Xavier University Student Government Association

Xavier University Student Government Association Student Senate Meeting Minutes November 15, 2010

I. Legislative Vice President, Cristin Giacci called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.

II. Roll Call: Senator Goodrich was absent, the rest were present.

III. Senator Martinez did the opening prayer; Senator Alkoblan will do the prayer at the next meeting.

IV. The minutes of November 8 were approved.

V. Public Forum Jimmy Geiser - Spoke on behalf of Honors Council to promote the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday Novembers 20. Mr. Geiser encouraged that all SGA members attend.

Analisa Condon SACer - Thanks to all Senators that helped out with “America, I Am.”

Stephanie Howes - From Navigators sang Happy Birthday for LVP Giacci.

VI. Report of the Administration - none

VII. Opinion Entry Senator Arthur - Dear Senate, The past few weeks on senate have been very interesting for me. So in the spirit of the theme we have been discussing, I hope to keep this opinion entry as efficient as possible. The best way to achieve efficiency, in my eyes, is to be clear and concise, rather than verbose and obscure. Let me know how I do!

I ran for senate last year for one reason, because I believed that SGA and specifically senate had a unique and commanding opportunity to serve the student body. However, I do not believe senate has lived up to its main responsibility and obligation these past few weeks, and this upsets me. It is in my opinion that senate’s focus has been placed on issues that do not compare to the importance of the student body. I believe we need to redirect our efforts and energy back to the student body.

Additionally, and this is the matter that concerns me the most, is the way we have been interacting with each other both inside and outside of senate. Communication is the cornerstone of any organization and I believe we have struggled with how we communicate with one another. I find the lack of respect and lack of consideration towards others, that has been displayed these past few weeks, to be juvenile and silly, and quite frankly exhausting. It truly saddens me to think about the future of this organization if we all cannot change the way we act toward one another. People are getting upset with each other, and with the process by which we run our meetings and it disheartens me.

I ask us all to put away our own ambitions and pride, asking ourselves in the process, if this the right way to be speaking to each other, and furthermore, do my actions do anything to better the quality of life for Xavier students?

I am asking us all to be humble servant leaders. It is important to question ourselves and our motives, in order to ensure the best interest of each other's dignity and wellbeing as well as the best interest of the student body.

I do love you all, and I know we can do better.

Senator Geiser - Hi Senate, I will have to leave the meeting at 4:55 today. Thank you. Senator Rankin – I will have to leave the meeting early to attend a professional etiquette dinner at 4:20 pm. Sorry for any inconveniences; that is all.

Senator Savercool – Nothing submitted for the minutes.

VIII. Scheduled Business 11-57 – Senator Walsh originally proposed $1,000 from the senate project fund to create Solidarity Day T- shirts. Senator Walsh amended the amount to $690. Senator Rodgers questions the validity of having students pay for the shirts. Senator Walsh responded that the board could decide later how much money the shirts would cost, if at all. Senator McMorran questions the way that Senator Walsh planned on promoting the shirts. Senator McDermott was fearful that the proposal came too late, as Solidarity Day has already passed. Senator Narsinghani believes we should promote the issue throughout the year. Senator Williams was worried that T-Shirts might not be the best way to approach solving the issue. The motion failed 9/10.

11-58 – On behalf of Association Affairs, Senator Arthur move to amend the election code. The motion was struck. It will be re-proposed in future weeks.

11-59 - Senator Heckman move to propose a maximum of $300 to purchase a dry erase SGA banner. Senator hale was opposed, but did not have the energy to explain why. The motion passed 17/2.

IX. New Business - none

X. Standing Committee Reports Association Affairs, Senator Geiser- Association Affairs will be striking the election code changes, and will be re-proposing new changes next week so that we can receive more feedback from SAC and Senate both formally and informally. I will be sending out another e-mail this week, and again as always, please respond to either Seth, Chris, or I so that we may take into account your feedback before we bring forward changes that we hope encompass all of your thoughts.

