Senate Meeting Minutes 12/03/08: HELP resolution final passage!

Student Government Association
Senate Meeting Minutes for December 2, 2008
7:30pm, Mabee Ballroom A

I. Call to Order President Lytle

II. Roll Call of Members Executive Secretary Holdsworth

III. Approval of Minutes
o Approved

IV. Approval of Agenda
o Approved

V. Community Announcements
v Volunteers need for Festival of Lights – please sign up! MANDATORY EVENT, so will be an absence if you don’t attend, but if you do go you get .5 absence credit
v IT is working to fix issues with wireless internet

VI. Officer Reports
o President President Lytle
v It has been a pleasure to serve as your president for this semester, and am excited to get to work on another strong semester in the spring
v Congratulations to the Freshman Class for winning Member of the Month!
v Please remember to check your e-mails over the holiday break
v If anyone will be in town on January 8, there will be an orientation that SGA needs to be at
v Don’t worry about office hours for this week – go study!

o Intergovernmental Affairs Vice President Cromack
v Committee meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM
§ Will be discussing CFL light bulbs legislation

o Legislative Initiatives Vice President Kuentz
v Report given by President Lytle:
§ LI committee meetings are Wednesdays @ 8PM in Lucas
§ If you have a piece of legislation in LI, please attend

o Student Representation Vice President Carroll
v SR committee needs to see Bethany after the senate meeting to discuss a few things
v No committee meeting this Thursday
v Will be discussing committee rearrangements in January

o Senior Class Executive Senator Bustos
v Senior class social, December 13 – at the Graduation Reception
v New legislation from seniors coming up tonight!

o Junior Class Executive Senator Bencivengo
v New legislation being presented tonight
v If you have any ideas for the Junior class social, please contact Bryce

o Sophomore Class Executive Senator Martin
v Motion for point of personal privilege by Executive Senator Martin
§ Seconded
v Special Orders – Senator Arce’s Resignation
§ Unable to give the necessary dedication and attention to SGA
§ The Association thanks her for her work and wishes her the best

o Freshman Class Executive Senator Peal
v Class meeting Wednesday at 10PM
v Class social will be next semester

o Schools Represented Executive Senator Duke
v Special Orders – Senator Wood’s Resignation
§ Will continue to work with The BIG Event and Homecoming committee
§ Thank you for 3 years of work!
v School social on Thursday in the Kresge Room from 6-8PM
v Continuing to look for applicants to fill vacancies
v Joint Freshman & Schools Partnership starting in the spring working on dedicating 2 hours a month to outreach

VII. Cabinet Report
o Director/Associate Director of Public Relations
v Have made a page on Facebook called “Digital Comment Box” for students to post concerns, please sign your name on the sheet if you are interested in picking any of them up as legislation
v Working on a new brochure
v Working on napkins for Festival of Lights
v It was decided that tray-liners aren’t environmentally friends, so working on a napkin idea instead
v Possible a bulletin board in cafeteria

o Director of Association Events
v VACANT
o Director of Finance
v VACANT

o Director of Member Development and Training
v Not present

o Director of Service
v Thank you to all those who helped sponsor a family for Thanksgiving
v SCC is doing a winter clothing drive from now until Friday
v Working on a service survey to keep track of what is working for the association
v People still needed for The BIG Event committee
v Hilltop Leaders is working with an elder home to have a holiday party on December 17 and they need volunteers

o Director of Involvement
v Have developed a calendar for Homecoming week
v Everything is going along smoothly

o Chief of Staff
v Still looking into ice skating this Saturday
v Please encourage anyone interested to apply for open Director positions
v Polos have been ordered!

VIII. Unfinished Business
v S.R. 107 – Health Education & Labeling Process (H.E.L.P.)
o The vending provider has already agreed to go through with this
o There will be a green sticker by the price of snacks indicating that that particular item is healthy/good for you
o They will begin being installed when machines are restocked, so this will be a process (not immediately)
o Encourages Senators Garcia and Semien to write legislation regarding nutrition labeling for food in cafeteria via Bon Appetit
o Nutrition value is already predetermined by the company
o No plans to change what food is available at this time – there are about 6 snacks that currently meet the “green” standard
o Would it be possible to have SGA input on the nutritional value, i.e. doing our own research?
§ We can raise the issue with Mike Stone if we feel something needs to be addressed

