Tarleton State University Student Government Association Student Senate Minutes February 7, 2011

I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER a. The Student Senate of Tarleton State University Student Government Association was called to order by President Pro-Tem Kathryn Brown at 5:15 p.m. in room 219 of the Thompson Student Center. b. The following Senators were absent: Ashlee Cantrell c. Lucas Barnett moved to approve the minutes with no corrections. This motion was seconded and carried. II. EXECUTIVE COUNCIL REPORTS a. President: a.i. Student Body President Alycia Pruitt announced that she and College of Business Administration Senator John Gressett visited the capitol last week to sit in on legislative sessions. Gun policy was not brought up. The projected shortfall of the current National budget is 27 billion over the next 2 years. Much of the conversation during the session was about the budget, and where money is cut from. The three main areas are Health and Human Services, State Education, and Higher Education. The budget is due in August, and the House will be splitting into committees later this week. Texas is the fastest growing state. We gained four Congressional seats this year. a.ii. They lobbied for bills over textbook costs. There is a bill that is up for discussion that would make textbooks tax free for a year, but it is more logical to write a bill that would allow for one day of tax free textbooks. They are really looking for textbooks to go online. a.iii. They also learned that there is a possibility that there will be no new financial aid grants given to college students in the near future. If you have already received a grant in the past you are still eligible. The Texas Be On Time loan allows your loans to turn into grants upon graduating if you graduate by taking the minimum hours in your degree and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Junior Class Senator Kathryn Brown commented that you must be an incoming freshman when you apply for these loans. a.iv. They also learned that the country has a rainy day fund of 10 billion dollars that some are arguing should be used to lessen the shortfall. Alycia’s full report will be available online on the SGA homepage. a.v. While they were there they met with the Student Body President of the A&M Kingsville, and they learned that A&M Kingsville wrote a resolution that doubled the price of parking passes on campus in order to save half of that money to use to fix the parking lots. Alycia opened up the floor for comments about whether Tarleton would benefit from a similar program. a.v.1. Senior Class Senator Mabry Colvin asked how we would ensure that we would get to use the money. Alycia explained that we would open a separate account that we would have control of. a.v.2. Senior Class Senator Drew Eubank commented that our parking problem is a lack of it. Alycia explained that we could the money however we wanted. a.v.3. Collge of Business Administration Senator Shaun Cowgell commented that we could save the money to build more parking lots in the future. a.v.4. Activities, Spirit, and Traditions representative Lamonyka Qualls commented that we could put out a survey to students asking what they would like to use the money for. a.v.5. University Operations representative Clint Billingsley explained that we have the land for more parking lots we just need the money to build them. a.v.6. College of Business Administration Senator Shaun Cowgell asked if we have the mineral rights to all the land the school owns. Clint Billingsley replied that we do, and Shaun suggested that we could drill the land and make money from that. a.v.7. Freshmen Representative Council member Jay Johnson asked if we could use the money to bring back the shuttle bus. We cannot because it would be too expensive. a.vi. Alycia reminded everyone to sign up for Fill the Field. Your application is due by March 4th. b. Vice President: b.i. Student Body Vice President James Reed had no report this week. c. Administrative Assistant: c.i. Administrative Assistant Kayla Gervis had no report this week. d. Academic Affairs: d.i. Academic Affairs representative Ryan Cheek announced that there have been several deadline changes due to the weather. Be looking for emails in your Tarleton email account for all of these changes. e. External Relations: f. External Relations representative Brooke King will be rescheduling her meeting with the mayor of Stephenville for later this week. g. Activities, Spirit, and Traditions: g.i. Activities, Spirit, and Traditions representatives Lamonyka Qualls and Beth Hummel had no report this week. h. University Operations: h.i. University Operations representative Clint Billingsley had no report this week. i. Unity: i.i. Unity representative Alle Bird had no report this week. j. FRC: j.i. Co-Directors of the Freshmen Representative Council Tamara Carpenter and Sarah Heine had no report this week. III. OLD BUSINESS a. None. IV. NEW BUSINESS a. Senator Reports a.i. College of Agriculture and Human Sciences a.i.1. The College of Agriculture and Human Sciences representatives Lucas Barnett and Emily Marlette announced that all the clubs in their college are having their first meetings. a.i.2. The dairy farm will house heifers in April and then they will move in cows in May. They are finalizing the contract soon, and Southwest Dairy will be holding a conference here on May 5. a.ii. Sophomore Class a.ii.1. They are planning their next senator event. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Senate Parliamentarian Kobie Castleberry reminded everyone that Parents’ Day Out is this weekend, and they still need student volunteers to work during the day. b. Senior Class Senator Mabry Colvin announced the Tarleton LEADS is hosting a leadership conference this weekend for local high school student councils. c. Student Body President Alycia Pruitt announced that the Alpha Gamma Delta Basket Auction is this Wednesday at 6pm in the Ballrooms. Kappa Delta Rho’s Rent-A-Gent is this Tuesday at 7pm in the Ballrooms. d. University Operations representative Clint Billingsley announced that applications for Duck Camp and Orientation Advisor are available now. e. Freshmen Representative Council Co-Director Sarah Heine announced that the Phi Mu Carnation Bake Sale will take place outside the library this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. f. Graduate Class Senator Michael Butler announced that SPA will be hosting song writer Richard Leigh, who will be giving a speech on Thursday from 3:30pm to 5:00pm in the Fine Arts Center. VI. ADJOURNMAENT a. The Student Senate of Tarleton State University was adjourned at 5:50 p.m. by President Pro-Tem Kathryn Brown following a motion made by College of Science and Technology Senator James Boshart that was seconded and passed.