Club Relations, Senator Masny - Today during our meeting we met with Angela, the president of Nurses Without Borders. She met with us in order to deactivate the charter for Nurses Without Borders. The club really wasn’t going anywhere and the members were all seniors so they collectively decided to disband their charter. We, club relations, typed up a contract that we will have them sign and this will be the protocol used for all future clubs that wish to disband their charter. Last week I met with FLIX to discuss their situation. I kind of felt like there wasn’t much SGA could do for them because we don’t really have control over Gallagher but they do have until February now in that space. I talked to them about alternatives and suggested that they team up with the convenience store idea. This would make a better case for them if they wish to pursue the Gallagher space after renovations. My committee and I also discussed writing a resolution to the college of business to hold them more accountable for student run businesses, as that should be one of their focuses. In regards to club day, it is JANUARY 12 from 10am-2pm, PLEASE make yourselves available to help with the SGA table at some point that day. THANK YOU!!

Community Affairs, Senator McMorran - First of all, Moving Off-Campus 101 is finally complete and off of our calendar. The event went well, but we did not have the numbers we were anticipating. We were shooting for somewhere around 50 and we only got about half of that. I will be meeting with Angie Kneflin this week to talk about improvements to the program so that it can be more successful next year.

In addition to that I want and need your opinions about what CAC should do in terms of the Evanston Community Learning Center. As I reported a few weeks ago, the people involved don’t seem to be on the same page and are not taking the project as seriously as it needs to be taken. I have already told them that SGA, specifically CAC, is struggling to stay committed to a cause that is not committed to it. With that said, I think it’s a great project that we can supplement, but I would like to hear what you all think we should do and what you have to say. That’s all for this week! Thanks, Financial Affairs, Senator Alleman - Just a little to report today. FAC had two groups scheduled for our meeting this afternoon. The first – International Student Society – submitted a Special Request for their International Dinner and Fashion show. The representatives from ISS did not attend the justification meeting, though. That beings said, Dustin informed me last week that Co-Curricular Funding Board approved ISS for the same amount for the same event, so it may simply be that ISS has already received the funding they were looking for. I have sent an e-mail to ISS’ representatives to determine if they would like to withdraw their request. The second group that we met with is Xavier Singers. They were denied a special request in a committee vote 2 weeks and wanted to learn more about their request as well as discuss further options. I shared with them the possibility for loan funding. Essentially, Singers needs $3,000 to put on their Fall Show. After fundraising and ticket sales FAC is confident that they can do this, however they may need some help on a cash flow basis to cover their up-front costs. Kevin, if possible, Katie and I would like to schedule a time to meet with you to discuss alternatives. Next week, the committee also plans to review ways to further promote the special request fund. We hope to do this at the beginning of the spring semester. That’s all for now. Have a great weekend. All the best, Ryan

Student Life, Senator Goodrich - Nothing submitted for the minutes.

XIV. Special Committee Reports - none XV. Project Reports Senator Alkoblan - Project report1: We all had to withdraw from a class at some point in our college career. For few reasons, I would assume mostly because the student didn’t like the course or the prof or basically didn’t do well. Well, if a student who drops a class because he/she didn’t like the course or the professor they won’t be able to fill out the evaluation that we receive as students toward the end of the year. And to ensure a better educational atmosphere and to ensure the students voice is being heard. I’m working in a project that will hopefully give the students the option to fill out an evaluation or anything similar upon their withdrawal from the class. Project report 2: I will be contacting Tom Barlow to ask him if there’s anything he needs from SGA in regards to keeping the Hoff market place opened late during finals week. Senator Geiser - As a quick update on the GaGa Pit project, unfortunately it has hit a roadblock after meeting with Lori Lambert and Fay Coleman. I was informed that Brockman’s Courtyard will not be available for that scale of a recreational site. However, moving forward Senator McDermott and I will still be looking for other locations around campus for the Pit, and I have also began working on a project to enhance Brockman’s courtyard from a programming and recreational standpoint. I will be designing surveys to send out to all students and RA’s about what they would like to see in the courtyard, and I will send this out to you in the next few weeks for feedback (this will be my first survey). The second project I would like to report on is the Saving the Honors Villa Project. Senator Rodgers and I have been scheduling meetings, and are currently working on finding the costs of maintenance for the Villa, as well as gathering Alumni contacts to reach out to the Xavier Community to receive support. At this point our biggest efforts are gathering data and support, as just as I said in Public Forum, please, please please encourage your friends to attend the Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday night at 6pm and start spreading word about students’ anger with the destruction of the Villa.

