EMU SGA

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

Present: Michael Spory, Ben Bergey, Sarah Beck, Janelle Freed, Will Morris, Laci Gautsche, Brittney Wenger, Hannah Schrock, Courtney Walker, Erica Babikow, Nels Akerson, Dan Sigmans, Matt Dean, Alli Eanes, Heidi Bauman, Todd Hooley, Amin Laboriel, Amy Springer, Vi Dutcher

Absent: Hannah Wenger, Ken L. Nafziger

1. III.      Approval of Minutes

Amy noted that there was a discrepancy with the name of the committee Beth Aracena asked SGA to report back to; we were just to give Beth herself the feedback.

Motion 23032011 to approve the minutes with said changes: Dan

Second: Janelle

Motion passed

1. IV.      Announcements
   1. SGA Dinner, Monday, 3/28, 5pm: The dinner will be at Loren’s house.  Dress nice!  We will meet at 4:50 outside the Commons
   2. Commons Volunteer reminder: The Board is coming this weekend and this Saturday is the dedication of the Commons Phase II. Reminders were given to those who volunteered to help out.  Wear your SGA t-shirts!
2. V.      Old Business

a. AVAIL website:  Ben asked for feedback on AVAIL; some senators found that their

search results didn’t bring many options.  Someone mentioned that searching under the

tags listed proved to be more helpful.  Senators thought there were a lot of neat links in other outside organizations which was cool.  It was also stated that the fact that the organizations listed how frequently help was needed was helpful.  Most found it to be a fairly intuitive site!

b. T-shirt toss volunteers: Volunteers are needed to toss t-shirts at the final volleyball

games; Amin and Sarah will toss at tomorrow’s game at 7:00 and Hannah S. offered to

toss them at Saturday’s game at 2:00.

c. SGASP: Ben and Michael brought the revised SGA Strategic Plan (SGASP) to the

senate for review.  This plan includes four goals for the next three years and each goal

has several objectives necessary to reach the goal. Discussion ensued on point A-1 which

discusses the establishment of clear and specific documents to outline role

responsibilities and tips from previous members; Janelle felt that there should be more of

an ongoing date written in so future exec members would be more obligated to continue

to revise their documents.  Most felt that this was not something to put in an actual

strategic plan because technically, we can’t be positive that future exec would follow

through.  We decided something could be written in the actual document to show that this

process should continue to be ongoing so the role responsibilities and tips can be updated

in the future.  When discussing B-3, which discusses encouraging student initiatives, it

was mentioned that this was very vaguely written and it might be a good idea to include

more specific examples (the Idea Drive, etc.).  Other small discussions involved small

grammatical changes and where the document should go from here (perhaps Ken L.

Nafziger will have suggestions about that implementation and appropriate paths to take).

Senators were reminded that the SGASP is a continuously-working, revisable document

that future SGA’s will be able to revise at the end of their terms.

Motion 23032011-2 to approve the SGASP as the senate’s working plan with said changes: Dan

Second: Todd

Motion passed

1. VI.      New Business
2. VII.      Open Floor
3. VIII.      Adjournment

Motion 23032011-3 to adjourn:

Second:

Motion passed

Meeting adjourned (9:54)

smb 03/23/11

I. Call to Order Michael (9:06)

II. Roll Call/Prayer Janelle prayed

Present: Benjamin Bergey, Michael Spory, Janelle Freed, Will Morris, Sarah Beck, Hannah Wenger, Heidi Bauman, Courtney Walker, Dan Sigmans, Alli Eanes, Matt Dean, Todd Hooley, Nels Akerson, Erika Babikow, Laci Gautsche, Hannah Schrock, Amin Laboriel, Vi Dutcher, Amy Springer, Ken L.Nafziger

Absent: Todd Hooley, Brittney Wenger

III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 16032011-1 to approve the minutes: Hannah S.

Second: Hannah W.

Motion passed

IV. Announcements

a. SGA Dinner at Loren’s: March 28^th (Monday) is the scheduled night for the SGA dinner at Loren Swartzentruber’s house so mark your calendars! We will probably meet in the Commons to carpool/walk (weather permitting).

b. Exec elections petitions: Encourage people to run!

