Eastern Mennonite University

SGA meeting January 18, 2012

 

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call/Prayer
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Announcements
   1. Distribution of Binders

i.     Erika and Hannah gave binders to new senators

1. Sign-ups

i.     Sign-up sheets were passed around for snack, office hours, etc.

1. Explanation of Documents by Exec

i.     Each of the exec members talked about various aspects of SGA to orient new senators/exec members (and as a reminder for old members).

1. Committee Reporting
   1. Sam

i.     Sam reported on the Information Systems committee. He reported that next year printing will not be free for students, but students will be able to print in color (for a fee). He also said that [possibly—pending budget approval] next year they will be putting up TV’s all over campus with alerts and events.

1. Old Business
2. New Business
   1. The spring retreat will be this Saturday, the 21^st, at 9 a.m in Common Grounds and will go until 3 p.m (at the latest). We will talk about subcommittees from last semester and things we accomplished/didn’t accomplish/still want to accomplish.
3. Open Floor
   1. Alli met with the Cross Cultural Committee on Monday. The most important item mentioned was the upcoming cross cultural/senior seminar to Turkey in May 2013. It will be a two week trip, aimed at students who already completed their CC. There will be info distributed in the next couple months/an application process before registration for fall classes.
   2. Brandon gave a brief update about the Shen. He said that they have a very large staff of great/interested people including two co-editors. The Shen still can use photographers and writers (who can get credit), but they do not have any more room for work study students. They will be doing photos of students all over campus at various events to try and catch all students (they will use student ID pictures if students don’t get their picture taken).
   3. Jacob reported on the Institutional Effectiveness Committee. They are reviewing info that all departments have submitted to assess their own achievements/progress.
   4. James reported that at the end of last semester he submitted a petition to allow people to only have a meal plan contract for one semester at a time (so that juniors who become seniors after the fall semester can drop their meal plan if they choose). Ken said that he met with Eric Codding and Pioneer—they looked at other schools and their meal prices (such as Goshen). They are going to continue to look into the request to figure out the cost/implications and get back to us.
   5. James asked about the policy implemented this semester for transfers who entered this semester to have free housing. Ken said that it was a decision based on the goal of attracting more transfers mid-year.
   6. Ken said that he is meeting tomorrow with the Campus Crisis Management Preparedness Team to talk about ways to best communicate with students when a crisis emerges. They may use the LCD screens being put in place by IS to get messages out quickly. He asked if students might find those useful. Tyler asked what the cost might look like for this endeavor. Ken said that the cost would involve more than just the screens themselves. Erika and others agreed that the LCD screens are a good idea since not everyone has texting or their phones on them. She added that they would be especially useful if alerts can be sent out immediately. Ken said that info would given out in a “timely” manner, but that accuracy would be the priority (so alerts may take longer so that they can be accurate).
4. Adjournment