I. Call to Order Ben (9:04)
II. Roll Call/Prayer Mariah prayed
Present: Michael Spory, Benjamin Bergey, Janelle Freed, William Morris, Sarah Beck, Heidi Bauman, Dan Sigmans, Peyton Erb, Darian Harnish, Matt Dean, Gabe Brunk, Todd Hooley, Katie Landis, Mariah Elliott, Hannah Wenger, James Souder, Nels Akerson, Amin Laboriel, Vi Dutcher, Amy Springer, Ken L. Nafziger
Absent: No one!
III. Approval of Minutes
Motion 17112010-1 to approve the minutes: Janelle
Second: Gabe
Motion passed unanimously
IV. Announcements
a. Forum feedback: Thank you to Darian and Peyton for putting the forum together! Senators felt the forum was interesting and well-attended; great questions were asked and many people wished there was more time to ask questions. Students were very interested in the forum and the whole crowd seemed very attentive. One senator commented that it was nice to see faculty outside of the classroom environment. Amy shared that from a participant’s stand-point: it was a lot of fun! She and Vi are willing to talk to faculty to try to round up more participants.
b. Christmas “meeting”: Ben asked senators if they preferred not meeting during finals week and instead have our Christmas meeting the week before finals. Senators all preferred having a meeting the Wednesday before finals since that week gets pretty crazy. The Christmas party will then be December 15.
V. Committee Reporting
a. Board—Michael, Benjamin: Ben shared that the Board met this past weekend and was appreciative of the conversations that took place with SGA members at lunch on Friday. He also shared that he and Michael reported a lot of fun things to the Board and they received it very highly. Yay for being affirmed by the Board! As a side-note, MRI presented their statement to the Board as well and it was also received well. While no specific action was made towards ultimate divestment, the Board is supportive of this and will be working towards this.
b. SPC: Michael shared that this particular meeting discussed enrollment and specific strategies they are putting in place to increase enrollment. They also talked about human resources and faculty support (such as by putting a daycare on campus).
c. USO: Michael shared that clubs talked about what they thought were some of their strengths and what they think they could improve on. One thing that came up as a way to improve is how to incorporate freshman into clubs that don’t get a lot of publicity in the beginning of the year. In addition, it was suggested that someone make a digital archive of all the club files for student leaders to access each year.
VI. Old Business
–Ben shared that since Marketing put forth $400 for the ZOOperstars event at the Randolph-Macon Basketball game, SGA only has to put forth $300 instead of $400 to raise enough money.
VII. New Business
a. Food drive with athletics: Michael shared that the Exec committee has been brainstorming ways to increase student involvement at sporting events. One way they thought of was to have a food drive where students could bring in canned goods and then enter a drawing to win a prize (EMU sweatshirt, blanket, etc.) Some senators suggested opening this to the community, but only giving a prize to a student. We could do this at a men’s and women’s game. Janelle, Peyton, and Mariah offered to help plan this event.
b. Bike racks ideas: Ben brought up that the lack of bike racks has come up in the past as a major issue and was also brought up in the SGA Retreat this fall. He asked senators for feedback on places where this is most needed. Ideas given were the lower level by CG, the art center, the library, down by Maplewood (or in front of Elmwood when it’s finished), and the lower level of Lehman Auditorium. Senators also brought up the point that the covered bike rack by Cedarwood is inconvenient because you have to lift your bike up and awkwardly maneuver it to hang it up; some bikes don’t even fit there. One suggestion would be to have covered racks that senators can just push their bike into rather than have to lift up.
VIII. Open Floor
-Darian shared that he has heard from many students that there is a frustration with the swipe card system shutting students out of dorms at 11:00. The main lounges of the dorms are supposed to be open at all times to all students; however, students are only allowed to get in their own dorms after 11:00 p.m. It would be great to find a way to allow students to get into the dorms (but not in the halls) after 11:00. Ken suggested a motion to recommend this and he would take it to Residence Life to look into this problem.
Motion 17112010 to suggest to Student Life to find a way for students to be able to swipe into dorms to access lounges after 11:00 p.m.: Hannah
Second: Dan
Motion passed unanimously
-Amin suggested putting a swipe card system on the 24-hour lab in the Campus Center and the lab in the basement of the library. Mariah shared that she has a meeting with the Security Committee this Friday and this is already on their agenda! Mariah asked for places on campus that need more lighting: suggestions included up by the seminary building, between the Library and the Science Center, by the stairs leading from Hillside to the Commons, and from the Science Center to Mount Clinton Pike. One senator also suggested having a place for security guards to watch live videos as an added safety feature.
-Janelle mentioned that the transition from Maplewood to Elmwood is slated to take place in January and she thinks it would be a good idea for the SGA to help out in the moving process. Mariah also mentioned that the first floor will be moving earlier than the rest of Maplewood and that floor will be moved to Northlawn at the end of the semester. As the time for this approaches, we will decide what we want to specifically do about this.
-Amy shared that she received an e-mail today about a student letter-writing campaign to send to the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant which helps give money for students living in Virginia going to school in VA. There is a website where you can send e-mails to the governor so make sure to tell VA residents to write a letter or e-mail for this campaign. Students have gotten an e-mail with the link to the campaign so encourage them to access it!
-Ben shared that the solar dedication went well and the system is up and running!
-The next meeting is DECEMBER 1 (crazy!) which is the ZOOperstars game; Ben asked if senators minded if the meeting was pushed back to 9:30 so we could all go to the game. No one minded. Plan on 9:30 on December 1!
-Ben also passed around Christmas carol song sheets for songs we can sing before chapel. After a few groans (mostly good-natured) we sang “Angels we have Heard on High” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.”
IX. Adjournment
Motion 17112010-3 to adjourn: Sarah
Second: Amin
Motion passed
15-3-0
Meeting adjourned (10:01)
smb 11/17/10