V. Committee Reporting

a. Information Systems: Erika shared that they are putting wireless and SMARTBoards in the Science Center  (!!!) and they are also adding a new system in Martin House.

b. Undergraduate Council: Janelle shared that Stephanie Bush shared how to educate students on how to become more literate when it comes to researching credible sources.  In addition, they talked about enrollment and the goal of reaching 1,000 undergraduate students by 2014.  Also, by 2012 all the VCRs on campus will be gone. Sad day.

c. Safety Committee: Laci shared that the committee talked about putting chemicals used online so students can see them, fire inspections and drills, potential lockdown drills, and the e-panic button.  This button would be a key on every computer that would send an emergency distress signal.

VI. Old Business

VII. New Business

a. Beth Aracena shared that one of her jobs is to help promote community learning and EMU is moving to an online platform for service learning.  She is hoping everyone in the university will jump on board with this new program.  She shared that AVAIL is a project being launched in Virginia; this is a centralized database for all online service learning.  This program would allow students and staff to search for various service agencies/opportunities; these agencies can put all their contact information and available opportunities for students into this database.  This database also keeps track of total logged hours that EMU students have spent serving.  Beth asked the SGA senators to log in to this database and try it out to give her feedback on this system.  She is also looking at ways to broadcast this opportunity to the students and is open to any and all suggestions.  One senator suggested making this a requirement for community learning classes, which the committee is already trying to organize.  Professors could also show the website to their community learning classes to make students aware of its capabilities.  Another suggestion was to have a “service day” type launching party in the fall where students can learn about this website and its opportunities.  Another suggestion was to add a tab to myEMU so students can quickly and easily access the database.  Some suggested organizations who would probably be interested in partnering with this database would be ResLife and YPCA.

b. Calling and Career Day: Beth Aracena and Jennifer Litwiller came in to discuss finding a new name for “Calling and Career Day.”  They are looking for a different name that fits the situation and wanted a brainstorm.  Ideas thrown around: beyond, next steps, life, vocation, finding vocation, “making life real,” “inspiration day,” “Career and Service Fair” etc.  Some senators also thought that “Calling and Career Day” was an appropriate title for the event that takes place.

c. Concert Feedback and Ideas: Doug Wandersee came in to get feedback on the Joshua Radin concert and to get new ideas for future concerts.  He believes that it’s important to survey the campus early to get an idea of potential acts that students would like to see since it takes several months to negotiate the contracts.  He passed around the concert budget and CAC actually came out approximately $300 ahead which is wonderful!  He shared that 1 out of 3 EMU students attended which is a really great percentage.  He feels that this was a great opportunity for EMU to continue to do in future years; however, he suggested having a larger-scale concert like that every-other year and in the years in between the concert money could be spread out into smaller acts to provide a larger variety of options for students.  Several senators agreed that this would be a good idea; others felt that the bigger name brings in more students so smaller concerts may not be as well attended.  Doug felt that a concert series over a period of years could build good repertoire with students and could eventually gather more student support and be better attended.

VIII. Open Floor

-New computer in the SGA office!!! Very exciting!

-Make sure and sign-in to the AVAIL system to check it out and we’ll discuss thoughts next week.

-Hannah W. and Alli shared that they are looking at April 18, the Monday before Easter Break, for the faculty forum.  Current suggestions are Mark Sawin and Jerry Holsopple and Mike the security guy.  This could become a Faculty and Staff Forum to include the staff members.

IX. Adjournment

Motion 16032011-3 to adjourn: Janelle

Second: Matt

Motion passed

Meeting adjourned (10:09)

smb 03/16/11

Radin, Radin, Radin!

If you missed the big concert, one of the major things SGA did, along with
CAC, was bring Josh Radin to Lehman stage. It drew nearly 500 people for
a fun evening of music. Big thanks to Doug Wandersee for his epic
coordinating abilities. Also on the concert kick, we helped bring in
Hadestown, a folk opera by Anais Mitchell, along with various other
departments.

In our continuing efforts to boost school spirit, we’ve been throwing
t-shirts at basketball and volleyball games, as well as a raffle at half
time for free EMU gear for students (special thanks to Sarah Beck and Matt
Dean). We also organized a food drive to benefit Patchwork Pantry–thanks
to Peyton Erb for her leadership.

Last Tuesday was the Join a Club Party in Common Grounds, where the USO
(Union of Student Organizations) created a space for clubs to get their
word out and encourage students to join. We hope this spring gathering of
clubs can be a annual event.

