EMU SGA

I. Call to order (9:04)

II. Roll Call/Prayer Michael prayed

Present: Michael Spory, Karissa Sauder, Sarah Beck, Brent Beachy, Giles Eanes, Alli Eanes, Brendon Derstine, Heidi Bauman, Peyton Erb, Darian Harnish, Katie Landis, Hans Weaver, Brook Mussleman, Gabe Brunk, Brandon Habron, Vi Dutcher, Ken L. Nafziger

Absent: Sara Derstine, James Souder, Amy Springer

III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 07042010-1 to approve the minutes: Heidi

Second: Peyton

Motion passed unanimously

IV. Announcements

a. Dinner @ Loren’s—April 14 @ 5:30: We will have a fairly formal dinner at Loren’s house next Wednesday.  There is a sign-up sheet going around for this.  Depending on what is on the agenda for next week, we may or may not have an SGA meeting that night.

b. April 27 Late Night Breakfast sign-ups: The SGA is hosting a Late Night Breakfast from 10-11 p.m. on the Tuesday of finals week.  A sign-up sheet went around for senators to sign-up for time slots.

c. IRB Report—Sarah: Sarah shared that the IRB had its final meeting of the year this afternoon.  The main order of business was to plan for the transition in leadership next year as there will be a new chair, Toni Flanagan.  The committee also discussed re-designing the submission process for research proposals and also honing the “track” system of how proposals are reviewed (whether just the chair can review it and approve or if the proposal needs a full committee review).

V. Old Business

a. “Green on the Go” Program: The caf/den are trying out a new program to reduce the amount of Styrofoam containers used primarily by the Den.  This program allows students to pay $5 and get a “kit” to use for take-out options in both the caf and the Den.  Students can then bring back the container and exchange the used one for a clean one the next time they take out food.  At the end of the year, students will get their $5 back if they return the kit at the end of the year.  Senators generally thought this was a good idea, but wondered about student involvement this late in the year.  This may be more effective if it was started at the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.  Another worry was the $5 cost upfront; perhaps more students would be willing to participate if it could be charged to the student account so cash wouldn’t be needed.  We’d like a little more information about how students would need to pay for this.  Ultimately, we as an SGA feel this is a cause worth supporting!

VI. New Business

a. Review of Sexual Assault procedure/policy: Michael shared that there was an incident a few years ago involving sexual assault on EMU’s campus that he was just informed of.  The alleged assailant is still involved on campus and the victim is questioning his/her security.  Michael feels that we as an SGA should review EMU’s procedure/policy which has not been reviewed since 2002; we feel this is an appropriate response to the situation.  Ken shared that it’s very important to have feedback on the protocols in place for incidents like this to make sure appropriate policies are in place.  Currently, the policy allows for victims to anonymously identify that a sexual assault has taken place.  This protects the victim’s identity which is important since this is such a sensitive topic.  The incident is reported by filling out a Sexual Assault Incident Form.  The only name on this form is the name of the person reporting the incident, who may or may not be the victim.  Once the assault has been reported, the incident can be reported to Student Life (where confrontation with the alleged perpetrator may take place) and support will be provided to the victim if they would like to go to the police.  This particular policy we’re reviewing differentiates on-campus/off-campus incidents and is used mostly as a tracking procedure to keep records of incidents.  One question brought up was the use of the word “survivor” rather than “victim” in the policy.  The explanation given was that often “survivor” is more empowering than “victim” and does not have such a negative connotation.  The two words are used interchangeably, and this may be something to look at if we would like to be more consistent.  The incident report is kept by the Vice-President of Student Life in a locked drawer and a copy is also given to the head of security at EMU.  Ken shared that the victim has certain rights about whether or not to press charges and Student Life will support either or both of these options.  Student Life can also arrange for the victim to receive appropriate counseling and/or go to the emergency room to receive a “rape kit” and get checked out.  After reviewing the policy, a few minor wording changes were suggested to make the policy more clear and all-encompassing.  There was also a suggestion to separate the suggestions for how to avoid being assaulted and also how to avoid becoming the perpetrator. It may also be helpful to have protocol for different people on campus to deal with incidents that are reported to them, such as campus pastors and/or athletic trainers or coaches.

VII. Open Floor

-Hans shared that he and Katie will be meeting with CAC over lunch next week to discuss the budget allocated to them next year and SGA’s expectations for what CAC will do with that allocation.

