[In these minutes: Reports, Student Candidate to the Advisory Committee on
Athletics, 2002-03 SSCC and SCC meetings, Work Study Funds, University Compact
Accountability and Task Forces, Vikings Stadium Funding and Usage, October 3
Student Senate agenda]
STUDENT SENATE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE (SSCC)
MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 19, 2002
[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: Judy Berning, (chair), Nick Cecconi, Yev Garif,
Kelsi Holland, Kari Lindeman, Ryan Osero, Eric Steinhoff, Tom
Walsh.
REGRETS: Nathan Saete.
ABSENT: Anthony
Heryla.
1. INTRODUCTIONS AND REPORTS
All members began by
introducing themselves.
SSCC CHAIR
Judy Berning welcomed all
members to the meeting and said that she is always available for questions that
any members may have.
STUDENT SENATE CHAIR
Ryan Osero reminded
members of the workshop tomorrow afternoon. Issues this year for the Student
Senate will be the changes in administration, the decreases in work study and
child care funding, the Vikings/Gopher stadium proposal, and the
University’s operating request.
DULUTH
Nick Cecconi said
that the request for a new Recreational Sports Center will be sent to the
Regents in October. The Kirby renovation is progressing. Work study funding is
also an issue at Duluth.
MORRIS
Eric Steinhoff said that this
is Homecoming week at Morris.
Q: Has there been any discussion at Morris
about making student abroad mandatory?
A: The students have not heard
about this, but it will be looked into.
GAPSA
Yev Garif said
that GAPSA was issued a budget cut due to a problem with the check off fee box
not being implemented accurately. The September 11 event with MSA was a
success, and over 2000 students attended the recent reception for graduate
students with the President.
MSA
Judy Berning reported that
Anthony Heryla, an SSCC member, does not appear to be registered and therefore a
replacement will need to be elected to fill his seat. Kari Lindeman added that
MSA is sponsoring a float in the Homecoming parade.
2. APPOINTMENT OF
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS AND STUDENT MEMBER FOR BUSINESS AND RULES/BUDGET
SUBCOMMITTEE
SCEP
Scott Ferguson should be
asked.
SCFP
Brittny McCarthy Barnes should be
asked.
SCSA
Since there is only one current member, this
appointment should be held until next month.
SCONC
Judy Berning
proposed that the Student Committee on Committees Chair should be added as an ex
officio member of SSCC to facilitate communication between those two
groups.
Members discussed whether is was critical for this person to
attend all SSCC meetings, or just provide semesterly reports. The SSCC and
SConC should remain separate entities because each has separate, but powerful,
roles.
A motion was then made and approved to require the SConC to
provide a report when SSCC requests one.
BUSINESS AND RULES/BUDGET
SUBCOMMITTEES
Kari Lindeman was nominated and approved to serve on these
two subcommittees.
3. APPROVAL OF STUDENT CANDIDATE TO THE ADVISORY
COMMITTEE ON ATHLETICS (ACA)
Sada Konkol was nominated and approved
to fill the remaining vacancy on the ACA.
4. 2002-03 SSCC AND SCC
MEETING DISCUSSION
Judy Berning noted that there had been a lack of
students, and faculty, at the first SCC meeting this year and therefore wondered
if the SSCC/SCC schedule should be revised.
Members made the following
comments:
- There will always be class conflicts no matter when the meetings are
scheduled
- There was not enough warning provided for the first SCC meeting
- More social time is needed to allow students and faculty to intermingle
- SSCC meeting should happen first to allow students to discuss issues first
and reach a consensus
- Meeting time should be discussed again in the spring once everyone has their
class schedule
- SSCC and SCC meetings should be scheduled on the same days each
month
A motion was then made and approved to align the SSCC
meeting dates with the SCC dates spring semester.
5. DISCUSSION OF
WORK STUDY FUNDS
Ryan Osero said that he attended a HESO meeting
yesterday during which the decentralized funding method was discussed. When the
state cut HESO funding for this year, there was not enough funding to fulfill
all of HESO’s different awards. Since state grants are guaranteed, all of
HESO’s budget was put into state grants, leaving none for work study or
child care. This change affects 10,000 students. More will be affected next
year if HESO gets another 10% cut next year.
Q: Was all work study
funding cut?
A: Some students still receive federal dollars, but there is
nothing available from the state.
Q: What can SSCC and the Student Senate
do?
A: SSCC is a consultative body and can assess the situation across
the campuses and present that to HESO to use in their lobbying efforts, while
the Student Senate could pass a position statement on the issue. More funding
is also a priority this year for SLC.
Ryan Osero then suggested that the
Student Affairs Committee be asked to examine the issue and draft a position
statement which could be presented to the Student Senate and the student
associations/assemblies for approval
6. DISCUSSION ON UNIVERSITY
COMPACT ACCOUNTABILITY AND TASK FORCES
Judy Berning said that she had
discussed with Dan Feeney, Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC) Chair, the
possibility of both committees reviewing the 12 non-academic support service
units at the University in terms of their accountability. From the list of
twelve, she had identified four areas that interest students: Parking and
Transportation which should be handled by the Subcommittee on Twin Cities
Facilities and Support Services (STCFSS); Student Advising which should be
forwarded to Student Affairs; and Financial Aid and the Registrar which SSCC
should investigate. She proposed creating two task forces to investigate these
last two issues.
Q: What was Dan Feeney’s opinion on this
topic?
A: He felt that these support units need to be looked at to
determine if there are adding to the academic mission of the University.
Students and faculty do not know if there are any problems if they do not look
into these issues.
Q: Is there enough interest by students to make these
task forces work?
A: This is a valid concern so the student
associations/assemblies should be involved.
Q: Do the members need to
have financial knowledge to serve on the task forces?
A: Financial
knowledge is not necessary, just an interest in learning how these units operate
and what benefits they give to campus.
Members then made the following
comments:
- A capable person is necessary to chair the task forces
- Task forces should include representations from each campus
- Task forces should determine if there are any ways to improve services
- People who work in the offices should know what problems exist, but the
question is whether or not they are trying to correct it
- SSCC should recommend to SCSA to look into these two
areas
A motion was then made and approved to forward a
recommendation to SCSA to look into Financial Aid and the
Registrar.
7. VIKINGS STADIUM FUNDING AND USAGE
Judy
Berning referred members to a statement of concerns and issues that the FCC had
created and asked whether members wanted to also approve this
document.
Members made the following comments about the
document:
- Will the coordinate campuses be responsible for funding?
- Any new funding will be in addition to tuition hikes and doubling student
service fees
- Stadium will have some benefits for campus
- If a stadium is built, what happens if the Vikings default on the bonds
- There is no student input into this process
- Letter should be sent on behalf of SSCC to add a student to the stadium task
force
- SSCC should approve these questions and concerns now and work on a position
statement later since answers to these questions will be needed before a
position can be taken
- Document is not written from a student perspective
A
motion was then made and approved to approve the statement as
amended.
8. OCTOBER 3 STUDENT SENATE AGENDA
The October 3
Student Senate agenda was approved as presented.
9. OTHER
BUSINESS
Judy Berning said that several issues will be discussed at
the next meeting including college reserves, adding the Student Senate Chair to
the SCC membership, and inviting Vice President Carol Carrier in to discuss
service unit accountability. With no further business she thanked all members
for attending and adjourned the meeting.
Becky Hippert
University
Senate