Senator McMorran - Any questions about the “SGA is Listening” Active Event Final Report I sent out last week? Other than that, no significant progress on anything else to report.

XI. Report of the President, Kevin Contrera The “America, I am” Exhibit was a tremendous success. To give you some comparison, the most effective SAC Enrichment Committee’s free rides (similar event) had nearly 30 participants and we were able to bring together over 140 students for the ”America, I am” exhibit and follow up dialogue proctored by graduate students. This event is a testament of the power of collaboration and was brought about through the efforts of MOSAIC, SAC, the Office of the President, and the Office for the Vice Provost for Diversity, OMA, and Residence Life. We expect to have more than 200 people attend the exhibit within the next couple weeks with the hope of being able to foster a campus wide discussion. The majority of these additional participants will come from a faculty group attending the exhibit, but we will also be handing out vouchers for students who were not able to make it last weekend. Please take note, that if you are in the office and anyone asks you were these are located, you should tell them that they can be found on the table by the front entrance.

The LGBTQ Support Resolution was mailed today to the nine administrators who are directly impacted. This Friday, I was joined by Alliance member David Donnelly, and Senators Hale, Narsinghani, and Arthur for a meeting with Dr. Kathleen Simons to present the Resolution for LGBTQ Staff Support and discuss the advancement of this project. We will be creating a timeline for action and organizing a taskforce of faculty, staff and students to meet within the next month. In the meantime, the five of us will be doing benchmarking of other Jesuit schools. Also, I talked to the Newswire and am hoping to get a little bit of promotion of the subject.

In addition, I sent out the 3C resolution to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Also, I created a Resolution Folder in the Senate File on T Drive so that we can have electronic copies in addition to the hard copies in the binder by the microwave. If you have any past resolutions on any computers, please add them to the folder. This makes it much easier to promote externally.

Met with a representative from GSA to explain the structure of SGA and establish pathways for collaboration and support of graduate students. Some of the major issues that I wanted to make you aware of incase you would like to take these on as projects are: - They would like a designated study/lounge space on campus for Graduate students - Opening the three lots in O’Conner after 5pm for students with night classes - Getting discounts on Basketball tickets for Graduate students (Senator Rodgers has been working on this)

I have emailed everyone an updated report of the executive expenses. Two notable investments are: - $3750 for the Student Medical Mission Trip to Haiti. We determined this based on an analysis of their costs and what we give to alternative breaks - $8500 for Annual SAC Concert

If you know anyone on the men’s soccer team, be sure to congratulate them. They went from placing last in the A-10 to wining the entire tournament this weekend. They will be playing in the NCAA around Thursday.

XII. Report of the Legislative Vice President, Cristin Giacci On Sunday, the Student Life and Leadership Student Advisory Board met for the second time. In this meeting we discussed the renovations in the GSC, UPRC proposals, the committee working on clarifying travel with an advisor, 24/7 commuter lab issue, and student newspaper online expungement. We also discussed the new residence hall and relayed feedback received from our constituents to Dr. Simons. Thank you to Senator Alleman who was the only Senator to reply to my e-mail, sent out on September 20th (this excludes the freshman who were not elected), answering the three questions about the residence hall. Your feedback was greatly appreciated.

The Ad Hoc Committee on Club Management Software met on Sunday to go over any initial questions about the project, collect the RFP’s for the two companies and establish a timeline for the project. We will be meeting again this coming Sunday at 2 p.m. and everyone will come to the meeting having read the RFP’s and researched two schools, one who uses one company and one another company. I am working with the SRR to negotiate a lawyer coming to campus next spring for a trial period, more to come on how much it will cost.