Other SGA happenings:
-Helping Maplewood students move into the renovated Elmwood
-Funding Peace Fellowship to the Intercollegiate Peace Conference, and
Sustainable Food Initiative to the Food and Farming Conference at
Laurelville, PA.
-Working with Campus Life and EMU Security to respond to safety concerns
on campus
-Volunteer at the Calling and Career Day, shout out to Amy Springer and
Jen Litwiller for making this event happen

SGA is also beginning to work with a Strategic Plan as we dream and vision
for how the SGA could look in the future. And as always, our meetings are
open to everyone–Wednesdays at 9pm, UC 211/212.

Blessings during this mid-term week.

Happy snow day, students…it’s time for another update!

We are happy to announce the arrival of six new senators: Erika Babikow,
Alli Eanes, Laci Gautsche, Hannah Schrock, Courtney Walker, and Brittney
Wenger. We are excited to hear their fresh ideas and utilize the added
energy they bring to the Senate. Remember, you can talk with these and
other senators about concerns and ideas on campus.

We already have several exciting projects on the horizon. Biggest of
these include bringing Joshua Radin to EMU with the help of CAC (special
thanks to Doug Wandersee). This unprecedented concert will be Sunday, Feb
13, at 8pm in Lehman Auditorium. Tickets will go on sale in the Student
Life Suite on January 31st, $5/student, $15/community member.

Other exciting events include:
-Free stuff at basketball games…keep your tickets and there’s a drawing
at halftime for EMU gear
-Food drive–bring staple food items (i.e. canned foods and
non-perishables) to the basketball game on Feb. 12 to support Patchwork
Pantry

We were also happy to help fund the recent successful club events from
SMRI (keffiyeh sales) and TDAP (Red Flag Campaign).

The SGA is currently working with various groups and individuals to
continue to help make this campus a safe place. We appreciate your help
in maintaining EMU’s strong and beautiful community. And as always,
you’re welcome to come to our meetings on Wednesdays at 9pm in UC 211/212.

Blessings this semester,
Benjamin and Michael

It’s time for another SGA update. Here’s what’s been going on:

You may have seen the large, inflatable jumping creatures at the men’s
basketball game vs. Hampden-Sydney. SGA was pleased to help co-sponsor
their performance along with Athletic Events, Marketing, and CAC.
Everyone there enjoyed their crazy antics.

EMU’s Board of Trustees convened for their fall meeting, and we as
Co-Presidents reported to them on behalf of SGA. We updated them on the
current Senate, as well as happenings within our organization. We were
pleased to give a glowing report to a board which received us with
affirmation. We also supported an official statement in conjunction with
the Morally Responsible Investment Club, who met with the Board’s Finance
Committee and urged them to support more morally responsible investment
within the Mennonite financial institutions.

Thanks to Senators Peyton Erb and Darian Harnish for their work at putting
together another successful Faculty Forum. We are also grateful for the
willingness of the faculty/staff panel–Walt Surratt, Matt Siderhurst, Don
Clymer, Amy Springer, and Vi Dutcher. It’s great to be able to get to
know EMU faculty and staff outside the classroom.

Recently, we helped fund a trip to New York for several members of Peace
Fellowship to the annual MCC-UN Conference. They will be having a forum
to discuss their experience in Common Grounds on Wednesday, Dec 8 at 8pm.

Keep your eye out, matey, for these upcoming happenings:
-SGA Caroling before chapel, Monday, Dec. 13 at 10am (last day of class!)
-Late Night Breakfast, Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 10pm
-Apparel give-aways at select athletic events
-Food Drive early next semester for Patchwork Pantry

As always, our weekly meetings (Wednesdays at 9pm) are open to all
students, our minutes are posted at www.emu.edu/sga, and let us know if
you have any questions or ideas at sga@emu.edu. Happy studying!

As a part of this year’s goal for SGA, we as Co-Presidents are working to
find new ways of communication between Student Government and the student
body. One of these ways is by using President Swartzendruber’s model of
regular updates. As representatives of the student body, we want to
become a more transparent organization so that you as students know more
about some of the things SGA is working on. So here goes:

We kicked off the year with our annual SGA Fall Retreat, where we
brainstormed many ideas for the year and developed a vision for this
year’s Senate. The Senate, full of energy and creativity, generated many
great ideas that have directed our work so far.

As a way of being more intentional about hearing student ideas directly,
we organized the Idea Drive which yielded many helpful suggestions that we
either considered as a Senate or passed on to the appropriate department.
Janelle Freed and Mariah Elliott did a great job of making this drive
possible.

This year, Spirit Week featured new and exciting events, like the Water
Balloon Frenzy and S’mores on the Hill. Special thanks to Heidi Bauman,
Nels Akerson, Benjamin Bergey, Janelle and Mariah, among others.

