I. Call to Order Benjamin (9:04)
II. Roll Call/Prayer Sarah prayed
Present: Benjamin Bergey, Janelle Freed, Sarah Beck, Brent Beachy, Will Morris, Giles Eanes, Karissa Sauder, Heidi Bauman, Brendon Derstine, Peyton Erb, Sara Derstine, Drew Kirk, Darian Harnish, Vi Dutcher, Amy Springer, Ken L. Nafziger
Absent: Gabe Brunk, Hans Weaver, Larisa Zehr, Katie Landis
III. Approval of Minutes
Motion 20091028-1 to approve the minutes: Giles
Second: Brendon
Motion passed unanimously
IV. Announcements Ben asked if there is someone willing to do a little digging to find out what other universities charge for student fees since we’re considering raising ours. This is all located on a website so it would be easy! Giles volunteered to do this.
V. Old Business
a. Academic Integrity—Vi
Vi passed around a color chart of the academic integrity policy. There have been a number of reports (6-7) of academic integrity reports this year. The first-year classes were polled to see their opinions of academic integrity violations and they largely reported that they have seen it happen. There has been faculty discussion on how to change this. In the past, there has been confusion for the faculty as to when to report “minimal” violations and how to determine if they are the first ones or not. One option is turnitin.com, which is a program which has a bank of a ton of papers that automatically checks for plagiarism. A possible meeting about this policy with the students was brought up, but this may not draw the people who need to hear about it the most. Another suggestion would be to ask professors teaching writing intensive classes to go over the policy.
VI. New Business
a. Shen—Andrew Jenner
i. Budget request This request is coming in for next year. This year the Shen has $18,600, which is almost entirely used up. This year they’re paying non-work study students and photographers as well. This year the staff is also considering trying to buy a camera. After paying initial cost, there is about $13,000 to pay for the books. The books can be free for students and $30 for undergraduate students. Any additional money goes to lowering the price of the books for undergrads. If we want to get free books for everyone, about $18,000 extra would be needed. The books now are all color too which is a little more expensive.
ii. This year’s Shen distribution The “mug shots” of students are going to be taken for next year’s Shen within the week and at that time orders will be taken for last year’s Shen, which will be roughly $35-40. If more than 100 students order the book, then discounts start to kick in. One possibility of distribution would be to tack on the book fee for the Shen with tuition and then everyone gets the book; plus about 90% of the expense would be covered. This would also reduce the amount SGA would need to allocate to the Shen. In this scenario, giving seniors free books would still cost extra for SGA.
VII. Open Floor
a- Ben passed out a proposal for Common Grounds sustainability possibilities that Darian drew up. Take a look at it and we will discuss it next week.
b- Darian and Larisa are co-presidents of the proposed revival of an old EMU club “Safe Spaces”. Larisa passed around copies of the proposed constitution for our review. The club are asking for a vote approving the official constitution. Since this is a revival of a previously-existing EMU club, protocol is a little different. Jess Sariot was also present and shared that the purpose of the club isn’t so much about a “finding yourself” but affirming and supporting a specific, minority lifestyle. A few minor grammatical errors were pointed out.
Motion 20091028-2 to approve the Constitution with minor grammatical changes: Will
Second: Drew
Motion passed unanimously
VIII. Adjournment
Motion 20091028-3 to adjourn: Giles
Second: Will
Motion passed unanimously
smb 10/28 J