I will be working with Kevin Tighe and Senator Martinez on a luncheon/forum for club leaders held on Dec. 8th. The Christmas Party will now be December 4th at 7:30 pm on campus before we go to ShadowBox at 10:30 (optional). Finally, on 11/16 met with Joey Vitale from PLT to discuss a PLT/SGA bonding event scheduled for next semester. The hope is to foster a positive working relationship with our soon to be new neighbors! That’s all, see you at workshop and have a great week!!

XIII. Report of the Administrative Vice President, Blair Kmetz SGA Shared space meeting Wednesday 5 pm (please respond with your feedback to my questions in that document and come prepared with what you think can be permanently removed from the office). Study Abroad evaluation meeting Tuesday 4 pm We Car feedback? Potential projects from SLAB = 1) cost of tri-health at club sports games 2) parking 3) fees for intramural sports UPRC charged us to no longer fund departments. I'd be interested in working on MOU with Chris or anyone else.

XIV. Report of the Senate Coordinator, Neil Heckman Thanks for doing your evaluations. I know they may have seemed lengthy, but I appreciate your handwork on them and your willingness to fill them out for the betterment of the Association. I will be passing around a piece of paper to sign up for one-on-ones with me next meeting. The one-on-ones will take place during the week after we get back from Thanksgiving, and will last about 20 minutes, so you'll have times to choose from throughout that entire week. I would like some feedback on what you want from these evaluations at the end of my report; just so you all know right now I'm planning on averaging all of your fellow Senator's circles about you, and also providing any qualitative data. I will create individual handouts for you all, with those two things, as well as my critique of the comments and my own comments. Again, let me know if you want anything else.

I wanted to mention something quickly which I know Hattie told SAC about in the SAC meeting last week. We greatly appreciate and encourage your attendance at each other's meetings, however if you are going to go to them, make sure you aren't constantly getting up and down, or talking to other people in public forum. It can be very distracting for both Boards, so Hattie and I are just trying to ensure that people in the back of the room are allowing the people at the table to be as effective and as attentive as possible.

I wanted to also get some feedback on workshop, specifically about your all expectations of each other. I would like it if during passing the gavel we all shared what our expectations of each other during workshop is, and also your expectations of what you hope to get out of the workshop. For example, I expect all members to attend each session, both physically and mentally, and to either participate when you have an opinion, or let others participate if you don't have an opinion. And I hope to get out of workshop a better understanding of how everyone feels about internal and external issues, so that I can better serve you and the students. Please jot one or two things down during the remainder of this meeting, but please keep paying attention.

And please remember that workshop is this Friday from 4:00 pm to Saturday at 6:00 pm. We will all meet here right at 4:00.

Also, if everyone could please take out your report of the administration schedule. I was able to schedule Ismael Betancourt, the new Executive Director for International Education for that meeting.

Remember that if you guys have any issues with me or what I'm doing please schedule a meeting with me. I hope you're all looking forward to workshop.

XV. Senate Advisor, Dustin Lewis Get ready for workshop! It’s time for the SAC Attack:  Let Me See Your Sushi Roll went great last week! SAC had over 125 people in attendance.  I went to dinner with SAC Chairs last week and had some great conversations getting ready for workshop this weekend.  Late Night Snack went really well and had 331 people in attendance for Maggianos.  Funky Fired Arts had 24 people in attendance and they spent the day making some awesome mugs at Funky.  America, I AM had 143 people in attendance – thanks to everyone who attended from Senate and for all of the work everyone did in helping spread the word about the event. The Franklin McCain lecture went great last week and it was really awesome to see so many SGA’ers there. We had 318 people (and only 180 chairs in the auditorium). Inception is this weekend. Thanks Andrea & Josh for volunteering to work it on Thursday! Harry Potter is this Thursday – just a reminder, buses leave at 11pm sharp.

There will be a conversation at workshop about the SGA space – please come prepared and ready to engage this weekend. Hattie and Neil have put a lot of time into planning this great weekend for everyone!

Just a reminder, Wednesday is the deadline to let me know if you want to go to Shadowbox on December 4th.

Finally, I am out the week of Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

XVI. Support Staff, Joanie Weidner – She was out sick and greatly missed. We look forward to her return next week 

XXI. Pass the Gavel

XXII. Adjournment – Meeting adjourned 5:30 p.m.