EMU SGA

1. I. Call to Order Michael (9:09)
2. II. Roll Call/Prayer Karissa prayed

Present: Michael Spory, Brent Beachy, Karissa Sauder, Sarah Beck, Giles Eanes, Brendon Derstine, Heidi Bauman, Peyton Erb, Darian Harnish, Alli Eanes, Sara Derstine, James Souder, Brook Musselman, Katie Landis, Brandon Habron, Amy Springer, Vi Dutcher, Ken L. Nafziger

Absent: Gabe Brunk

1. III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 17022010-1 to approve the minutes: Brendon

Second: Sara

Motion passed unanimously

1. IV. Announcements
   1. a. Probably Haiti event on Saturday: Michael shared that the supplies for the Haiti kit are in and we are tentatively planning to put the kits together on Saturday.  Three nursing students have taken charge of this endeavor and they will be advertising this event once details are finalized.
   2. b. QEP Concert – Friday @: 9 SGA is co-sponsoring the concert on Friday so try to show up to show support!
   3. c. Booth and QEP today: Thanks for all the work today at the booth!
2. V. Old Business
   1. Undergraduate Council – Brandon Habron Brandon shared that some issues that were brought up this meeting were curriculum approvals (such as the catalog), spring graduate approvals, and the WCSC program adjustments such as prefixes to classes.  The council also talked about the Community Learning web pages and potential changes for campus visits such as providing “fairs” with all the departments instead of having students go to the professor’s offices.
   2. QEP Meeting – Brandon Habron Brandon shared that the QEP reported on a phone call with SACHS member Mark Smith,

who seemed to think all was going well with our QEP!  They also talked about all the kick-off activities, including the concert   this Friday (wear your shirts!)

c.  Writing Committee – Michael Spory Michael shared that Dr. Elizabeth Vander Lei came to campus to meet with various

departments.  The committee also talked about re-vamping the website to make it more appealing and user-friendly for students and faculty.  Vi shared that the committee also talked about writing-intensive classes and what makes the classes writing intensive.  They also talked about how to help faculty figure out how to assess the writing intensive classes.

d. USO – Michael and Darian Darian shared that various organization leaders shared about various projects such as blood drives,

Valentine’s Day cookies, and Haiti fundraising (YPCA).  Inklings is working on publishing the literary magazine, Phoenix,

and also organizing trips to Black Friars.

1. VI. New Business
   1. Revisiting goals from the fall Michael shared that he thinks we should think about what we can do to maintain the energy we started in the fall and to maybe table things that we no longer have momentum for.  We are going to go through a list of the goals we talked about in the fall and think about their prevalence now.  Some of the topics can already be crossed off, such as Common Grounds sustainability.  Brendon shared about the Caf expansion, which there is still energy behind.  The money for this will most likely come from the caf itself or perhaps Pioneer, but most likely not SGA.  With regards to the SGA logo and websites, we feel we have covered them well (go Katie!) but at this point we don’t feel there is a need for a Facebook page anymore.  General discussion ensued about all the things we talked about at the fall retreat.  One major suggestion was to talk to Res Life about adding an office for the WeatherVane and Shen in the new addition of the University Commons in lieu of a Student Center.  To sum up:

KEPT:

-Caf expansion/patio

-Faculty Forum

-Mural Painting (passed to art department unless they want our help)

-Concerts/Events/Films

TABLED:

-CSA Development

-Common Grounds Sustainability

-SGA Newsletter/Facebook/Logo & Website

-Mennonite SGA collaboration with other colleges (future execs can decide if they want to try to do this)

-Swappers

-Student Center

-Spirit Week (although this can be revisited in the fall, no one really participated in this year’s)

*NOTE: something to consider is a possible spirit day before a big game instead of a whole week*

-Student Fundraising (no need since it was for a Student Center and/or connector)

b. Identifying goals for the spring – being proactive Michael shared that it’s important for SGA to think about what we can to as

representatives for the student body, rather than just waiting for students to come to us.  One idea he had was to host an “idea drive” to get an idea of what students are thinking about and talking about.  We could also send out an all-campus e-mail reminding students that all meetings are open and they can always come in and share their ideas.  One concern brought up was the housing crisis on campus that is a concern of many students, particularly rising juniors.  This concern was thoroughly discussed!  As far as energy behind a Spirit Day, Sarah and James agreed to talk about a possible spirit day and events that the SGA could sponsor as far as that goes.

