[In these minutes: Reports, Discussion with President Bruininks, Student
Conduct Code]
STUDENT SENATE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE (SSCC)
MINUTES
JANUARY 30, 2003
[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, Scott
Ferguson, Yev Garif, Kari Lindeman, Ryan Osero, Nathan Saete, Eric Steinhoff,
Tom Walsh.
REGRETS: John Amble, Kelsi Holland, Dan O’Connor,
Jasen Peterson.
GUESTS: President Robert Bruininks, Jacob Elo, Dan
Gilchrist.
1. REPORTS
Since no reports were received in
advance, all reports were provided orally.
CHAIR
Judy Berning
said that she has been contacted regarding several issues for this semester.
They include:
- Randy Croce, Chair of the Council of Academic Professionals and
Administrators (CAPA) will be attending the February 6 SSCC meeting to talk to
the students about the Academic Governance Policy that will be brought from FCC
to the Faculty Senate for approval on February 20. While this policy governs
faculty and academic professionals, it will also affect students. She will be
talking with Dan Feeney to ask why students are not being provided the
opportunity to vote.
- Regarding another voting student position on SCC, she reviewed old Senate
minutes during the break. She is going to wait to hear from the SSCC Task Force
before she proposes an additional student position. In the meantime, she would
like to change the Senate/Assembly Constitution to allow the Student Senate
Chair to at least be a non-voting ex officio member of the University Senate and
Twin Cities Campus Assembly.
- Nan Kalke contacted her about talking to the committee regarding a work-life
initiative that Nan is involved with. She will be scheduled for April.
- Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) contacted her about the process to
institute a Regents policy banning tobacco sales on campus.
- She will be talking to MSA next week about the revisions to the Student
Conduct Code.
- She would like to have a speaker at an upcoming meeting to talk to the
committee about international students and the SEVIS registration program.
- She would like to invite members of the Student Affairs Committee to talk to
SSCC about ways to streamline the process and the MPCC proposal.
- There is a committee chair’s meeting on Thursday, February 13.
- She wants to work on improving the Student Senate. To do this she would
like SSCC to talk about other mini workshops that could be offered and
leadership experiences for students. She would also like to know what the
Student Senate can do for each campus and
college.
SSCC/STUDENT SENATE VICE CHAIR
Eric
Steinhoff said that he will be focused on the 2003-04 Student Senate budget
process and approval.
STUDENT SENATE CHAIR
Ryan Osero reported
that he has been following the state grant funding issue and the Student
Legislative Coalition (SLC) restructuring. This semester he will be focusing on
the University’s budget situation, involving coordinating student
government organizations to look at streamlining the
system.
CROOKSTON
Nate Saete said that a new SLC representative
has been elected and that CSA will be visiting Duluth this
weekend.
MORRIS
Eric Steinhoff said that MCSA is revamping the
student election process and reviewing the activity fee
budget.
GAPSA
Yev Garif noted that GAPSA Executive Committee
met yesterday to approve several grants and discuss the President’s
inaugural events. GAPSA will also be working to extend the food service closing
time in Coffman past the current 2:30 p.m.
MSA
Judy Berning
said that MSA is also looking into the Coffman food service times. MSA
Executive Committee will be holding a retreat next weekend and there is a joint
GAPSA/MSA meeting this week.
EDUCATIONAL POLICY
Scott Ferguson
said that at its last meeting SCEP approved the memberships for the teaching
awards committee. It also received information on the freshmen seminars and
graduation rates. For the second item, Governor Pawlenty wants the four-year
rate to increase, but the University also wants to focus on the five-year
graduation rate as well. SCEP will be looking at what the University is not
doing to improve graduation rates and if a J-term would help. SCEP also changed
language regarding the number of contact hours per class. This amount can be
altered to allow for special classes (i.e. independent study, directed study).
This change affects all campuses.
2. BUSINESS AND RULES COMMITTEE
MEMBER
Ryan Osero volunteered to be the second Business and Rules
Committee member from SSCC.
3. DISCUSSION WITH PRESIDENT
BRUININKS
President Bruininks joined the meeting and started by
discussing the state and University budget situation. He distributed a handout
on the presentation he gave to the House Higher Education Finance Committee the
day before. The handout details the role of the University to the state in
terms of enrollment, degrees, and research dollars, the University’s
revenue breakdown, state appropriations in the past four years, and revenue by
source for Twin Cities colleges.
He then said that the of the
University’s $2 billion annual budget, 32 percent ($650 million) is
provided by state appropriations. This percentage has been declining in terms
of the state’s total budget.
Last May the University was assessed a
$24 million mid-year rescission to balance the state budget. Tuition was
increased to cover $10 million of this rescission and budget cuts made up the
other $14 million. The state budget is still out of balance, so the state needs
a plan to balance it before June 30. Currently, the House and Senate plans are
in conference committee with a final balance budget bill completed by the end of
next week. The House and Governor have requested that the University be
assessed another $25 million rescission by June 30. To raise these funds, other
institutions have made mid-year tuition increases, but this is not something
that the University is considering.
Once this year’s budget is
balanced, the state still has a $4.2 billion budget deficit projected during the
next biennium which will need to be solved. This figure, though, does not
include normal inflation and could end up being as $5.5 billion. A proposal has
been made to freeze state salaries for two years to lower the deficit. Since
the University is autonomous from the state, the University would not have to
abide by this wage freeze, but it would still need to find the resources
internally to fund wage increases.
