and why. Each nominee replies floor is open for questions. President Gabriel states we will move forward to vote. Senator Hirsch makes a motion to vote on each nominee individually. Vote is taken to vote on each nominee individually and passes unanimously. President Gabriel motions to appoint Tabitha Richardson to the Senator position. Vote is taken and passes unanimously. President Gabriel makes a motion to appoint Sigourney Weaver to the Senator position. Vote is taken and passes unanimously. President Gabriel makes a motion to appoint Amanda Bahr to the Senator position. Vote is taken and passes 10 yeas and 7 nays. President Gabriel makes a motion to appoint Aisha Davis to the Senator position. Vote is taken and passes unanimously. President Gabriel makes a motion to appoint Raisa Umwari to the Senator position. Vote is taken and passes unanimously. President Gabriel motions to appoint Raisa Umwari as the Secretary. Vote is taken and passes unanimously.
I. Grievances - . President Gabriel asks if there are any objections to recognize Chief Justice Zomerfeld, there are no objections. Chief Justice Zomerfeld states he would like to talk about two cases. Case 001: Black Active Minds v. United Students Government. B.A.M’s budget had been frozen because of missed meetings. There was a 2% Budget cut. It was ruled as being fair because B.A.M. missed two homecoming events. Case 002: Mirsky vs USG in regards to the position of the Rules & Regulations Chair not being voted on correctly in the Senate meeting. Both cases were unanimous decisions.
IV. EVP Watson Report:
A. House Rules – the USG House Rules are located on page 31 of the USG Constitution. Please review them so you can be better acquainted with conduct in the Senate meetings.
B. Attendance – just a reminder that attendance is mandatory and will be recorded at the Senate meetings. If you are late you will be charged with a half of absence and another half if you miss the second roll call.
C. Senate training will take place this weekend September 26th – 28th. The bus will be leaving at 6 pm from Grover Cleveland Circle.
V. Treasurer Dobney Report:
A. USG Concert partnership with Verizon - Raheim Devaughn. Make sure you are looking out and telling the students to come out to the concert. Senator Perez asks how much this concert with Verizon is costing USG. Treasurer Dobney states nothing.
VI. Standing Committee Reports
A. AVP Yazicilar Academics Report:
- Study Abroad update - the main goal is to promote International Education Office and programs such as Study Abroad.
- Professional Academic Affairs Committee meeting with committee and Deans in the USG Game Room 105.
- Questions & Comments
B. AVP Dann Report Communications Report:
- Survey Results I had each Senator fill out a survey. It was helpful and I will use it to help us throughout the year.
C. AVP Kennedy Community Affairs Report:
- Dorm Storm - it is election season again. Dorm Storm is when you go to the doors and greet students and try to get them to vote. There is a contest where the school that gets the most students to vote wins a free concert. BSC is in 2nd place right.
D. AVP Hassan Student Life Report:
- Window decorating contest is the next Olympic event it’s called “Into My World”. Organizations will decorate the outside of a window and will be responsible to clean the window after the contest.
- I have pictures of the carnival and of homecoming they will be on the bulletin board by the USG copy room.
- Senate training is this Friday. I will go over the tentative agenda.
VII. Constituent Questions/Announcements
A. EVP Watson states he would like to see the Senators after the meeting to confirm your attendance to the conference.
B. Senator Pro Tem Hemingway states that since there is a Senator Pro Tem committees will be made.
C. Senator Hirsch states that Wilderness Adventures came up to him and asked questions about the no reimbursements policy because they take a lot of trips with gas. Treasurer Dobney states that organizations need to fill out Activity Report Forms two weeks before their event. If they follow their outline and do what they are suppose to do we can work with them.
D . Senator Desimone states that last week I told you about the changes in the library about the printer. Well, there is a really big change. We are getting a black board program where you swipe your card as oppose to sticking them in the card reader and they get stuck. In two weeks they are going to implement the black board program so if you have any money on your printing card you have to use it or it will be erased.
E. Senator Rosie states we are trying to form a Whispering Pines committee. Last week we had a meeting and the only people that showed was Treasurer Dobney and me. Our next meeting is this Friday at 11:00 in the USG conference room please come and get involved.
F. Senator Nunez states that students have been asking her about fall fest. President Gabriel states that the 31st legislation voted to get rid of fall fest. However, we did replace it with a speaker series which is going to be this fall. Also, we were lucky enough to partner with Verizon Wireless to bring in an artist.
G. Senator O’Grady states that the constitution says that we are suppose to have a Bi Organizational meeting the third Friday of the month and instead we are going to Senate training. President Gabriel states that the Bi Organizational meeting that was suppose to take place this Friday is cancelled due to the mandatory Senate training which we have to have stated in the constitution. We are having a Bi Organizational meeting in October which will probably be the third week in October. AVP Yazicilar asks when is the Senate training suppose to happen and when is the Bi Organization meeting suppose to happen. Rules & Regulations Chair Hamilton states the Bi Organization meeting is suppose to be the 4th Friday in September. However the Senate training goes to the availability of the camp and this was the only week available.
VIII. 2nd Roll Call
IX. Meeting adjourned