-Brent shared that there were no budget appeals, so the budget is approved! J

-Ken shared that there will be an EMU Wellness Fair to raise money and awareness about the situation in Haiti.  There will be many activities involved such as running and biking and it takes place on Friday, April 9.

VIII. Adjournment (10:00)

Motion 07042010-2 to adjourn: Katie

Second: Alli

Motion passed unanimously

smb 04/07/10

Below are the proposed changes to the SGA constitution.  I have only included the parts proposed for change.  The current wording is written out, followed by the proposed change.

Article I 4: To stimulate communication and cooperation among students, faculty, and administration. (Proposed change: “To stimulate communication and cooperation among students, faculty, administration and the greater community.)

Article III Section 1 C 1: Executive officers of the SGA must be in at least their second semester at EMU at the time of election.  (Proposed change: “Executive officers of the SGA must be in at least their second semester when they serve on the Executive Committee.)

Article III Section 1 D 1 e: To maintain SGA files located in the SGA office. (Proposed change: “To maintain SGA files located in the SGA office and content of SGA website”.)

Article III Section 1 D 1 j: Didn’t previously exist. (Proposed change: “To appoint or serve as leader of the Union of Student Organizations.”)

Article III Section 1 D 2 e:  To attend Academic Council (President(s) may fulfill this responsibility). [Proposed change: Delete this responsibility.]

Article III Section 1 D 3 c: To keep and post the minutes of all SGA meetings on the SGA bulletin board, which is to be maintained by the president(s).  (Proposed change: “To keep and post the minutes of all SGA meetings on the SGA website.”)

Article III Section 1 E 3 c: A vacancy will be filled a special election to be conducted no later than the two weeks after the time of vacancy unless a regular election is scheduled within one month.  The requirements of Article IV, Section 1, Paragraph E, sentence 1-b may be waived in the case of a special election to fill a vacancy. (Proposed change: “A vacancy will be filled by a special election to be conducted no later than the two weeks after the time of vacancy unless a regular election is scheduled within one month.  The requirements of Article III, Section 1, Paragraph E, sentence 1-b may be waived in the case of a special election to fill a vacancy.”)

Article III Section 2 B 7: To approve a slate of judicial council members. (Proposed change: “To approve a slate of peer review board members as needed by Student Life.”)

Article III Section 2 E 1 a: The Executive Committee determines the number of senators to be elected for each constituency basing this appointment upon the number of residents on and off campus, allowing for one new student senator representing first-year and transfer students. (Proposed change: The Executive Committee has the power to determine the number of senators to be elected for each constituency basing this appointment upon the number of residents on and off campus, allowing for one new student senator representing first-year and transfer students.  A constituency system can be determined by residence halls, class sizes, etc., or not used at all.”)

Article III Section 1 E 2 b: The Senate will ensure the nomination of at least two candidates for each executive office by nominating additional names if necessary. (Proposed change: “The Senate will ensure the nomination of at least one candidate for each executive office by nominating one or more names if necessary.”)

Article III Section 2 E 3 a: Senate elections will, at the discretion of the incoming Executive Committee, take place either in the spring following the election of the Executive Committee, or in the fall.  Fall elections must take place before the third Tuesday of September. (Proposed change: Fall Senate elections must take place before the third Tuesday of September.  If necessary, an election can be held in the month of January to fill any vacant positions for the spring semester.”)

Article III Section 2 E 4 e: A record of attendance to Senate meetings showing six absences within a ten-week period or five consecutive absences for any one Senate member means automatic dismissal from office. (This requirement may be waived in special cases by a three-fourths vote of the Senate.) [Proposed change: "A record of attendance to Senate meetings showing four absences within a semester or three consecutive absences for any one Senate member means automatic dismissal from office. (This requirement may be waived in special cases by a three-fourths vote of the Senate.)"]

Article III Section 2 G 1: The senate will appoint a student to serve, along with the president of the SGA, as student representative to the Board of Trustees. (Proposed change: “The President of Co-Presidents will serve as student representatives to the Board of Trustees.  The Senate will appoint a second Senator to serve when there is only one President.”)

