I. Call to Order Ben (9:05)
II. Roll Call/Prayer Amin prayed
Present: Michael Spory, Benjamin Bergey, Sarah Beck, Janelle Freed, Will Morris, Darian Harnish, Peyton Erb, Katie Landis, Matt Dean, Todd Hooley, Hannah Wenger, Nels Akerson, Heidi Bauman, James Souder, Gabriel Brunk, Amin Laboriel, Dan Sigmans, Vi Dutcher
Absent: Mariah Elliott, Amy Springer, Ken L. Nafziger
III. Approval of Minutes
Motion 201010-1 to approve the minutes: Janelle
Second: Hannah
Motion passed unanimously
IV. Announcements
a. Pep band meeting, Thurs 9pm– The meeting will take place in UC 124 for anyone interested in the start-up of a pep band.
b. Birthday party, Sat 9pm- Amin shared that the first birthday party will be this Saturday, October 23 to celebrate September and October birthdays. This will take place in the Campus Center main hall.
c. Kiernan Event, Nov 10- Michael shared that Kiernan, an author who speaks on alternate peace, is coming to speak in the area and there may be a possibility of getting him to come to EMU in addition to his original speaking location. There are already people willing to pay for him to come to EMU so SGA will not have to worry about funding that.
V. Committee Reporting
a. SPC—Benjamin & Michael- Michael shared that today the SPC talked about points under enrollment; a fairly major shift in progress is our enrollment strategy. At this point, our current undergraduate population is about 50% Mennonite and their goal is to reach out to more non-Mennonite students still affiliated with the church to reach EMU’s goal of 1,000 undergraduate students. They are looking to decrease the student-faculty ratio by increasing the amount of students.
VI. Old Business
a. Fitness Center Tax- Ben shared that some EMU faculty opt-out of the fitness center use because as a benefit given by the university, they can be taxed on it. Some other universities do not require this benefit to be taxed because it qualifies as a health benefit. As part of our hospitality-mission to the greater EMU community, he believes the SGA should give our support to lift this tax. A copy of a proposed memorandum to Student Life was passed around for senators to read and think about. This memo basically states that we as an SGA encourage the lifting of the tax on the fitness center benefit to faculty members. SGA will not be paying the tax for the faculty members; we are just supporting the idea of having a tax-free fitness center benefit for our faculty. There was general agreement that this statement helps show that the students care about the well-being of our faculty and we think it’s a good idea. We love our faculty!
Motion 201010-2 to approve this memorandum with a few grammatical changes: Gabe
Second: Peyton
Motion passed unanimously
b. Sub-committee check-in- Various sub-committees checked in with SGA. Peyton shared that Common Grounds is booked for November 16 from 9-10 p.m. for our faculty forum. She also shared that there was no response from senators who could work this Saturday for the Pioneer catering but she still offered to help Bruce and is waiting to hear back from him. Regarding the Student Lecture Series, Gabe shared that the main focus right now is on the Attachment conference coming up and they are in the process of discussing options for next year’s speakers. Nels shared that he is e-mailing various people regarding the fundraising for the Science Center. Heidi shared that the Hospitality committee is working on showing gratitude to members of the SGA. There are going to be “clippies” in the SGA office where people can attach notes to each other and clip them under the clothespin with that senator’s name. Send people notes—this is exciting! Katie shared that Marketing is still available and willing to help with promotion; Peyton eagerly asked for help with the Faculty Forum. Yay for teamwork! Ben shared that the tree house possibility on campus is still on the table and is being discussed with Eldon Kurtz and others who would make this decision ultimately. James brought up the discussion about adding more seating on the hill; Janelle shared that this was actually the class gift from last year’s class.
VII. Open Floor
–Janelle shared that an e-mail will be coming to the senators with the final results from the idea drive.
–Keep thinking about coming to executive meetings if you are interested in running in the future!
VIII. Adjournment
Motion 201010-3 to adjourn: Janelle
Second: Matt
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned (9:42)