February 23 Minutes

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 21st; the elections will then take place on Wednesday March 23rd.  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