IX. New Business
v S.B. 06 – School Senator Elections Timeline Revision
o To revise the Elections Manual to move school senator elections to the spring, instead of the fall, so all senator positions can be filled at once
o The way it currently stands, nearly 50% of senate would not be in place until 4 weeks into the new academic year
o 10 Minute Discussion
o During the last election, there was 1 individual from each school, except BSS which had 5, running for a school seat
o Feel that students will run where they best connect (class or school)
o Will school senators be rounded up towards the next year?
§ Yes, it works the same way as class senators
o How would this affect the School of Education positions?
§ It wouldn’t affect them
o Concern with election committee advising students where to run
o **Sent to IGA, but with some objection

v S.R. 113 – SEU Student Employee Bill of Rights
o Student employees are not currently informed of basic Human Resources policies
o There is a formal and informal resolution process
o No idea how to file complaints
o Asking Human Resources to notify students of ways to do so
o There are a significant number of students who have expressed concern with filing a complaint and being in a tense environment
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Have you talked to Human Resources already?
§ Not yet, waiting for this resolution to go to committee to get permission to do so
o Would like to see Human Resources have a complaint process tailored for each job
o Might be beneficial to have a concrete way to present this information, such as a poster board
o **Sent to LI with unanimous consent

X. Gallery Comments
o Please remember to sign up for Festival of Lights

XI. Advisors Comments Advisor Walden
o Check your e-mail for an invitation to Collegiate Link
o Please remember to get your spring schedule and give it to Executive Secretary Holdsworth (e-mail or hard copy in her box)
o Remember to let Marisa or Austin know if you are talking to admin staff, so they are aware
o If you have ideas for State of the Campus, let Whitney, Austin or Marisa know

XII. Final Comments
o Administration liked our idea to know the new dining facility The Huddle and is going through with it!

Happy Thanksgiving

SGA wants to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

SGA Senate Meeting Minutes 11/19

Here are the minutes from our Senate meeting last night (11/19/08). This has a lot of good information about what is going on right now in SGA! Reminder-there will be no meeting next Tuesday!

I. Community Announcements
v Men’s Lacrosse team has a game this weekend
v Circle K International is hosting a Make A Wish Benefit Fashion show tomorrow
v Leadership Tracks workshop “Ethical Breakdown” tomorrow from 5-6:30PM
v Thank you to all those who participated in the 5K Fun Run/Walk
v Volunteers need for Festival of Lights – please sign up! MANDATORY EVENT
v Thank you to those SGA members who came out to support the opening season of the men’s and women’s basketball teams

II. Officer Reports
o President President Lytle
v Special Orders – Resignation of Director McVay
v Excited to see the school senators becoming well acquainted with the organization
v Thank you to:
v Representatives sitting on the 2010-2015 Planning Committee
v Cabinet
v IGA for working on Elections Manual
v We will meet on January 13, the week that we return in the spring

o Intergovernmental Affairs Vice President Cromack
v Committee meetings on Wednesdays at 7PM
v If you see any problems with the Election Manual, please write amendments!
§ Fix problems now, don’t wait until we’re down to the wire

o Legislative Initiatives Vice President Kuentz
v Currently in lots of new legislation in committee
v If you have legislation in this committee, please come to a meeting or appoint a representative to
v Will be discussing the Tuition Cap subcommittee
v LI committee meetings are Wednesdays @ 8PM

o Student Representation Vice President Carroll
v You should be contacted about committee reports this week
v Committee meeting this Thursday at 7PM in the SGA office

o Senior Class Executive Senator Bustos
v Class meeting this week
v Go support our athletic teams!

o Junior Class Executive Senator Bencivengo
v Any ideas for class programs? E-mail Bryce (bbenciv@stedwards.edu)
v Sign up for a Festival of Lights shift

o Sophomore Class Executive Senator Martin
v Working on class social plans

o Freshman Class Executive Senator Peal
v Nothing new at this time

o Schools Represented Executive Senator Duke
v Some vacancies appointments have been withdrawn, but working to get those refilled
v Meeting this Thursday

III. Cabinet Report
o Director/Associate Director of Public Relations
v Working on posters for parking garage and around campus
v SGA now has a blog linked on our Facebook page
v There is a note on Facebook, as well, defining common SGA terms for those who are unfamiliar with them
v Coffee Shop signs (to hold office hours) are in Ginny’s box if you need them
v A sign up sheet to purchase a polo is being passed around, please indicate what you need
v Been working on marketing for cafeteria and library (ideas from retreat)

o Director of Member Development and Training
v Looking into an ice skating event
o Seeing if we can get a group discount, regular price is $10
o Director of Service
v Not present
o Director of Involvement
v Homecoming meeting this Thursday at 6PM in Bain Boardroom

o Chief of Staff
v Please fill out nomination for November Member of the Month
v Draw for Secret Santa if you have not yet
v Gift exchange and food! Sign up if you’d like to make food
v State of the Campus – January 15
v If you are buying something for the association, we are tax exempt so make sure you get the card to take with you
v Any reimbursements need to be cleared by Whitney or Marisa first
v Several people are interested in the Finance Director position – more info coming soon