Since SGA also provides funding to clubs, we have helped fund and support
the biannual Student Leadership Conference with Student Life, activities
for the Students for the Morally Responsible Investment of
Israel/Palestine (MRI), the annual Take Back the Night event, and events
for Res Judicata and Peace Fellowship. We are also excited to see the
energy behind the Sustainable Food Initiative, a rising student club.

Things on the horizon:
• An EMU pep band is in the making…stay tuned.
• EMU-hosted Justice Summit, facilitated by Mayor Kai Degner—Nov. 13
• Faculty forum—Nov. 16

As always, SGA is excited and open to hear what students have to say. Our
office hours are posted on the SGA office door. Feel free to stop by to
chat with a Senator, or send us an email at sga@emu.edu. Keep up to date
with SGA happenings on our website: www.emu.edu/sga, and remember that our
weekly meetings (Wednesdays at 9pm in UC 211) are open to all students.

I. Call to Order Michael (9:04)

II. Roll Call/Prayer Ben praued

Present: Benjamin Bergey, Michael Spory, Janelle Freed, Sarah Beck, Hannah Wenger, Matt Dean, Todd Hooley, Dan Sigmans, Erika Babikow, Courtney Walker, Hannah Schrock, Nels Akerson, Heidi Bauman, Vi Dutcher, Amy Springer, Ken L. Nafziger

Absent: Laci Gautsche, Alli Eanes, Will Morris, Brittney Wenger, Amin Laboriel

III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 02032011-1 to approve the minutes: Janelle

Second: Matt

Motion passed unanimously

IV. Announcements

a. T-shirts: The SGA shirts for the new senators have finally come in! Please pick up your t-shirts in the SGA office.

b. Commons Phase 2 Grand Opening: The Grand Opening of the new Common Grounds addition is the weekend of March 25-26; volunteers are needed to help out with various parts of this opening (welcoming guests, handing out programs, monitoring refreshments, etc.).  A sign-up sheet went around for senators to sign up for times to help volunteer for this.

c. Executive Petitions and Elections: Feel free to take a petition for SGA Exec for next year; elections will be in the second week back from Spring Break.

V. Old Business

a. Faculty Forum: Hannah W. shared that she and Alli will be meeting this week to discuss

finalizing a date for this forum to take place and she will keep us posted.

VI. New Business

a. SGA Strategic Plan: Ben and Michael shared a proposed Strategic Plan in working document form for the SGA for the next three years (through 2014).  This plan included goals and objectives for the SGA in order to focus our energies and foci; the Exec has already previewed and revised this plan and desires feedback from senators.  Goals included increasing sustainability and efficiency of SGA roles and transitions, developing useful networks among SGAs, equipping leaders to serve and lead more efficiently and effectively, and establishing a Student Center where involved departments and clubs can be in closer proximity.  Discussion pertained mostly to various clarifications with wording of goals, parties responsible for the goals, launch dates, and specific purposes of goals.  Senators were also encouraged to think about possible goals/objectives to add to this plan; one senator brought up possibly finding a way to increase and encourage student initiative.  It was decided that this fit in nicely with goal C, which discusses finding ways to equip leaders.  The next step with this process is finalizing our Strategic Plan for next year and then finding a place in the SGA Constitution for a Strategic Plan that can be reviewed/revised at the end of each year.

b. Student Lecture Series suggestions: Michael shared SLS is where the Lectureship committee tries to bring in speakers to campus; last year we spent part of our budget for the SLS to use for this year’s Attachment Conference.  Michael was looking for speaker suggestions for next year’s SLS.  Suggestions by senators were Francis Chan, Calvin College’s January Series (for options of speakers), and Francis Collins.  Amy also brought up that it would be a good idea to talk to department chairs to get ideas for speakers who might be interesting to bring to EMU.

c. Finance Committee: Michael asked for volunteers to serve on the finance committee to approve budgets; this commitment would most likely be only one meeting.  Interested senators should contact Ben or Michael.

VII. Open Floor

-Nels shared that the Cross-Cultural approved the trips for 2013-2014, shared updates from the current trips, discussed sustainability for cross-culturals, brought in new advisors, discussed a new tool used for students to submit cross-cultural reflections.  They also discussed an Attachment Conference seminar focusing on cross-cultural attachments which will be VERY interesting!

