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SGA minutes from April 4, 2012

Minutes

Eastern Mennonite University

Student Government Association

Senate Agenda

4th of April 2012

“Because, after all, a person’s a person, no matter how small.”

-Dr. Seuss “Horton Hears a Who”

  1. Call to Order
  2. Roll Call/Prayer
  3. Approval of Minutes passed with changes (Cyndi Gusler will be a maybe, Cathy is a definite)
  4. Announcements
    1. Executive Elections
      1. New exec members for next year, Julia Schmidt and Zach Zook are here to observe. Molly Kraybill will join late.
    2. Budgeting Timeline
      1. Next week we will be hearing some petitions from people who want more than they were allocated for next year’s budget. After all of the petitions are presented, we will approve the final budget for next year.
  5. Committee Reporting
  6. Old Business
    1. EMSWA Constitution
      1. The EMSWA constitution was reviewed with changes Mila made. Becca had a concern about the wording in Article III—it says to be a voting member you must have attended 3 or more meetings. She thinks it’s a bit vague—3 meetings over the course of 4 years? Katie said that the “unanimous vote” could be problematic. Jacob said that while it could be problematic, they intentionally chose that model because they really value the importance of consensus. Erika said that clubs can make amendments—they could change it if it becomes a problem. Taylor moved to approve the EMSWA constitution and Andrew seconded the motion. Motion passed.
    2. Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day
      1. The schedule: Monday, April 16th—faculty forum and large poster cards (from 11-1) out on Thomas Plaza for students to sign/in each building will be a bowl of carnations and smarties that students can pick up and give to professors on their way to class. Tuesday, April 17th—sit with faculty in caf and dress up like your professor day. There will be pictures taken outside the caf.
  7. New Business
    1. ACM Constitution: Mark Harder
      1. ACM is the Association of Computing Machinery club. Mark came to share—he is the current President. Mainly for computer science majors, but also interdisciplinary. Rebecca asked for “his” in the last sentence in article 3 to be changed to “them” or “his or her’s”. Jacob asked Ken if authorizations of funding proposals always go through the advisor, Ken said yes. Taylor asked what the National Association of Computing Machinery does: Mark said that it is an organization that supports computer science. Provides resources for people in computing profession/if you are a member you have access to a library and other resources. Membership of the national chapter is not required for EMU members. Ken asked if they have an advisor—they do. Jacob moved to approve the constitution with the proposed change. Taylor seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
    2. CAC Petition for Funding- Doran Stucky
      1. Doran presented the petition on behalf of CAC. Their official request is to be allocated the original $40,000 that they asked for. Their reasons: CAC is planning to do another Performing Arts series next year (with the plan of doing a big concert every 3 years). With the current allocation of $26,000 they would only be able to do 4 events instead of 7 (like this year). Becca asked when CAC sets up the schedule for the coming year. Doran said that they normally plan at the beginning of each semester (but the first couple weeks of the year are planned at the end of summer). They had to plan the big concerts/performing arts series way in advance (the previous year). Erika asked how the performers for the performing arts series selected: Doran said that they chose a diverse group of performers—they weren’t sure this year what students would like, but they did a survey this spring and know that for next year students primarily want bands/music groups and folk is the most popular request. Erika asked who actually makes the decision for who is brought in—Doran said that a separate subcommittee is created to make decisions. Ideas are brought in front of entire CAC. Hannah encouraged CAC to do a survey every semester like the one this spring. Erika asked what CAC did before the $40,000 budget (last year)—Doran said that they just brought in small, random bands (usually local, cost about $500). The petition will be reviewed next week.
    3. Julia Schmidt- Peace Fellowship
      1. Julia feels that the cut in budget is a pretty drastic change ($1000 to $300) from this year to next year. She is requesting at least $200 more ($500). Julia hopes that if the funding really will be cut to $300, they will get the funding they need next year when they come in to request funds for big trips (they take several big trips throughout the year). The small budget allocation makes them feel a little insecure about having enough for trips. Rebecca said they would have liked to have seen more reporting back to the student body—Julia said they have reported on everything (with articles in Weather Vane, an open pot luck that was advertised in the Weather Vane, etc.) Hannah said that if the $200 they are requesting is going to strictly go to conferences/travel expenses, they should bring in funding requests/the $200 will not be enough anyways to completely fund trips. Julia said that it’s nice to have the extra funds in case there’s a last minute conference that people decide to go to (which happened a few weeks ago) and there isn’t time for a funding request. It’s nice for security. Rebecca asked if they have weekly meetings—Julia said yes. The petition will be reviewed next week.
  8. Open Floor
    1. Freethought Coalition Constitution
      1. Andrew was concerned about specifying what an “active member” is in order to vote—it was decided that we would strongly recommend that they specify that, but will not require it. Tyler moved to approve the Freethought Coalition Constitution. James seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
    2. If anyone has ideas for topics on the opinion board, email James. Becca suggested listing all of the subcommittees on the board and having students comment on them.
    3. Tyler said that IS is considering imposing printing fees with a standard credit on everyone’s account. With the new computers next year, they will keep track of how many print jobs students do—there will be $20-$25 on each student account/if students spend over that it will go to a student’s misc. account. The current cost is 4.5 cents/side. Tyler encourages everyone to talk to people around campus and see what they think/give him feedback. The idea is to try and discourage so much printing. There will also be an option of printing in color, for a higher price. Vi said that it would make everyone on campus—faculty and students—be more aware of how much they’re printing/people can find more creative ways to send/receive documents.
    4. d.    Last week, Jacob mentioned bringing in the Beehive Collective using some of our SLS funds—they would appeal to a large range of students. They are coming to JMU on April 19th and it may be possible to bring them to EMU afterwards. They usually cost about $1000-$1500 (but they work on a sliding scale). Erika said that a venue would need to be figured out and a funding request would have to be presented. Taylor suggested getting several clubs on board to help sponsor the event. Jacob said he would write up a proposal and bring it next week.
  9. Adjournment Becca made a motion to adjourn. Katie seconded.