[In these minutes: Discussion of the Constitutional Review Subcommittee, Coordinate Campus Visits, Student Involvement in Sesquicentennial Planning, Approval of Changes to the Regents' Policy on the Scope of the Fee Assessment, Discussion of Constitutional Changes, and Talk with President Yudof]
STUDENT SENATE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE (SSCC) MINUTES
January 7, 1999
[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 Anderson, Jesse Berglund, YeeLeng Hang, Nathan Hunstad, Brandon Lacy, Deanne Nordberg, Martin O'Hely, Kelli Rusch, Mark Uszenski.
REGRETS: Ryan Falk, Gita Uppal.
GUESTS: Sue Eastman, Sara Evans, June Nobbe, and President Mark Yudof.
The meeting was convened by Deanne Nordberg, Student Senate Vice Chair, at 12:34 p.m.
1. Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved.
2. Approval of the Minutes
The November 5 minutes were approved.
3. Chair's Report
Since Ryan Falk was unable to attend the meeting, Becky Hippert asked SSCC if they were still interested in forming a Parking and Transportation Subcommittee, either with just SSCC members or in conjunction with MSA. The committee asked to include MSA since that group has been working on the issue this year.
4. Student Senate Chair's Report
Jesse Berglund, Student Senate Chair, asked that any ideas for the February 18 Student Senate meeting be forwarded by the February 4 docket deadline. One possible item for that meeting is a tuition banding resolution.
A committee member asked if there has been any response from the coordinate campuses regarding the proposed policy on tuition banding and academic progress.
None of the coordinate campuses members had received an e-mail, so Brandon Lacy said that he would forward it to the full SSCC.
5. Discussion of Constitutional Review Subcommittee
Becky Hippert said that e-mails were sent to senators in December and January asking for interested members to contact the Senate Office, but there has been no response. Without a response, no time commitments have been set. Changes pertinent to semester conversion have been made and will be presented at the SCC meeting today.
A committee member suggested that if there are no interested students, then SSCC should take on this responsibility. J.P. Maier should also be consulted with as to any progress made last year. He is on the Fees Committee this year, so he would probably not have time to sit on this committee.
6. Discussion of Coordinate Campus Visits
Becky Hippert said that she received an e-mail from Dan Bart, Duluth Student Assembly President, asking if 4-6 Duluth members could attend a Senate Meeting in the Twin Cities Campus.
Last year, SSCC traveled to each of the coordinate campuses. This year, Jesse Berglund and Ryan Falk decided to ask the coordinate campuses if they would like to travel to the Twin Cities for the April 22 Senate Meeting or have SSCC members travel to their campuses. If SSCC chooses to invite coordinate campus members, then SSCC funds could be used to pay for hotel rooms or food. She asked the coordinate campuses what they would prefer.
Mark Uszenski, from Duluth, said that they were already planning on traveling to the Twin Cities, so April 22 works for them. Deanne Nordberg, from Morris, stated that their assembly has not met yet Winter Quarter, so she would ask them at the next meeting.
Becky Hippert reported that last year $800 was spent on the coordinate campus trips, but this year the total SSCC budget was reduced by $300. Sara Evans, chair of the Senate Consultative Committee, seemed open to the idea of extra funding.
YeeLeng Hang said that he had discussed with Becky Hippert the possibility of President Yudof hosting a reception at Eastcliff to recognize the service of student senators.
Committees members then asked if it would be possible to invite members to the Twin Cities and also travel to the coordinate campuses. It was also suggested that coordinate campus trips should take place earlier in the year to foster more relationships among members.
7. Discussion of Student Involvement in Sesquicentennial Planning Process
June Nobbe, from the Campus Involvement Center, said that the 150 year anniversary of the signing of the University's charter will be in February of 2001. The University will be starting the celebration in August of 2000 and finishing it in May of 2001. An Executive Committee has been formed and appointed by the President. It includes staff, faculty, deans, P & A, and Jessie Roos, as the student member. She then introduced Sue Eastman, the coordinator for the events.
At the last Executive Committee meeting, there was a discussion of how to solicit constituency involvement from faculty and staff in terms of planning events and also participation. The challenge with students is that many of them will not be at the University in 2000-2001. She asked whether SSCC would like to be involved in the planning or if a student advisory board could be established.
Q: What kind of student involvement are you asking for?
A: The Executive Committee is planning 4 key signature events. The first during the State Fair, a second during the first week of classes, a third around the charter signing date, and the final in spring. These events could last up to one week. The Committee is also considering a traveling exhibit that would tour the state. Existing events, such as Homecoming and Graduation, would also be utilized. Some questions that have been raise include:
Q: What is the budget?