-Vi shared that Brittney is the senator serving on the Writing Committee and is no longer able to attend the meetings at 12:40 on Mondays; if anyone can fill in that spot please let her know!  Hannah Wenger agreed to help serve on this

VIII. Adjournment

Motion 02032011-2 to adjourn: Matt

Second: Hannah W.

Motion approved

Meeting adjourned 10:03

smb 03/02/11

I. Call to Order Ben (9:05)

II. Roll Call/Prayer Janelle prayed

Present: Benjamin Bergey, Michael Spory, Janelle Freed, Will Morris, Sarah Beck, Hannah Wenger, Heidi Bauman, Dan Sigmans, Alli Eanes, Matt Dean, Todd Hooley, Nels Akerson, Erika Babikow, Laci Gautsche, Brittney Wenger, Hannah Schrock, Amin Laboriel, Vi Dutcher, Amy Springer

Absent: Courtney Walker, Ken L. Nafziger

III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 23022011-1 to approve the minutes: Heidi

Second: Nels

Motion passed

IV. Announcements

a. Maplewood Move: Please come on FRIDAY from 1:00-7:00 p.m. to help residents move into their new dorm!

b. Exec elections schedule: Ben shared that the petitions will be going out very soon and will be due the Monday, March 21^st; the elections will then take place on Wednesday March 23^rd.  Every position will be open since the current Exec is entirely composed of graduating seniors; we encourage all the current senators to consider running for a position they are interested in!  We also open up our Exec meetings to any senator interested in sitting in on a meeting to see how the Exec works.

V. Committee Reporting

a. Strategic Planning Council (SPC): Michael shared that this committee is where the administrators at EMU look at the university’s strategic plan and long-range goals.  Some of the goals discussed were looking at having more sustainable buildings in the future (currently Cedarwood, Maplewood, and Elmwood, when finished, are lead-certified), and becoming a “Christian University of Choice” and what that means for our future.

VI. Old Business

VII. New Business

a. Gamer option from IS: Ben shared that Jack Rutt, the IS director, had gotten feedback that students had been complaining that they are unable to play certain online games (mostly World of Warcraft) due to the blocks that EMU puts up to block person-to-person games, which allow file-to-file sharing.  WOW is not a player-to-player game and thus, should be able to be played by students.  Jack has obtained a program where this block can be lifted; however, to use it will cost any interested students a $25 player fee and a $100 deposit that is fully refundable if the student does not use any player-to-player games.  He wanted to come to SGA to see what we think of this proposed contract for all interested students (whom he will also be contacting separately).  General senator feedback was that this system seems fair and we support this contract.

b. Idea for minutes in the future: The Exec proposed a new method of reviewing/passing minutes.  At this point, Sarah reads all the minutes aloud at each meeting; under the proposed changes, Ben and Michael will send out the minutes as usual and senators will be expected to read them in preparation for the weekly meeting.  Sarah will then just read any old business that will come up in the current meeting and the minutes will be voted on.  The minutes will be sent out by Tuesday night so senators have time to read them.  Senators agreed that this was a more effective and time-saving method of minutes so this will be implemented next week!

VIII. Open Floor

-Michael brought up the possibility of sponsoring a Spirit Bus to the ODAC tournament this weekend in Salem. Dave King in athletics is giving away 100 free tickets to students; one suggestion was to talk to him about how many students have come to get free tickets.  Another option is to pass a preliminary motion to rent out an EMU van for any interested students; if there is not enough interest we can always not rent the van.  Renting the van would be about $150 and two vans would be $300.  One issue we would find would be a lack of available drivers since the driver must be 25 and trained.  General senator feedback wasn’t super enthusiastic about the van; we mostly felt that students would find their own rides but we think it’s a good idea to have an option for any students wanting to go who don’t currently have a ride.

Motion 23022011-2 to approve necessary funding for a Spirit Van contingent on finding a driver and a minimum of six interested students: Janelle

Second: Amin

Motion passed unanimously

-Vi shared that she and Ben Beachey had two workshops last week for any faculty members concerned with “Turn it In;” there were not many faculty members in attendance so they took that to mean there are not many faculty issues with this program.  She has also been trying to get student feedback on the program which has mostly been positive; students don’t seem to mind having to turn in their papers to this program.  She asked senators to come to her with any positive or negative feedback we hear from students.

-Todd shared that he heard from a student that t-shirt tosses (or other items) could happen at other non-athletic events such as music or theater events to try to get more student interest in those events.

IX. Adjournment

Motion 23022011-3 to adjourn: Janelle

Second: Alli

Motion passed

Meeting adjourned (9:41)

smb 02/23/11