[In these minutes: 1. TCCA Bylaw Amendments, 2. SLC Resolution, 3. Action on GPT Letter, 4. Student Senate Docket Approval, 5. Student Reps to Regents Report, 6. Student Affairs Committee Report, 7. Student Stipends, 8. HPTF member]
STUDENT SENATE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE (SSCC) MINUTES
FEBRUARY 3, 2000
[These minutes reflect discussion and debate at a committee of the University of Minnesota Senate or Twin Cities Campus Assembly; none of the comments, conclusions, or actions reported in these minutes represent the views of, nor are they binding on, the Senate or Assembly, the Administration, or the Board of Regents.]
PRESENT: Jason Reed (chair), Sabeen Altaf, Meggan Ellingboe, YeeLeng Hang, Jed Ipsen, Kevin Poppel, Chaz Rice, Tiffany Stedman, Aaron Street.
REGRETS: Reid LeBeau.
ABSENT: Mark Uszenski.
1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The January 27, 2000 minutes were approved.
2. REPORTS
CHAIR
Jason Reed said that following last week's SSCC meeting, members, along with Ben Bowman, MSA President, discussed the Association of Big Ten Students (ABTS) upcoming conferences. The group decided that since eight people can be sent to Michigan, the distribution would be two each from MSA, GAPSA, SLC, and the Senate. For the Washington D.C. trip, it was decided that Jason and Ben Bowman would be the two representatives. Jason then stated that he had further discussions with the ABTS regarding a graduate student also traveling to Washington D.C. When he heard from the ABTS, he would report back to the committee.
STUDENT SENATE CHAIR
Since Reid LeBeau was unable to attend, Meggan Ellingboe presented an SLC update. Lobby Day has been set for Wednesday, February 23 from 10:30 - 4:30 with students attending from all four campuses. A problem has arisen with the Duluth students. A professor made it a class requirement to lobby at the legislator, but has allowed the students to lobby on any topic, not just the University's request. Legislators will need to be warned in advance of these students.
CROOKSTON
Kevin Poppel said that he was the newly-elected SSCC representative and that Shane Roers was the new CSA Vice President. Crookston students are looking forward to talking to legislators at Lobby Day about the Kiehl Hall renovation, which is the Crookston project on the request.
DULUTH
Duluth was not connected for the meeting.
MORRIS
Students are asking the administration to grant excuses for students attending Lobby Day. The administration does not want to do this, and has instead recommended that professors let students attend this event. Morris students feel that they should not be penalized for lobbying on behalf of the campus.
Chaz Rice also said that a safety task force was formed last fall and their report and recommendations are being released.
MSA
Jason Reed reported that MSA has not approved the ACEC rules for this year's elections. Because of this, filing will not start until next Wednesday and elections will be postponed until March 21 and 22.
GAPSA
Sabeen Altaf stated that GAPSA has not met yet, so the only new news is that the Vice President has resigned.
3. APPROVE TCCA BYLAW AMENDMENTS
Jason Reed introduced both amendments, which were presented at the last meeting. With no discussion, votes were taken and both amendments were approved.
4. APPROVE SLC RESOLUTION
Jason Reed stated that this topic was also discussed at the last meeting and then read the resolution. With no discussion, a vote was taken and the resolution was approved.
5. DISCUSS ACTION ON GPT LETTER
Jason Reed said that he was attending the CLA Committee on Second Language Education meeting on Monday, February 14, from 3:30 - 5 in 46 Folwell Hall. He then asked the committee what preparation should be done before attending.
The committee made the following suggestions:
6. APPROVE STUDENTS SENATE DOCKET
Jason Reed said that he would be attending the next Council of College Boards (CCB) meeting to discuss the idea of every college reporting at the Student Senate meeting. He also said that he was considering a resolution on the GPT to be presented at the Student Senate and Twin Cities Campus Assembly (TCCA) meeting, which would need to be added to the docket. A vote was then taken and the docket was approved as amended.
7. STUDENT REPS TO REGENTS REPORT
Chaz Rice presented the Student Reps to Regents report for Heidi Fredricksen. The report has four main topics:
1. Adequate and affordable parking for the Twin Cities and Duluth
2. Increased awareness for the Academic Health Center (AHC)
3. Increased housing and food service satisfaction - This includes dissatisfaction with ARAMARK, increasing resident and RHA communications, dorm price and availability, students receiving the dorm that they specify, and Bailey Hall placement for students whose classes are all on the Minneapolis campus.
