I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call/Prayer
III. Approval of Minutes
IV. Announcements
a. Friday Student Recognition Chapel
b. Next week SGA Party
V. Committee Reporting
a. IRB—Will, Sarah
VI. Old Business
a. Motion—Spring Concert support
VII. New Business
a. Late night breakfast, signups and info
VIII. Open Floor
IX. Adjournment
I. Call to Order Ben (9:05)
II. Roll Call/Prayer Sarah prayed
III. Approval of Minutes
Motion 20091202-1 to approve the minutes: Giles
Second: Will
Motion passed unanimously
IV. Announcements
a. Budget affirmation schedule: This is posted on the opinion board outside Common Grounds and on the SGA website on the discussion board.
V. Old Business
a. SLS names: Gabe shared that the names the committee can up with were Rob Bell, Donald Miller, James Kraybill, Shane Claiborne, Ted Swartz, John Bell, Basil Marin. As of right now, their top choice is Rob Bell but they are willing to ask for suggestions from students and want to get names out to the student population to get a feel for what students may want. Karissa suggested Greg Boyd; he is coming to speak at seminary at EMU so it may not be too hard to get him. Ben backed up the John Bell suggestion and thought he would be very interesting. Hans said it would be interesting to get someone with a totally different viewpoint than EMU, such as Richard Dawkins. Another option would be to get two people to come in for more of a debate-like format. Francis Collins was another name that came up. As leader of the Human Genome Project, it would be interesting to have him as a debater with an EMU professor or other speaker. Amy suggested connecting the SLS with the QEP (Quality Enhancement Program) that will be coming to EMU next year.
Motion 20091202-3 to approve the nominations of Rob Bell, Donald Miller, James Kraybill, Shane Claiborne, Ted Swartz, John Bell, Basil Marin, Greg Boyd, and Francis Collins with the possible collaboration with QEP: Larisa
Second: Drew
Motion passed unanimously
b. CAC Concert: Laurie Miller came in to talk to the senate about how the CAC found a promoter willing to take financial risks and help finance a Christian concert if EMU can provide the venue (Yoder Arena). One major question is how much to make student tickets. At this point a thought is from $20-30. Another question to consider is whether to make the concert a Christian one or a secular one. If Christian, one idea is to try to get a larger name to come here, such as Jeremy Camp who may possibly be available in the spring. There are both advantages and disadvantages to having a secular concert. One major disadvantage is that we wouldn’t have the help and expertise of the promoter. Either way, to put on this type of production, we would need about 40 workers throughout the night. These workers may be CAC, SGA, or other students willing to work a shift to get free tickets. Larisa suggested that since this concert won’t be happening until the next school year, we have time to poll students and find out what they are interested in and would like to come to. Laurie warned that with a student base of only 850 students, it is a considerable financial risk to bring a specific genre band here that doesn’t appeal to a lot of students. If we only get 15% of students, that’s not a whole lot of student participation for a large sum of money. Karissa shared that the promoter sounds like a wise route to go: great connection to the community and expertise with working with large bands, contracts, etc. We are tabling this discussion until next week because Michael Spory will be back and since he is president next semester, it would be beneficial for him to be part of the discussion.
VI. New Business
a. USO Official Memo: Ben shared a proposal for a memo for future SGA presidents in
regards to the Union of Student Organizations (USO), which the SGA president is leader of. This is primarily so each president has the same information about what the USO is about and what his or her responsibilities are. A few questions and clarifications were asked by senators.
Motion 20091202-2 to approve the memo with minor changes: Will
Second: Brendon
Motion passed unanimously
b. SGA Constitution revisions: Ben shared that the Executive committee has been working this semester to tweak the SGA constitution and is ready to present proposed changes. The revised constitution was passed around for senators to look at and ask questions or add changes. Sarah suggested a change for defining an “absence” and the senate agreed that adding an absence as being missing more than 50% of the meeting is appropriate. Another suggestion would be to add a change under duties of senators and executive officers to make sure to maintain regular office hours.
Motion 20091202-4 to approve the revisions of the constitution with the proposed changes: Janelle
Second: Will
Motion passed unanimously
VII. Open Floor
-Ken shared that there will be a student recognition chapel on December 11 and Ben, Will, Drew, Janelle, and Larisa will be honored there for their service this semester on SGA. It is also on Janelle’s birthday
VIII. Adjournment
Motion 20091202-5 to adjourn: Will
Second: Giles
Motion passed unanimously (10:19)
smb 12/02/09
I. Call to Order Ben (9:05)
II. Roll Call/Prayer Ben prayed
Present: Benjamin Bergey, Janelle Freed, Sarah Beck, Brent Beachy, Giles Eanes, Drew Kirk, Will Morris, Karissa Sauder, Heidi Bauman, Peyton Erb, Brendon Derstine, Darian Harnish, Katie Landis, Hans Weaver, Gabe Brunk, Sara Derstine, Larisa Zehr, Vi Dutcher, Amy Springer, Ken L. Nafziger
Absent: No one! J
III. Approval of Minutes Sarah
Motion 20091118-1 to approve the minutes: Giles
Second: Drew
Motion passed unanimously
IV. Announcements
a. Final meetings overview: Ben pointed out that this is our third to last meeting—CRAZY! December 16th is our last meeting and we will have more of a “fun” meeting and it will then be the late-night breakfast afterwards.
V. Committee Reporting
a. Board of Trustees: Ben shared that the Board of Trustees were here last week to meet and many senators had lunch with board members on Friday. The Board spoke highly of SGA and our senate this year so good job everyone! Ken also shared that the Board supported moving ahead with the renovation of Maplewood and Elmwood beginning in May (one at a time). The first would be renovated from May to December and the second would be from January to August. Renovations include improved heating, added A/C, better windows, colors improvements, lounge spaces, etc.
b. Benjamin—SPC: Karissa shared that the seminary is changing the curriculum to be much more focused and intentional around the same four performance-driven objectives. Ben also shared that they are building faith that fosters development in student leaders.