1. VII. Open Floor

-Meg Brauckmann &Clare Shanley shared that the Students for Morally Responsible Investment in are holding workshops about morally responsible investment for the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference, which will be for about 100 students.  There will be two workshops: one to talk about where the money from EMU is going in Palestine and Israel and the other to talk more about the “how-to” have an impact at EMU.  They are hosting a speaker from Washington, D.C. to come down to hold these workshops and they are requesting $60 for transportation and housing cost for him.  One student felt that this may not benefit many students at EMU since it is intercollegiate, but others felt that since anyone from EMU could attend and several EMU students are attending, it does benefit us.  Most senators felt this money was going to go toward a good cause that would benefit many students.

Motion 17022010-2 to allocate $60 to Students for Morally Responsible Investment club for the speaker’s transportation and housing: Darian

Second: James

Motion passed unanimously

-Katie talked to Bruce about adjusting transfer meal times and his only concern was a staffing issue, but he is willing to adjust the hours of one of the night workers to have them come in earlier.  He spoke to the “higher-ups” and things sounded enthusiastic; this is a very real possibility!  We will find out what Bruce learns when he hears back from his bosses.

1. VIII. Adjournment

Motion 12022010-3 to adjourn: Giles

Second: Katie

Motion passed unanimously

1. I. Call to Order Michael (9:06)
2. II. Roll Call/Prayer Brent prayed

Present: Michael Spory, Karissa Sauder, Brent Beachy, Sarah Beck, Giles Eanes, Brendon Derstine, Peyton Erb, Darian Harnish, Katie Landis, Heidi Bauman, Hans Weaver, James Souder, Brook Musselman, Alli Eanes, Sara Derstine, Amy Springer, Vi Dutcher, Ken L. Nafziger

Absent: Gabe Brunk, Brandon Habron

1. III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 20100103-1 to approve the minutes: Heidi

Second: James

Motion passed unanimously

1. IV. Old Business

a. Haiti fundraising update Michael shared that some students have taken over the fund raising for Haiti: Peyton Erb, Jason Ropp, Michael Harnish, Kristi Reihnhardt, and Andrew Derstine.  The students will be involved in gathering items for students to create kits to send to Haiti, organizing student support and help in putting kits together, etc.

1. V. New Business

a. Club Approval – S.T.A.R.S. A group of students is requesting approval to become an official club.  The club is Students Teaching And Reaching Students, and they want to teach students about the awareness of several health and social services.  General discussion followed the reading of the proposed constitution.  Many felt that the constitution was vague in certain areas such as purpose, membership, and voting.  There were also points that clarification is needed on reinstating members and other points in the constitution.  We decided not to approve the constitution until they have made those major changes; at this point we do not feel right about approving this until we understand the constitution.

b. Club Approval – Explore Another group of students is requesting to become an official EMU club.  Their focus will be on outdoor trips, local and regional areas of interest, and providing an outlet to be active in the outdoors around EMU.  Some suggestions were to put the constitution in outline form, specify when a secretary and treasurer (and possibly historian) would be included, and a few other minor changes.

Motion 20100203-3 to approve the club with the changes we suggest: Darian

Second: Brook

Motion passed unanimously

c. Funding Request for Safe Spaces – Hannah Kraybill: Hannah shared that Safe Space is requesting up to $350 because the club is looking to get t-shirts to sell to students.  They are also planning a weekend of events in mid-March (19-22) and they need funds to rent space in the theater and Common Grounds and also to provide refreshments.  Some of the events they are planning include a guest speaker, a stage reading of the Laramie project, and a forum on different perspectives from various departments on campus.  Senators discussed that this organization seems to have a lot of prevalence in this day and age as the EMU community and the Mennonite community have to

Motion 20100203-2 to approve the funding request for $350 for Safe Space: Katie

Second: Hans

Motion passed

1. VI. Open Floor

-Hans shared that there are now new speakers in the SGA office!

-Michael was wondering if we can implement something in the SGA constitution where incoming exec sits in on a few meetings the year prior to the year they serve so they can get a feel for how meetings run.  This will help efficiency at the beginning of the following year so exec members understand their role more.  Current exec members feel this would have really helped prep us for our roles and eliminate a lot of the work at the beginning in figuring out what we are expected to do.  Many senators agreed that this would be a good idea and we will discuss it more in depth at a future meeting.

-Michael shared that the Writing Committee has an opening for an SGA member; Katie can’t fill that role anymore due to a class this semester.  Michael will cover tomorrow’s meeting but we will need someone else for the remaining too.

