EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN

[In these minutes: Role of the Student Experience in the Educational Mission of the University, SSCC Bylaw changes, 2003-04 Student Senate Budget, Senate Reorganization, Reports]

STUDENT SENATE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE (SSCC) MINUTES

APRIL 17, 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), Kari Lindeman, Ryan Osero, Nathan Saete, Eric Steinhoff, Tom Walsh.

ABSENT: John Amble, Nick Cecconi, Scott Ferguson, Yev Garif, Kelsi Holland, Dan O’Connor, Jasen Peterson,

GUESTS: President Robert Bruininks, Derek Brunsberg, Joshua Colburn, Tony Diggs, Eric Dyer, Jacob Elo, Chris Frazier, Sara Kloek, Executive Vice President and Provost Christine Maziar, Gina Nelson, Interim Associate Vice Provost June Nobbe, Kyle Rollness, Danielle Stuard, Kate Stuckert, Vice Provost Craig Swan, Maggie Towle, Kevin Vogeltanz, John Ziegenhagen.

1. ROLE OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN THE EDUCATIONAL MISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY

Judy Berning, SSCC Chair, stated that the intent for this discussion was to have all student government groups, along with administrators, talk about what role student experiences have been and should be assuming in conjunction with the educational mission of the University. Everyone at the meeting should feel free to express any thoughts or ideas that they might have on this topic. She then asked Craig Swan to provide an introduction.

Craig Swan, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, said that while his job description is clear on the Twin Cities campus, it becomes vaguer for the coordinate campuses since he is not an officer of that system, yet works closely with each campus.

Vice Provost Swan stated that the University has a three-fold mission: research, teaching, and service. The reputation of the University is built by the quality of its faculty and staff, but the students also play an important role since they are the bedrock upon which everything else is built. The University has received strong support from the state in the past for undergraduate education, but budget challenges will be an issue for the University. He noted that while the budget will not impact course availability, some peripheral services will change. An example of this is that the paper course guide will cease to be published after fall 2003 and will only be available on-line.

Nate Saete, a student from Crookston, stated that one of his campuses challenges is conquering the myth that Crookston is simply an agricultural school. If more diverse majors were offered, other non-agricultural students would be attracted to the campus.

President Bruininks noted that this is a challenge for many campuses. In this case, funds are being diverted to increase natural resources courses at Crookston. The goal is to offer majors that build on strengths already in place on each campus, as well as the strengths and needs of the region.

Judy Berning said that she had read that some colleges on the Twin Cities campus wanted to double their undergraduate enrollment. She wondered how this would be possible given budget and space constraints.

Vice Provost Swan said that there are principles in place to guide enrollment management so that the student experience is not degraded. Any increases will be managed in a phased and careful way. One of the examples was a 50 percent increase in the undergraduate body within the Carlson School of Management. Before this can be done, the college knows that funds need to first be raised for more facilities. Other goals included a 50 percent increase in freshmen in the College of Biological Sciences, more full-time students at Crookston, and a student population of 2100 at Morris. In all cases, a timely graduation still needs to be guaranteed.

President Bruininks then turned to the hockey riots that took place on the Twin Cities campus the past weekend. He said that he was disappointed by the actions that took place for a second consecutive year. While some of the riot participants were not University, those that are University students should no longer be considered to be in good standing. He is proud of all the students that did not participate, but those that did degraded the University’s reputation and brought shame to the campus.

He said that the University implemented many other diversions this year, but it still did not prevent the riots from happening a second time. He asked the student leaders for help on what other tactics the University might try to prevent this problem from happening again in the future. He noted that the University has taken many steps in the past few years to improve the student experience, such as implementing convocation. He asked what other values or outcomes do students want and expect besides their education.

Kari Lindeman, a student member of SSCC, noted that a way to prevent another riot may be to offer another outlet for student pride and have the student organizations sponsor controlled events following the game.

President Bruininks noted that the University hosted events at Mariucci and Coffman Union, but this still did not deter rioters.

Eric Dyer, current MSA Vice President, said that once the Mariucci event ended, most students did not consider going to Coffman. Instead, they left the arena and were swept up in the riot. Some students feel disassociated from positive University traditions, so this might be a future goal for events. The University could also encourage friendly competitions with other institutions throughout the year in academics and athletics that might detract from one big event. Students might also find it harder to riot and destroy property in neighborhood communities if they were required to do community service and public outreach with these areas.

Chris Frazier, GAPSA President, said that all segments of the University population should work on outreach with the surrounding community area, not just students.

President Bruininks said that he was in favor of community service since it develops skills, allows a person to become more competent, connects a person with a community, and allows people to make a contribution back to society at large. When neighborhood liaisons are made, students should be included. He then noted that the University is considering a policy that would regulate University students off campus under certain circumstances.