4. Enriching the campus climate
Chaz expressed concern that nothing about the housing situation in Morris was mentioned. Two proposals were presented at the last city council meeting, but members were confused about them, so they tabled the proposals until the next meeting. One proposals asks for the continuation of inspections and the other asks for the discontinuation of the inspections. If the city does not vote on them at the next meeting, they will be presented as a referendum to all city residents.
Q: Was off-campus housing in the Twin Cities mentioned?
A: No, the report was confined to campus housing options.
Q: How is parking at Crookston?
A: Parking is not the best since there is a limited supply for people who drive from town. Because of the campus location, it is also not possible for these people to walk to campus.
Chaz also commented that parking on the Twin Cities seemed to be breezed over in the report, because students assume that the Regents know the situation. Details on parking problem need to be continually included to get the Regents' attention.
8. STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT
Jason read the following report for the Student Affairs Committee:
Dear Chair Reed and SSCC,
I am writing to inform you of the issues currently under consideration on the Senate Committee for Student Affairs. We have just held our first meeting of the year, and we have added several topics for our next meeting, including athletic ticket prices and the increased use of Boynton and University Counseling services. Also, after fall semester, we finally have a full committee with excellent attendance as well.
We have thoroughly discussed the issue of the $10 drop/add fee as presented by Craig Swan last fall, with the conclusion that the fee will not be assessed as far as Craig can see into the future. He also specified that the distance he can see into the future changes from time to time, so we still must be wary and ensure consultation.
Next, we addressed several concerns with alcohol sales in Northrop Auditorium, along with FERPA (family educational right to privacy act), in which the University considered altering its policy concerning parental notification concerning student alcohol abuse. The University decided not to change its policy, but instead clarified it for parents to see.
Bob Baker from Transportation and Parking came in at the beginning of the year to address the parking situation, along with Sue Van Voorhis from the registrar to discuss PeopleSoft problems. Campus lighting will be a recurring issue into the future with a possible resolution coming forth.
Overall, I look forward to this semester and it appears that we will have some lively and productive discussions concerning the state of the University and the role of the student body. If you have any questions, please contact me at any time.
Jesse Berglund
berg0564@umn.edu
(612) 242-9849
The committee had no questions, but thanked Jesse Berglund for providing the report.
9. DISCUSS STUDENT STIPENDS
Jason Reed presented the new student stipend figures to the committee. The proposed amounts are $5000 for the SSCC Chair, $4000 for the Student Senate Chair, and $3000 for the Vice Chair. After a discussion between Aaron, Reid, and himself it was decided to bring these positions in line with other student governance positions (MSA President receives $5000, MSA Vice President receives $4500, and GAPSA President receives $5000). They also decided to give students the option of choosing a tuition payment or the stipend. It students do choose tuition payment, and this is less than the amount of their stipend, then a check would be issued for the difference.
The committee then discussed payment of the stipend:
10. DISCUSS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT FOR HEALTH PLAN TASK FORCE (HPTF)
Jason Reed said that since a Duluth student could not be found, the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) on the Twin Cities campus was contacted about finding a student to serve.
11. OTHER BUSINESS
Aaron Street reported that he had attended a Leadership Meeting earlier in the week at which time the UPass project was discussed. Matt Clark and Jane Canney explained that each student would need to be assessed a $5 fee to support transportation in general. $2 would be for continuing the current campus bus system and $3 would pay for the base of the UPass project.
Additionally, anyone who wanted to use the system would need to purchase a bus pass for $50 per semester. This means that students would not be getting any new services for the initial $5 fee. This fee could also be increased until enough money is being raised to fund the project.
Aaron said that he, along with other students, asked questions regarding the proposal which were never answered. In closing, Aaron stated that Jane thanked all the leaders for their unanimous support of this issue, even though no vote was taken and many questions were left unanswered.
Several committee members expressed their concern over another mandatory student fee that provides no additional services. It was decided that this issue would be placed on the March agenda.
Becky Hippert said that the Health Plan Task Force was looking for seven undergraduate students who do not have the University insurance to serve on a focus group. The meeting will be for 1 1/2 hours on February 16 or 17. SSCC members should forward the names of an interested students to Becky.
Aaron Street suggested Brianna Halverson and himself as two members.
With no other business, Jason thanked the members for attending and adjourned the meeting.
Becky Hippert
University Senate