EMU SGA

Eastern Mennonite University

SGA meeting January 18, 2012

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call/Prayer
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Announcements
   1. Distribution of Binders

i.     Erika and Hannah gave binders to new senators

1. Sign-ups

i.     Sign-up sheets were passed around for snack, office hours, etc.

1. Explanation of Documents by Exec

i.     Each of the exec members talked about various aspects of SGA to orient new senators/exec members (and as a reminder for old members).

1. Committee Reporting
   1. Sam

i.     Sam reported on the Information Systems committee. He reported that next year printing will not be free for students, but students will be able to print in color (for a fee). He also said that [possibly—pending budget approval] next year they will be putting up TV’s all over campus with alerts and events.

1. Old Business
2. New Business
   1. The spring retreat will be this Saturday, the 21^st, at 9 a.m in Common Grounds and will go until 3 p.m (at the latest). We will talk about subcommittees from last semester and things we accomplished/didn’t accomplish/still want to accomplish.
3. Open Floor
   1. Alli met with the Cross Cultural Committee on Monday. The most important item mentioned was the upcoming cross cultural/senior seminar to Turkey in May 2013. It will be a two week trip, aimed at students who already completed their CC. There will be info distributed in the next couple months/an application process before registration for fall classes.
   2. Brandon gave a brief update about the Shen. He said that they have a very large staff of great/interested people including two co-editors. The Shen still can use photographers and writers (who can get credit), but they do not have any more room for work study students. They will be doing photos of students all over campus at various events to try and catch all students (they will use student ID pictures if students don’t get their picture taken).
   3. Jacob reported on the Institutional Effectiveness Committee. They are reviewing info that all departments have submitted to assess their own achievements/progress.
   4. James reported that at the end of last semester he submitted a petition to allow people to only have a meal plan contract for one semester at a time (so that juniors who become seniors after the fall semester can drop their meal plan if they choose). Ken said that he met with Eric Codding and Pioneer—they looked at other schools and their meal prices (such as Goshen). They are going to continue to look into the request to figure out the cost/implications and get back to us.
   5. James asked about the policy implemented this semester for transfers who entered this semester to have free housing. Ken said that it was a decision based on the goal of attracting more transfers mid-year.
   6. Ken said that he is meeting tomorrow with the Campus Crisis Management Preparedness Team to talk about ways to best communicate with students when a crisis emerges. They may use the LCD screens being put in place by IS to get messages out quickly. He asked if students might find those useful. Tyler asked what the cost might look like for this endeavor. Ken said that the cost would involve more than just the screens themselves. Erika and others agreed that the LCD screens are a good idea since not everyone has texting or their phones on them. She added that they would be especially useful if alerts can be sent out immediately. Ken said that info would given out in a “timely” manner, but that accuracy would be the priority (so alerts may take longer so that they can be accurate).
4. Adjournment

Eastern Mennonite University

Student Government Association Senate

Agenda

7^th of December 2011

“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”

— Ralph Nichols

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call/Prayer
3. Announcements- Late Night Pancakes: Dec. 14 @ 10-11
4. Committee Reporting
   1. Library Task Force- Brandon
      1. The library staff has been having meetings about ways to make the library more accessible and updated for students. They have been visiting other libraries and getting ideas. They are currently trying to get some money secured to potentially do some renovations. Some big ideas within a 2-4 year period are creating a computer nook (where the magazines are), moving the circulation desk to the middle so that it’s located right when you walk in, make it more user-friendly, etc. They are asking for students to give them more ideas about what they’d like to see changed (ideas can be given to Brandon).
5. Old Business
   1. SGA Constitutional Amendment
      1. Sam Kauffman prepared an amendment that he would like to take to a vote. If it passes the senate (it must have a 2/3 vote of the Senate to pass), it will go on to the student body. The amendment says that the “qualifications may be waived by a two-thirds vote of the Senate” and Brandon asked if that means that people who have not served on SGA, but who want to run for president must come to the SGA with 82 signatures and a proposal. It was proposed that amendment specifies that the person has served for an entire semester (so that someone who was dismissed for too many absences/did not complete their term cannot run). Erica Babikow attended the meeting and shared that she thinks there are more negative repercussions from the proposed amendment than positives. She believes that it limits the pool of candidates quite severely. She said that perhaps we could consider adding something else, such as requiring a longer transition period between presidents. Nels has also heard the suggestion to have a presidential debate prior to elections to add credibility. Sam made a motion to vote on the following amendment proposal: “The President or Co-Presidents must have served previously on the Senate or Executive Committee” with “for at least one semester” added at the end. There was not a second so the motion was dead.
   2. Fitness Center Music
      1. Hannah Schrock and Nels have been in contact with John Wilson and Marty Edes about the music issue at the fitness center. John told Hannah that she needs to come and speak to him in person about having a sign put up in the fitness center saying that people can request a change in music (if they are offended). Hannah does not have the energy to follow up with John so she and Nels are asking if anyone else would like to this on. No one volunteered.
   3. WeatherVane & Shen Collaboration
      1. Brandon reported that a lot of people have had interest in taking pictures/helping out with the Shen. There will be a meeting on Monday at 5:30 to inform people about helping out with the Shen. James will put an announcement in the Friday announcements about the meeting.
6.               VII.     New Business
   1. Mennonite Writing Conference- Kirsten Beachy
      1. Will be held at EMU (for the first time) at the end of March (March 29-April 1). Several Mennonite dignitaries and students from other Mennonite colleges will be attending and several of the events will be public. It will also include workshops for attendees. Last year Kirsten came to SGA to ask for ideas of events for the conference and to ask about potential funding. They are expecting about 200 registrants as well as a number of people from the local area to attend. Classes will not be cancelled across the board at EMU, but some professors may require students to attend in the place of class. Kirsten presented the costs of each event and speaker and is asking for any amount of funding that SGA is willing to contribute (SGA sponsorship of an event is an option). She would like to know soon if we can help contribute funds to the Spoken Word poetry workshop speaker (Ivaco) or the coffeehouse.
         1. Senators felt like this was a very important event to support. James suggested sponsoring the Spoken Word workshop. Becca suggested funding the featured writers. Nels suggested using the funds for the Student Lecture Series ($3000) and Katie suggested cutting that in half so that there is still money left in the fund (in case SGA decides to bring someone in for the SLS). Hannah made a motion to support the SGA sponsored coffeehouse and Spoken word poetry workshop (~$500) and also give $1000 to the Mennonite Writing Conference. Joel Choi seconded. Motion approved unanimously.
7. Open Floor
8. Adjournment Dan Sigmans moved to adjourn. Katie Landis seconded.

Next Meeting: TBD, if requests come in. If we do have a meeting, it will be in UC 211/212 at 9 pm