-Katie shared that she has heard several students complain about the Den transfer meal hours.  Several people have asked that the transfer meals extend to 2:45 instead of 2:30 because some classes don’t end until 2:30 and those students can no longer get transfer meals.  Sarah also shared that several people would like the hours to begin earlier because on Tuesdays and Thursdays people that have class at 1 often can’t eat because transfer meals don’t begin until 12:30.  Katie will e-mail Bruce to see if the Den can extend open hours from 12-2:45.

1. VII. Adjournment

Motion 20102003-4 to adjourn: Katie

Second: Brendon

Motion passed unanimously

smb 02/03/10

I. Call to Order Michael (8:03)

II. Roll Call/ Prayer Michael prayed

Present: Michael Spory, Karissa Sauder, Sarah Beck, Brent Beachy, Katie Landis, Heidi Bauman, Brendon Derstine, Hans Weaver, Peyton Erb, Darian Harnish, Brook Musselman, Gabe Brunk, James Souder, Brandon Habron, Alli Eanes, Amy Springer, Ken L. Nafziger

Absent: Giles Eanes, Sara Derstine, Vi Dutcher

III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 01272010-1 to approve the minutes: Peyton

Second: Brendon

Motion passed unanimously

IV. Old Business

a. Haiti Panel @ 9 p.m. in CG: Peyton shared that we know have 5 panel members who will be speaking at this event.  Panel members include Sylvia Lorisme, Jim Lehman, Luke Shrock-Hurst, Ker Ferdinand, and Sue Cochrin.  Michael also shared that he and Karissa met with a team from YPCA and they are going to try to purchase supplies for kits to send to Haiti using the money we raised at the basketball games.

b. Committee Reporting—Strategic Planning Council: Michael shared that he attended the meeting.  One of the things on the agenda was talking about marketing EMU to prospective students and find out what current students think about the university.  There were also talks about updating EMU’s goals and how to improve the cross-cultural experiences.  Another agenda item involved an official flag statement in the event the basketball team continues to do well and the playoff games require a flag in the gymnasium.

V. New Business

a. QEP—Jim Yoder & Lisle Bertsche: Jim Yoder shared that the Quality Enhancement Plan is a 5-year program that is part of EMU’s accreditation process.  It must be implemented to enhance student learning.  The focus of the plan for EMU is environmental sustainability, which will now formally become part of the curriculum.  The QEP planning committee was placed in charge of outlining what this plan would look like and now the implementation team is in charge of…implementation.  Handouts were passed around showing learning objectives and implementation actions.  While every discipline and thus, course offered will be affected by this in some way, the classes most significantly affected will be Transitions and the cross-cultural classes.  It will begin integrating into the curriculum this coming fall; however, it is a gradual process and will not be fully implemented for 2 years.

Jim and Lisle also shared that there will be a SACS On-site review committee visit to evaluate the QEP at EMU from March 2 to March 4.  They would like to start a campaign to inform the students on campus what the QEP is because committee members may stop students at random to ask what they think about the QEP and it would be nice if students had informed things to say about it.  Part of this campaign will include t-shirts, WeatherVane articles, CG events, myEMU announcements, and flyers on campus.  The campaign was detailed on the handout; one major event was the big kick-off on February 19 in Common Grounds.

After Jim and Lisle left, discussion ensued amongst the senators that during the campaign, we would have to be careful not to overload sustainability to the students and make sure all the students really do understand the purpose of the QEP and how it can be beneficial for the students.  One senator expressed some concern that the QEP committee is planning on participating in Gonzo Theater, which is supposed to be free of administration.  Brandon shared that the plan with Gonzo is to be free of judgment and sustainability will simply be the theme of Gonzo.  Many senators also felt that this is something SGA could co-sponsor but be involved more with handing out t-shirts, attending events, etc.  A general consensus was agreed that senators will help out at events as they can and help support the QEP in this process.  Both Brandon and Katie volunteered to help out as student reps for the QEP implementation team.

b. Career Day Opportunity—Amy Springer: Amy shared that Student Life (Career Services) and the Undergraduate Services will be hosting a Career Day on February 17.  The day will include a series of workshops (focuses on benefits, budgeting, housing, renting, networking, etc.), mock interviews, resume reviews, and speakers talking about career path and callings.  There will also be a fair in the University Commons hosting employers, admissions services, EMU grad programs, etc.  She would like the SGA senators to work a welcome table for students signing in and handing out door prizes.  A sign-up sheet was passed around for this.

VII. Adjournment

Motion 01272010-2 to adjourn: Darian

Second: Peyton

Motion passed unanimously

smb 01/27/09