-Recorded by Sarah Beck, SGA secretary

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

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

Absent: Brendon Derstine, Brandon Habron

1. III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 31032010-1 to approve the minutes: Giles

Second: Heidi

Motion passed unanimously

1. IV. Announcements

a. Thank you to those who helped with SGA Exec elections yesterday!

Everything went very smoothly!

1. V. Old Business
   1. a. April 14 – dinner at Loren’s: We will meet at Loren’s house at around 5:30 for dinner and the SGA meeting will follow the dinner.  Get excited!
   2. b. Late Night Breakfast – April 27: This breakfast will probably take place from 10-12 p.m. so next week we will have a sign-up for times for senators to work.  This is something the SGA does every semester and it’s usually a big success!
2. VI. New Business
   1. a. Budget proposal: Brent shared the proposed budget that the executive committee has been working on for the 2010-11 school year.  The budget was passed out and reviewed by the senators.  Clubs not requesting money are either currently inactive or not yet eligible for funding from SGA.  Specifically, we talked about the CAC budget request because they had asked for 3 different allocations based on 3 different scenarios.  They requested anywhere from $26,000-48,000 depending on whether or not we think EMU should host a concert on campus.  Varying amount depends on what type of concert we would like to see on campus.  Senators discussed various possibilities and there was general agreement that we should go with the middle range allocation ($40,000) which should be enough to cover a smaller concert featuring a band that tours the college circuit.  We as an SGA feel that this is a smart idea for the first year, just to get a feel for what student attendance and interest is and in future years, more of the budget may be allocated for larger concerts.  Hans did mention that he feels that it would be better to get one large, fairly well-known band rather than six small lesser-known bands that not many people show up to.  It was also discussed that we could just wait until next year and if they need more, CAC can come to us with a funding request.  We could also not allocate the money for a concert until they have a solid idea about what they want to do and then they can come to us with a budget request.  This would ensure that the money would actually be used for a concert.  There was also discussion about the Shen’s budget.  Currently, the Shen has about a $10,000 rollover from last year and are requesting $14,000.  The past discussion about the potential opt-out model mostly took place because in the fall semester, SGA was looking to cut cost because of the additional funding we’re giving to Common Grounds.  Now that we have increased student fees, we have the budget to support the Shen in the same way we have in the past, so there is no need to pursue new models.  The senators agreed that this seems much easier for everyone and it is the best idea for everyone involved.  The senate discussed various other clubs and clarifications were made on other smaller items in the budget. 

Motion 31032010-2 to approve the 2010-2011 budget as it is written: Gabe

Second: Giles

Motion passed unanimously

1. b. Options for take-out trays in the Den: We decided to table this due to the fact that many ideas are going to be presented in open floor and this is not a pressing issue at the time.
2. VII. Open Floor

a. Darian shared that he believes Article III Section 1 E. 1 b. is an unnecessary part of our SGA constitution.  This policy states that those running for SGA executive positions cannot run unopposed.  In the cases where a student runs unopposed, another candidate must be nominated so that there is a contest.  Darian shared that this creates unnecessary headaches, as in the case of the elections yesterday.  The situation was that every position had only one candidate running so people were nominated late at night the night before the elections.   When this happens, the candidate who actually wants (and possibly is actually qualified for) the position may not get it and the person who doesn’t really want the position (and may not be qualified) may get it.  Most senators felt this policy was not needed.  One suggestion was to advertise executive positions before the election for the whole campus, such as e-mails (which is currently done), a booth outside the cafeteria or in the Campus Center, etc.  Another suggestion was to utilize the WeatherVane so as to generate more publicity to get more interest in students running for SGA.  The senators generally agreed that we really only need one person to run for each position, and “forcing” people to run.

Motion 31032010-3 to change the wording of be changed to say “The Senate will ensure the nomination of at least one candidate for each executive office by nominating one or more names if necessary.”: Darian

Second: Hans

Motion passed unanimously

The next step in this process is to have the proposed changes to the Constitution be voted on by the entire SGA (the student body) after having 2 weeks posted notice.

b. For the record, next year’s executive officers are:

Co-Presidents: Michael Spory & Benjamin Bergey

Vice-President: Janelle Freed

Treasurer: William Morris

Secretary: Sarah Beck

1. VIII. Adjournment

Motion 31032010-4 to adjourn: Giles

Second: Sara

Motion passed unanimously

Meeting adjourned (10:12)

smb 03/31/10

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