Eric Dyer, MSA Vice President, said that students from some campus groups already attend neighborhood meetings.

Nate Saete, SSCC member from Crookston, said that this has also been an issue at Crookston so students have started attending city council meetings. Students realized that they needed to make the effort to go to the city instead of waiting for the city to come to them.

Josh Colburn, MSA president, said that advising standards at the university need to be reviewed since many students do not know what to expect from this service.

Vice Provost Swan said that a task force with members from the Council of Undergraduate Deans and students will be looking at the issue of advising.

Executive Vice President and Provost Maziar said that there is a need for more partnerships between the administration and the students. These partnerships will build legitimacy in the student process and assure that issues continue through the years.

Josh Colburn, MSA President, noted that graduation rates need to be addressed. There are several programs on campus which really require five years for completion and students in these programs should not be pressurized to be in and out in only four years.

Ryan Osero, Student Senate Chair, encouraged the administration to instill more pomp and circumstance and history into campus events so that students have a personal connection to campus, instead of just being a customer.

Judy Berning then asked this year’s students leaders to pass on advice to next year’s student leaders in the form of one things that they would have done differently. She began by noting that she wished she had started working sooner and put more emphasis on streamlining student government and unifying the student voice across the campuses.

Chris Frazier, outgoing GAPSA President, said that groups need to create a stronger student voice, so that each campus is autonomous enough to voice concerns to their own administrators but can also represent the larger, unified, system voice of students.

Josh Colburn, MSA President, informed next year’s student leaders to reserve space early since he was caught by the space crunch many times this year.

Eric Dyer, MSA Vice President, said that student groups need to continue to remove animosity, come together in light of the budget situation, and back each campus in their efforts.

Jake Elo, Student Representative to the Regents from the Twin Cities, said that students, and the University as a whole, need to focus more on the long-term vision.

Danielle Stuard, Student Representative to the Regents from Morris, said that student groups need to work on getting more students from the general population involved, which will then work to counteract the bad impression that many students have of government.

Eric Steinhoff, SSCC and Student Senate Vice Chair from Morris, said that it took him a long time to figure out how the process works since other students just assume that other people know. He asked old members to take the time to talk to and mentor new members so that they can have full involvement earlier in the process.

Kevin Vogeltanz, MCSA President, said that personally he was disappointed with the organization that was done when the students lobbied at the capitol and wished next year’s group better luck. He also noted that good student leaders are always needed because of the high rate of burn-out in student leadership. He said that leaders do not receive any credit from their fellow students or the faculty, and also do not receive any academic credits so leaders must always choose between the organization and their education.

Gina Nelson, Student Representative to the Regents from the Twin Cities, said that student government needs to better engage the average student, both in terms of providing information to and having discussions with these segments.

Ryan Osero, Student Senate Chair, said that student leaders need to see their involvement as a multi-year commitment so that they are involved with the transition into and out of the office.

Kari Lindeman, SSCC member from the Twin Cities, asked that next year’s students work on improving student and faculty relations outside of the classroom as a way of improving relations within the classroom.

Tom Walsh, SSCC member from GAPSA, stated that professional school students need to realize that there is more to the University than their program and they should be encouraged to participate in the broader community.

In closing Executive Vice President and Provost Maziar wished all students good luck on their finals. President Bruininks thanked the SSCC for arranging this meeting for a candid exchange of ideas. He tells many other groups about the pride he has for the University’s student leaders and how well-served campus is by them. He said that all student leaders are owed a debt of thanks for the work they do.

Judy Berning thanked everyone for their attendance and said that SSCC would continue this type of discussion again next year as a way to share ideas.

2. APPROVAL OF THE SSCC BYLAW CHANGES

Judy Berning said that at the last Student Senate meeting, votes were taken on the different proposals presented by the SSCC Task Force. The two most popular proposals were both options in #1, equal and proportional representation. Also to be considered was the merger of the SSCC and Student Senate Chair positions.

MERGED CHAIRS
While the increased workload for the one chair under this proposal is a concern, merging would streamline the positions, eliminate dual contacts on issues, and provide a greater role for the already-merged vice chair position.

Q: Is there a problem now with having two separate chairs?

A: For some issues, there is duplication for the two chairs, and sometimes the correct chair is not contacted for an issue within their position. This year has worked well since both chairs communicate regularly, but problems have arisen when the two positions did not work well together and would withhold information.

Q: Was a merged chair tried in the past?

A: It was done for one year.

Q: Could a coordinate campus person hold the chair position?

A: There would be nothing in the rules to prevent this from happening, but distance and availability might hinder how well the job can be done.

Q: Has an FCC chair ever been from a coordinate campus?

A: No, not within the last 15 years.

Members made the following comments: