[In these minutes: Reports, Senate Reorganization, Duties of the Student
Senate Mentors, 2003-04 Chair Election]
STUDENT SENATE CONSULTATIVE
COMMITTEE (SSCC) MINUTES
MAY 1, 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), Jim Kanten, Kari
Lindeman, Ryan Osero, Nathan Saete, Eric Steinhoff, Tom Walsh, Dan
Weiske.
GUESTS: Danielle Stuard.
1.
REPORTS
CHAIR
Judy Berning thanked all members for their
service and input this year. Next year’s committee will need to follow-up
on the Senate reform, the SSCC Task Force recommendations, and schedule a
retreat in August.
STUDENT SENATE CHAIR
Ryan Osero thanked
everyone for the productive year and reminded members of the Crookston
Chancellor interviews that are taking place.
SSCC/STUDENT SENATE
CHAIR
Eric Steinhoff did not have a report but said that he enjoyed
working with everyone.
MSA
Kari Lindeman said that the MSA SSCC
elections will take place on May 6.
GAPSA
Tom Walsh said that
the 2030-04 SSCC representative will be elected at the May 12 GAPSA meeting.
Next year’s GAPSA President is Todd Powell.
2. SENATE
REORGANIZATION
Ryan Osero said that after the first meeting to
discuss the reorganization proposal, he and Judy Berning had several initial
concerns:
- Total membership of the University Senate and SCC
- For SCC there are 5 student associations/assemblies, but only 4 seats on the
proposal
- Committee reporting lines for CLE, SCEP, SCFP, and Research since these
issues affect the entire University
- Reporting line for SCSA should be the same as SCFA
Members
made the following comments:
- Re-evaluate the purpose for the University Senate: faculty voice with some
other input or equal representation for all groups
- SCC should have at least 5 students
- Vice Chair of Senate should not automatically be a faculty member
- CAPA and Civil Service should each have 25 seats and students should receive
75
- No other institutions have the same level of involvement for their
students
- In this proposal, students would lose 8 seats, or drop from 25% to 20% of
the total
- Students should not lose Senate seats just so that faculty can maintain the
majority
- Proportionality should not be a key factor for determining SCC
composition
- Faculty need to realize that students have a long history of almost equal
representation on SCC
- Bigger colleges will lose more representation under this
proposal
Q: Why are there more faculty seats in the
Senate?
A: Faculty have a long-term vested interest in the University and
think they should have more say because of this interest.
In conclusion,
the committee agreed that the University Senate could have a fixed number, but
that they should be apportioned 125 faculty, 75 students, 25 CAPA, and 25 Civil
Service. For SCC, students should retain at least 6 seats.
3. DUTIES
OF THE STUDENT SENATE MENTORS
Members suggested that the duties of
the Student Senate mentors should be to: 1) Attend the April Senate meeting, 2)
Attend the Fall Orientation, and 3) Be available via phone or email for fall
semester. The Student Senate Chair should be the person who steers senators to
a mentor. These duties were then approved.
4. OTHER
BUSINESS
Judy Berning said that at the April Senate meeting the SSCC
bylaw changes were approved, but the Constitution changes did not receive enough
votes. An electronic ballot was done, but this still did not produce a positive
outcome. Since many bodies did not elect SSCC representatives yet, she
suggested postponing the 2003-04 SSCC Chair election and doing one of three
things:
- Have SSCC only recognize the bylaws and therefore not elect a separate
chair
- Hold a special election in a few weeks to elect the SSCC Chair, once all
members have been named. SSCC/Student Senate Vice Chair can then be done via
email by all senators.
- Elect an interim SSCC Chair
Members then asked whether
SSCC can violate its own bylaws and whether it should be acting on behalf of the
Student Senate in these matters.
Members decided to hold a joint meeting
from 6-7 pm on May 21 to elect the new SSCC Chair.
With no further
business, Judy Berning thanked all members for attending and adjourned the
meeting.
Becky Hippert
University Senate