I. Call to Order Ben (9:06)

II. Roll Call/Prayer Hannah S. prayed

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

Absent: Will Morris, Matt Dean, Amin Laboriel, Todd Hooley

III. Approval of Minutes

Motion 09022011-1 to approve the minutes: Janelle

Second: Nels

Motion passed

IV. Announcements

a. Food drive—Feb. 12: Janelle shared that there have been announcements at athletic games, the posters have been put up, and there are postings on Facebook and the EMU homepage.  There will also be an announcement in Friday Announcements. Sarah offered to talk to Phil about getting a table around for outside the gym.  Peyton Erb came in to talk about the needing people to help man the booth at the game on Saturday and we also need people to help transport food to Patchwork Pantry on Sunday.  Janelle, Alli and Heidi offered to help collect items at the game on Saturday.  Courtney and Erika offered to help out on Sunday (1:45-2:30) taking food to the Pantry.

b. Josh Radin!—Feb. 13: Nels shared that they need additional help so he is passing around a sign-up sheet asking for more help.  As of right now, about 200 tickets have been sold.

c. Hadestown—Feb. 19: Spread the word about this EMU play!!!

d. Join a Club Party—Feb. 22: Ben shared that there is a type of “second-semester ice cream club social” event in Common Grounds on February 22; clubs will be present and talk to interested students who would like to join their clubs.  This is a way for people who were on cross-culturals first semester to get involved, and also people who have more time this semester and would like to get more involved.

V. Committee Reporting

a. Undergraduate Council: Janelle shared that the council talked about field trips and the new procedures for faculty to let the dean and department know about these trips.  Dave Detrow also came in to talk about problems with schedules of required classes overlapping; this then turned into a discussion with faculty and their relationships with students who take on a little too much and try to fit it in over four years.  It seems like more and more students have double-majors or several minors and this along with the expectation to get done in four years leads many students to pack in their schedules too tightly.  John Fast also came in to talk about practicums and internship and the logistics of whether these should be pass/fail and how many hours they should be.

b. Bookstore Committee: Hannah W. shared that they talked about ways to get the word out about the textbook rental program; one idea was to include which books are available for rent in the syllabus for all the classes.

c. QEP: Hannah S. shared that 1/3 of the majors have a class with a sustainability focus right now and they are working closely with other majors to bring that number up higher.  They also talked a lot about ways to encourage faculty to change their curriculum and workshops to reflect the QEP.  They also talked about surveying students about sustainability and give them prizes ($20 CG gift certificates) to encourage participation.

VI. Old Business

a. 24-Hour Lounges: Ken shared that he looked into the possibility of having the main residence hall lounges open to all students 24-hours-a-day; currently only residents of each dorm can get into the dorm after 11:00.  One concern with this is the feeling some residents may have of unease at having people who don’t live in that dorm inside the dorm at any hour.  In addition, a concern is the no-sleepover (co-ed) rules; what would constitute sleeping over?  They are requesting documentation that many students really want this option and it’s not just coming from a small-group.  Some suggestions were a survey or petition.  Many senators felt that it helps community to open dorm lounges to all students.  We tabled this discussion until next week; in the meantime, the Exec will work on drafting a possible petition.

VII. New Business

a. Funding Request—Nursing students: Elli Barnhart shared that there are 4 senior nursing students wanting to attend the Mennonite Health Assembly in San Antonio, TX from March 10-13.  This is a great opportunity for them to attend workshops, listen to keynote speakers, and get involved in break-out groups working to integrate faith into nursing.  The theme is “Many Voices, One Spirit.”  This is an opportunity for the students to share their perspectives on current healthcare both in formal and informal settings.  It’s also a good way to showcase EMU students as being involved, caring students.  The EMU Nursing department and YPCA is covering the cost of registration but the students still have additional needs as far as airfare and transportation.  They are requesting $200 to help cover the cost of these expenses.  Senators were really enthusiastic about helping these nursing students and many expressed a desire to give them more than the requested $200.  We felt this was a great opportunity and these particular students were showing a lot of initiative and passion for doing this over Spring Break.

Motion 09022011-2 to approve giving these nursing students $400 ($100 per student) for the Mennonite Health Assembly with the understanding that they will share their experience with the EMU community: Janelle

Second: Heidi

Motion passed

b. Goal Revisiting—new and old ideas: Michael shared that at the beginning of the year, SGA had a retreat and formed committees; now is the time to re-visit these committees and see what is working and what is not.  We went through these committees; Sustainability, $1 Thursday Lunches, Birthday Parties, and Science Center Student Funding were all disbanded as they either lost momentum or there was no longer a need for the committee as other projects came up.  Many committees are still going strong and have been successful.  We will re-visit this next week so keep thinking of ideas of ways SGA can get involved (i.e. networking between student governments in the regional or state level) and that you have energy for!

VIII. Open Floor

-Michael shared that he talked with Eldon about getting security systems and a swipe card system for the Art Center.  This would be coming up in the next few weeks.

-Ken shared that the Harmon construction company is also willing to bring food and volunteers for the move from Maplewood to Elmwood; way to go!

-Reminder about Calling and Career Day on Wednesday!

-Hannah S. shared her campus security ideas: memo to employers who have employees working out late at night, hand out business cards with campus security phone number, pamphlet on campus security directed to each gender, setting up a text-message alert system, etc.

-Nels shared that Doug Nyce was wondering if any students are interested in helping plan the Homecoming Committee.  Right now, we felt all SGA senators are over-stretched this year but we’d be interested in making it a committee for next year.  Ken asked if it would be better for parent weekend to be different from Homecoming; some students felt like it would be good if it took place in the Spring.

IX. Adjournment

Motion 09022011-3 to adjourn: Janelle

Second: Hannah W.

Motion passed

Meeting adjourned (10:25)

smb 02/09/11