V. New Business
v S.R. 112 – Campus Beautification
o Our campus is in need of aesthetic improvement
o Would like to make a mural depicting our Holy Cross heritage
o 10 Minute Discussion
§ Not sure the university would be in favor of a mural
§ Look into planting some vegetation instead of a mural
§ Push for this if you want it! Don’t be deterred by what the administration wants
§ Notre Dame has a famous mural, tradition that has already been established and could continue it here
o Objection
§ Voice vote
o Division called
§ Roll call vote
o **Sent to LI

v S.B. 05 – CFL Rebate
o $400 from secondary account and all unused funds will be returned to the account
o Incentive to get students to buy CFL light bulbs and save energy, as well as money
o Cost about $3.50 more than a regular bulb, but last longer
o City of Austin will give a $2 rebate
o 2 options:
§ Give students the $2 rebate (possibly on Topper Tender)
§ Purchase light bulbs as an association and sell them to students at $2 less
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Is this offered to on and off campus students?
§ Would be open to everyone
o SGA would be in charge of this process
o This is a great idea and a good way to spend association funds
o Would be more cost effective to promote the City’s initiative rather than take on the cost ourselves
§ Feel that this a good project to put SGA name on and be in support of
o How was the $400 mark reached?
§ Conferred with several people about how much support they felt it would receive, seemed like a middle ground amount
o Think about a collaboration with the Environmental Club
o Perhaps approach University about changing light bulbs on their own
§ 60% of students live off campus
§ Some dorms and apartments make it the student’s responsibility
§ Primarily targeting off campus and students in apartments
o Objection
§ Voice vote
o **Sent to IGA

v S.B. 06 – Elections Manual Revisions 2.0
o **Bill has been withdrawn

v Motion to Remove S.R. 102 – Athletic Banners from the Table
o Meeting with Athletic Director Debbie Taylor to discuss options
o Would like to keep the door open until this meeting takes place
o Legislation was originally tabled due to a lack of communication on the author’s part
o **Voice vote to un-table
§ Un-tabled

VI. Gallery Comments
o Former President Rudy Trejo would like to reassure the association that they are appreciated and that what they do is important – don’t get discouraged!
o Don’t limit yourselves
o Your job is to represent 6,000+ students – you were elected!
o You’re here for a reason, take the responsibility seriously
o Question your leadership – hold each other accountability
o Campus Affairs and Police Safety committee meeting Thursday at 5PM in Fleck

VII. Advisors Comments Advisor Walden
o Student Organization Events:
o Circle K International Fashion Show – November 19
o Sorin Reel Film Festival – November 21
o Environmental Club recycling drive – November 19
o Sigma Alpha Pi event at Cuba Libre – November 19
o Global Innovators cupcake decorating in Club House 2 – November 19
o Delta Sigma Pi will have a Charles Schwab rep speak about financial crisis and internships
o President, VPs, Exec Senators, Chief of Staff, and Marisa are always available to talk, so schedule a meeting!
o If you have a concerns or want something to happen, talk to them so the issue can be addressed
o Remember to keep the side chatter and cell phone texting to a bare minimum

VIII. Final Comments
o There is no meeting next week – have a happy Thanksgiving!
o We will meet December 2 for our last meeting of the semester

You're invited to tonight's Senate Meeting!

Hi everyone!

SGA would like to invite everyone at St. Edward's University to tonight's Senate meeting at 7:30 p.m. in Mabee Ballroom A. We have a less busy meeting tonight than last week, but still some exciting things going on. Come find out more information, or share comments, questions, and complaints. SGA is here to represent the student voice. We want to hear from you!

Tonight's Agenda:
Approving a school senator.
Resolution for campus beautification.
CFL rebate: This has to do with rebates for energy efficient lighting.
and Revisions to the elections manual.

Hope to see you there!

11/11/08 Senate Minutes

Here is some old and new legislation from our last meeting:

I. Unfinished Business
S.B. 04 – Festival of Lights Appropriations Bill
o For the past 4 years, SGA has contributed money to purchase refreshments (hot chocolate and another weather-appropriate drink) from Bon Appetit
o There have been no major changes to this bill in committee
o Comes out of the secondary account,
o Friendly Amendment – to indicate that any appropriations not spent will be returned to the account
· Accepted
o Motion for final passage of S.B. 04
§ Passes