While the House and Senate both want
more funding for higher education, there is none available to give. The
University needs to get the public attention to promote investment in the
University. Due to these rescissions and another predicted cut in funding from
the state, the University will lose any previous funding gains that it made in
the last five years.
President Bruininks then addressed the impact that
budget cuts will have on students. He said that all units have been assessed a
percentage of the $25 million rescission based on what the unit can pay from
their current budget and the size of their reserves. No unit will be spared
from this initial round of cuts. He has instructed all units to protect student
financial aid, scholarships, student services, and unit priorities. He wants
units to look for administrative cost savings and cut activities that are less
important to the mission of the unit. He said that it might be helpful for
himself, EVPP Maziar, and Vice Provost Swan to return to the committee in the
future and address what it means to improve the quality of the student
experience and what can be done about it.
Q: If tuition alone would be
used to cover the University’s deficit, tuition would need to increase by
25 percent. How much will the actual increase be? What will happen with
financial aid?
A: Tuition would never be used to cover the entire
deficit, but it will increase more than 4.5 percent, likely in the double
digits. Sources of financial aid will be protected to help low income students.
For the difference, the University must reduce operating costs without
sacrificing services, increase other revenue streams, and defer some
investments.
Q: Is there pressure on local businesses to decrease the
charges that they assess the University?
A: A committee is working on a
list of possible cost-saving options and then will determine which ones are
feasible at this time.
Q: What is MnSCU doing to cover their
rescission?
A: MnSCU will not be increasing tuition mid-year either, but
will take the same approach as the University for the first
round.
President Bruininks then turned to other topics that the committee
had submitted in advance of the meeting.
Q: International students are
currently assessed a student fee of $50 per semester. This fee started two
years ago as a way for the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) to
increase their funding to accommodate the services that they provide to
international students. Since most international students are not vocal, their
concern about this fee has largely been unheard. Many times they are also
unable to work and come from financially deprived homes. Students can see a
return for the other fees that they are assessed, but this fee only seems to pay
for paperwork. Will the fee be made permanent?
A: The ISSS
administrative burden and service costs have increased, and the fee was no other
way for the ISSS services to be paid. The fee could be revisited at some point,
but with the current budget situation it will likely remain unless private
fundraising could alleviate some of this burden. The entire fee process needs
to be revisited to see if one central fee could be created to cover all student
services.
Q: With tuition increases and grant and scholarship decreases,
students are graduating with increased debt loads and are looking towards more
lucrative job markets. What affect will this have on public service fields and
is the University looking at this effect?
A: The message to the
legislature has been to keep financial aid affordable so that students continue
to choose the public sector for their career. The University needs to help by
increasing private aid for students, increasing assistantships, and bringing
service learning into the curriculum. Higher education cannot be viewed a
private good. The University is also opposed to all funding following the
students since a balance is needed to keep public institutions affordable and
keep private institutions from charging exorbitant rates.
Students also
need to get involved with the legislature. There is information on the web on
how to get involved and what each person can do. Students should also pay
attention to the Regents selection process currently underway since those
selected will sit on the board that makes the final decisions for the
University. If students are quiet, it sends the signal to the legislature that
students do not care and the legislature can do whatever they choose.
Q:
One item on the February 20 Faculty Senate agenda is the Academic Governance
Policy. Only faculty will be voting on this item. Do you think that students
should be involved in the approval process?
A: Since the administration
receives the policy following the vote, President Bruininks will only provide
input at that point. He can then hear from other groups that might be affected
but did not have a voice in the process.
Q: How does the University feel
about the affirmative action case against Michigan in the Supreme
Court?
A: The University supports Michigan since it was considered a
target for the lawsuit at one time. The University does not support quotas but
it does look at a variety of criteria, including race, during the selection
process. A previous lawsuit affirms this view. Whatever the outcome, the
University will continue to promote diversity.
Q: Is there any talk of
General College closing in light of the budget situation?
A: There has
been no discussion about any area of the University closing, including General
College. This unit has been through many changes and improvements, and it is a
strong symbol in the community as entry to the University.
In closing
President Bruininks asked all members to think creatively about ways that the
University can save funds and provide the same or better services. He noted
that best ideas usually come from the students, staff, and faculty, not the
administration.
4. DISCUSSION OF THE STUDENT CONDUCT
CODE
Judy Berning reminded members that SSCC had been presented with
the revised Student Conduct Code in December and that members were supposed to
discuss the changes with their assemblies and bring comments back to this
meeting. She asked if any objections had been raised.
Members expressed
concern with the lack of a definition for the jurisdiction of the policy. The
examples given are rather vague, so who actually determines jurisdiction.
Members then discussed jurisdiction in regards to the hockey riots off-campus
last spring and study group sessions off campus, noting that the Code should not
be extended to surrounding communities. If members are not clear about
jurisdiction, then will the average student be?
Members decided that an
agenda item at next week’s meeting would be to propose language to define
jurisdiction. Members should come to the meeting with suggested
language.
5. OTHER BUSINESS
Judy Berning said that Dan
O’Connor has expressed that his schedule does not allow him to attend
Finance and Planning Committee meetings this semester, so he cannot provide
reports to SSCC. Members decided to ask another SCFP member to provide SSCC
with reports.
For the February meeting, Judy Berning said that the agenda
items would include approval of the Student Conduct Code, approval of the
February 20 Student Senate agenda, and a discussion with the Chair of CAPA.
With no further business, she thanked all members for attending and adjourned
the meeting.
Becky Hippert
University Senate