VI. Old Business
a. Student Fees discussion/proposals
i. Different fee plans: Ben passed around the sheet that Darian created regarding possible increases in student fees. Currently, SGA is working with $81,450 a year. The sheet showed changes to the budget with possible increases of student fees by $10, 15, and 20 per semester. With proposed additions in what SGA is wanting to allocate, we need approximately $105,519.00, which is very close to what we would have if we increase fees $15 ($105,950). Ken stated that Student life is willing to put $16,890 towards Common Grounds this year; however, next year they would have to request more. Larisa brought up that the Shen may still be very short if too many people opt out; Ben said that in that case, we would look towards the Shen to try to cut back costs in different ways. Ben shared that the Exec looked at the $15 proposed increase of student fees because that would put us right above the amount that we need. We talked about why we might need more money to bring in a recognizable, big-name band. After a lot of discussion between the senators, many people felt that perhaps $20 would be more reasonable so we have more money to allocate to clubs who are up for getting funds from SGA. If we propose an increase, it would have to be approved by the entire SGA, which is the whole student body.
ii. Final proposal
Motion 20091118-2 to propose to the SGA that we increase the student fee $20 per semester starting next fall: Hans
Second: Darian
Motion passed unanimously.
Motion 20091118-3 to add a $40 optional student fee with default being to “opt in” to pay for the Shen each year: Darian
Second: Hans
Motion passed unanimously.
b. SLS names: Gabe brought up possible names the committee came up with. Options include Rob Bell, John Bell, Ted Swartz, Basil Marin, James Kraybill, Donald Miller, and Shane Claiborne. At this point, the committee would just like a lot of student input for who they would like to see. Gabe is going to send small bios about all these potential speakers to senate members so we can get a feel for what all of these people may bring to the SLS. Janelle suggested making it a chapel announcement and anyone who has potential names can meet after chapel to discuss ideas.
VII. New Business
a. CMC Survey: Kate Nussbaum came in to share feedback from the proposal for chapel to move times from 10:30 to 11:00. To begin this, she has been looking into what people actually get out of chapel. She and Brian Martin Burkholder have been working on a survey that they can send out either in GVC classes or electronically. Katie Landis pointed out that the survey seems pretty long so perhaps shorten it a little. Giles stated that in many classes, the surveys are handed out at the end, where students just fill it out quickly and leave class. Some suggestions included shortening it by just focusing on if you go to chapel, what do you like and if you don’t go to chapel, why don’t you go? Also, maybe having a separate survey at chapel asking for ratings of chapels may be helpful to see which chapels are ones we should definitely keep and which ones may not be getting much attendance. We also discussed possibly co-sponsoring the survey because there may be greater response if it comes from SGA.
Motion 20091118-4 to approve co-sponsoring the survey provided the proposed changes of shortening the survey: Will
Second: Giles
Motion passed unanimously.
VIII. Open Floor:
-Karissa Sauder shared that the faculty-forum has been changed to December 7th due to a scheduling conflict. Also, Peter Dula backed out so another woman could be part of the discussion. Cindy Gusler will now be taking his place.
-Ben shared that Deanna Durham told him that she is a little afraid of possible backlash of the Safe Space organization on campus. Because of the increasing openness about sexuality, many people have been more comfortable sharing their sexual orientation, which has already created backlash like graffiti. There is already a list of “hate crimes” that have taken place since Safe Space started up this year. Ken shared that there is a definite policy in the handbook about non-discrimination so nothing new needs to be created to counteract with this backlash. Darian spoke with Loren Swartzendruber about possible ways to report these hate crimes without exposing people who have come out with their sexual orientation.
IX. Adjournment
Motion 20091118-5 to adjourn: Will
Second: Drew
Motion passed unanimously.
Adjourned 10:14
smb 11/18/09 J
Each year, SGA is responsible to assign money from the undergraduate student fees to pay for some of the activities and events sponsored by student organizations. This semester, the SGA has been working at updating and restructuring the budget that comes from student fees. SGA has especially worked closely with Common Grounds since the Lilly Grant, which funded a huge portion of their expense, has run out. SGA, as well as the Student Life Office, is committed to work to keep Common Grounds in business as they are an integral part of campus life.
Because of this situation, the SGA Senate has passed a proposal to raise the student fees $20 per semester beginning fall 2010. Currently, the fee is $50 per semester that a student is on campus. This fee has not increased for many years, and it is a fee that is substantially lower than most campuses that charge over $100 per semester. Within our restructuring, this increase would go heavily towards Common Grounds, help the Shen yearbook create a more sustainable structure, create space for CAC to provide larger or additional concerts, and account for inflation and new student groups that will be eligible for funding.
Before it goes to the President’s Cabinet for final approval, a majority of the wider SGA—that is, all voting undergraduate students—need to affirm this increase. With this small increase, Common Grounds will be able to stay in business and the budget will be better equipped for the next several years. There will be a vote on Monday December 14 requesting your affirmation of this increase. If you have any questions, feel free to email sga@emu.edu.
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call/Prayer
III. Approval of Minutes
IV. Announcements
a. Budget affirmation schedule
V. Committee Reporting
VI. Old Business
a. SLS names
b. CAC Concert
VII. New Business
a. SGA Constitution revisions
b. USO Official Memo
VIII. Open Floor
IX. Adjournment
Next Meeting: Wednesday, December 9, 2009. 9:00 p.m. UC 211