A: President Yudof is considering $500,000. A budget will be submitted from the Executive Committee following its next meeting. Iowa and Wisconsin have both had sesquicentennial celebrations. Iowa spent $250,000 on four signature events. Wisconsin has spent over $500,000.
Q: How often would a subcommittee need to meet?
A: That would be up to the subcommittee. The Executive Committee meets monthly, and could meet with the subcommittee quarterly.
An SSCC member suggested that SSCC form a subcommittee. SSCC could serve, but it would be the responsibility of each SSCC member to recruit someone from their constituency to serve on this subcommittee. It was decided that names be brought to the February 4 SSCC meeting.
8. Approval of Changes to the Regents' Policy on the Scope of the Fee Assessment
June Nobbe explained that with a single registration system, there will no longer be the capability to exempt students from certain colleges from paying the student service fee. The current policy states that the fee is assessed on any student enrolled for 6 or more day school credits. In the past, University College students have been exempt from this fee. A change is this policy was brought to the Student Senate and approved in April 1998. The language in that policy was based on the definition of half-time enrollment.
Following approval, concerns were raised by University College students regarding Boynton Health Service, since most of these students have their own insurance. Access to other services in the evening was another issue. Since this was a Twin Cities specific issue, a new committee was formed and discussed these issues. A tiered system, involving a minimal fee on all students and then a user fee, was discussed.
The document distributed to SSCC is what was developed by the committee and what Vice President McKinley Boston will be forwarding to the Regents in February. It states that the mandatory fee would be assessed on all students carrying 6 or more credits. The difference from the document approved by the Student Senate is that the fee is no longer based on the definition of half-time.
The committee also proposed the following exemptions to the fee, which are currently not in the Regents policy:
Since this was approved by the Student Senate, she has brought the changes to SSCC, to approve it on behalf of the Student Senate. She then opened the floor for questions.
Q: Are professional students included under the term graduate students?
A: Yes they are.
Q: What is the timeline for checking on this state law?
A: Probably within the next week, since an answer will be needed before forwarding the policy to the Regents for approval.
A motion in favor of this policy was then made and seconded on behalf of the Student Senate. A vote was taken and the policy was approved. The policy will be presented to the Student Senate for information at its February 18 meeting.
9. Discussion of Constitutional Changes
Professor Sara Evans, chair of the Senate Consultative Committee (SCC), presented a problem that the faculty and students share, and asked how to deal with it. To make a change to the Senate Constitution currently requires a two-thirds vote of the total membership of the Senate. Very often, changes are proposed but cannot be passed because not enough members are present. When items repeatedly cannot be passed, it paralyzes the entire Senate. This then leads the Senate to outside of the constitution to create subcommittees and complete the work.
In the past, changes have been proposed to reduce the number to two-thirds of those present, but students have objected since it was perceived to reduce the students' capacity to participate. These proposed changes have also been forwarded without proper student consultation. Students are not well-served by having all of their power in a negative form. She asked the students to develop a proposal in SSCC and then bring it to the full SCC. She then opened the floor for questions.
Jesse Berglund thanked Professor Evans for being the first SCC chair in three years to attend a SSCC meeting and ask for the students' opinion on an important issue.
Professor Evans then informed SSCC that at the SCC meeting constitutional amendments dealing with the semester conversion, and therefore housekeeping in nature, will be presented. SCC will decide whether to forward the changes to the Senate for approval at the February meeting.
10. Discussion with President Yudof
President Yudof addressed the following areas:
Budget
The administration is working on the budget without knowing what will eventually happen. It is unlikely that the University will receive its whole request, but it still looks good. The priorities are still undergraduate education, infrastructure, compensation for professors and staff, and outreach.
Financial Aid
People are now focusing on Governor Ventura's comments on financial aid. President Yudof has talked to him and concluded the Governor Ventura is not opposed to financial aid, but does not like the idea that people are getting a "free ride." He. Therefore, this should not translate into a reduction. It tuition increases by 3%, then this will be offset for the students with the most financial need.
Tuition
A tuition increase has not been firmly set, but it likely to be 3%. The administration is trying to work on an incentive system to give students reduced tuition. The Office of Admissions has already exceeded the applications for all of last year, which might result in more students admitted this year.
Republican Priorities
Republicans in the State House of Representatives are pushing for a $1 billion dollar tax cut. If this happens, the University could still do well since there is a huge deficit. If they return all the money, then the University will have a tremendous problem. The University is asking that most, but not all the money be returned to the taxpayers. Higher education is a capital investment. There is still a lot of time before a decision is made. Students need to help Cheryl Jorgensen on this issue
Other Information
None.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:46 p.m.
Rebecca Hippert
University Senate