II. New Business
S.R. 104 – No More Ghetto Grotto
o The grotto represents the history of the campus and it has been neglected
o It points to our sister school Notre Dame
o Deserves greater recognition
o 10 Minute Discussion
§ Commending Senator Harrison for writing this legislation
§ There is a gentleman who periodically checks up on the grotto, so the author may want to speak with him
§ Concerns with the name of the legislation – may not reflect well on the association
§ The grotto was built around the turn of the century by a dedicated Brother who did so with his own hands
§ What did the author invasion with the restoration?
· Grooming the trees and adding lighting to them to help make the area not so dark at night
§ Research for putting athletic lights around this area found problems with electrical surging, so consider that
§ Perhaps a police call box in this area
o **Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 105 – SEU ACT Now
o Continuing the work on a previous piece of legislation
o St. Edward’s has continued to increase 8.25-8.5% each year
o Other schools have decided to cap the rate of tuition
o This is important with the current economic down-turn and decreased availability of loans
o 10 Minute Discussion
§ The more the expensive that degrees become, they consequently increase their value
§ Accounting for professor salaries and other spending (technology fee) may become more of an issue
§ The state of Texas deregulated the rate of tuition several years ago, usually 4% or less increase each year
§ Concerns with the effect on our quality of education
§ There is no single ideal in mind for this, just want to research
§ Don’t agree that value of degree is correlated to tuition (look at UT)
§ May look at “lock-in” tuition for incoming students
§ Most benchmark universities have seen a lower increase in tuition compared to us
§ How is tuition capped?
· There are several ways – Overall rate of increase, freeze for several years, lock-in rates when you enter
§ Consider the other great programs that have benefited from increased funding (CaboLead, Hilltop Leaders, our own Association retreat off campus) – may call for a sacrifice
o **Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 106 – Reinstate of Pass/No Pass Options for Science in Perspective and Science in Depth
o This policy changed over the summer with no notice to the students
o Many students are in favor of Pass/No Pass for the sciences
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Are you looking at a “grandfather” type policy or making this permanent?
§ Want to see what kind of support it gains from students
o The School of Humanities was surprised that this change took place, as it went against the grandfather clause
o What is the reason this was changed in the first place?
§ Is one of the core requirements, usually all of which must be taken for a grade
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 107 – Health Education & Labeling Process (H.E.L.P.)
o Since the summer of 2005, the Balance of Life campaign has been initiated
o Judges snacks on various levels, not just calories
o Use of colored dots to indicate levels of health
o One study by Uni of Virginia, found that after adopting the program there was a 30% increase purchase in yellow and 15% in green labeled items
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Look into this labeling for the coffee shop, too
o Who decides that food gets what label?
§ Not sure, would assume it is done according to the information on the labels
o Will an extensive list be available to students?
§ Not sure, will look into it
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 108 – Athletic Registration
o Going on the heels of what President of SAAC, Taylor Land, spoke about at the last meeting
o This is a great concern to student athletes, and feel their needs should be considered
o Simply wanting to collect appropriate data
o 10 Minute Discussion
o Not sure why athletes are getting priority over student workers or students who are heavily involved in other ways, suggest that athletes should take advantage of overloading process
o Do we know how many of our benchmark schools in Division II allow preference registration?
§ No, research will be done
o Is it true that athletes currently have priority when overloading?
§ Author believes so
o Do they generally get their overload?
§ Not sure
o Athletes make up 7% of population, only 3% of those athletes would be affected by this
o Is it known why this policy was taken away, as it used to be in place years ago?
§ That is unknown
o Right now, this would only be available to charted athletics
o Motion to override unanimous consent
§ Roll Call Vote – S.R. 108 is sent to LI with a vote of 16 to 9

S.R. 109 – Call Box Awareness
o Want to research ways to increase awareness of call boxes
o 10 Minute Discussion
o As a senate, we need to keep better track of previously legislation, because this has been brought up before and researched heavily
o Location is determined by proximity to other boxes and surrounding doors
o Not seen as that important since most students carry cell phones now
o UPD does ask students to save their phone number in their cell phones at orientation
o There are no call boxes walking from Ragsdale to the parking garage – an issue for off campus students
o Issue with bad cell phone reception
o Clarification that this resolution is to market the current boxes better than increasing the number of them
o When this legislation came up in the past, UPD argument was that increasing the number of boxes and better advertising makes the campus look unsafe
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 110 – Bike Rack Covers
o Simply wanting to protect current bike racks – not looking to fund more
o 10 Minute Discussion
o What does a bike rack cover look like?
-Has 4 legs and a table, probably high enough to cover a bicycle (about 6 feet)
o Estimated cost of 1 bike rack cover?
-Tried to research online and couldn’t find anything, so want to speak with the
people who installed the racks to work with them
o Concern that it doesn’t rain enough in Austin to warrant this expense
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent

S.R. 111 – Color Me Bright! Color Me Right!
o There are no places for students to make color copies on campus
o Would be a beneficial tool for students making presentations or running for positions in SGA
o ***Sent to LI with unanimous consent