October 21 Mintues


I.
Call to Order

a. 9:07am

II. Roll Order/Prayer

a. Prayer- Janelle Freed

b. Roll Call

i. Present: Heidi Bauman, Benjamin Bergey, Gabe Brunk, Brendon Derstine, Giles Eanes, Peyton Erb, Janelle Freed, Darian Harnish, Drew Kirk, Katie Landis, Will Morris, Karissa Sauder, Hans Weaver, Larisa Zehr, Ken L. Nafziger, Vi Dutcher

ii. Absent: Brent Beachy, Sarah Beck, Sara Derstine, Amy Springer

III. Approval of Minutes

a. Motion I: Gabe motioned to approve the minutes with the approved changes in the fifth motion of adjournment in which Vi and Ken ‘shared that the request is stronger when backed by the SGA than when by only campus ministries’.

b. Second: Karissa Sauder

c. Passed Unanimously

IV. Announcement

a. SGA website- Ben informed all senators that the SGA website is working! Yay!

V. Committee Reporting

a. Hans- Information Systems- There was a lot things mentioned during the meeting. Discussion revolved around replacing blackboard with another system due to costs, the department is thinking of updating computers around campus, and the IS department is concerned with the number of persons needing assistance with their computers. Overall Hans said the meeting was interesting.

b. Benjamin and Karissa- SPC: Benjamin and Karissa listed several of the items discussed during the SPC committee meeting. Discussion continued on why the number for the freshman class has increased.

VI. Old Business

a. Student fees/Common Grounds

i. Doug- Thanks SGA for being active supporters. He went on to explain how the Lilly grant has affected EMU in general and specially Common Grounds (CG). Doug, Jason, and Elizabeth gave a brief overview of CG, their role within Common Grounds, and their goals for CG. Doug passed out a piece of paper that included CG’s vision, mission, expenses, incomes, last year’s sale summary, and items for consideration. What are some of the brainstorming ideas to help keep common grounds open after the Lilly project is complete include- the survey, suggest institutional support- not just student life support, change of hours from last year. Ken mentioned that the President’s cabinet has taken some steps by including CG’s area in the construction phase that includes the theatre. Due to the population of EMU, it’s not possible to actually be self-sustaining. Several questions were addressed and basic suggestions made. IN reference to work study positions it would theoretically be nice to increase the number of positions within CG, however it’s difficult because it will take away from other work-study positions around campus. There was also discussion on charging departments for the use of CG. One thing heavily discussed is the idea to increase student fees to help offset the cost of keeping CG open; most people seemed to like this idea. What about next semester? Some money could come from the SGA roll-over account. CG management is open to suggestions for ideas of how to improve CG. Maybe something specific SGA would like to support. Keep thinking and come up with ideas for next meeting!

VII. New Business

a. Academic Integrity- Vi: Suggest to table this till next week in the interest of time.

VIII. Open Floor

a. Student faculty forum committee- Karissa has been working on this and set the date for the first faculty forum to be on December 1st. This date will allow for enough time to get put on faculty calendars and still early enough for students to attend before getting bogged downed with finals.

IX. Adjournment

a. Motion II: Sara Derstine- Motion to adjourn the meeting.

b. Second: Katie Landis

c. Passed Unanimously at 10:06pm