STUDENT SENATE MINUTES
FEBRUARY 22, 2001, 2000
The third meeting of the Student Senate for 2000-01 was convened in 25 Law
Building, Minneapolis campus, on Thursday, February 22, 2001, at 11:32 a.m.
Coordinate campuses were linked by telephone. Checking or signing the roll as
present were 45 voting student members. Mr. Percy Chaby presided.
A motion was made to reorder the agenda. The motion was seconded and approved.
MOTION:
To approve the Student Senate minutes, which are available on the Web at the following URLs. A simple majority is required for approval.
ROBERTA HUMPHREYS, Clerk
UNIVERSITY SENATE/TWIN CITIES CAMPUS ASSEMBLY
DISCUSSION:
With no discussion, a vote was taken and the motion was approved.
APPROVED
Health Plan Task Force Recommendations
| Approved by the: | Student Senate November 16, 2000 Administration January 19, 2001* Board of Regents - no action required |
2000-01 Student Legislative Coalition Legislative Agenda
| Approved by the: | Student Senate November 16, 2000 Administration - no action required Board of Regents - no action required |
Items 10 through 13 from the University Senate agenda are presented here for information and will be presented at the University Senate meeting for action.
Percy Chaby, Student Senate Chair, noted that he has been working on lighting issues for the Twin Cities Campus. Recently, a campus walk-through was held with the Regents and Administrators and now campus lighting standards will be discussed. The hope is for a system-wide plan to be developed with identifiable recurring funding.
Another issue has been lobbying at the state legislature to increase the University's appropriation.
The Senate Student Affairs Committee (SCSA) has also created subcommittees to address issues such as alumni relations and event promotion.
Jason Reed, Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) Chair, said that
today's University Senate agenda contains several constitutional changes that
affect students. They include: student term limits on committees, SSCC term
limits, student senator term limits, and Student Committee on Committees
membership changes.
A: The SSCC will hear this report on Thursday, March 1 from 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. in
300 Morrill Hall. Any interested students are welcome to attend.
Duluth - Amber Benning reported that UMDSA had 200 students attend Lobby
Day and will participate in a food drive in March.
Morris - Tim Dunn said that John Schwaller was recently hired as the
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Many Morris students also attended the
Lobby Day. A RFP has been issued for a new food service contract, so any
student input would be appreciated. Twin Cities student senators recommended
anyone but ARAMARK since this company makes a profit from the student body.
Graduate and Professional Student Association - Phil Cole noted that
GAPSA has several issues that it is working on: shepherding the fees process by
working with the fees task force and the waivers working group, double coverage
issues for Boynton, feedback on CMU and reporting grades by the registrar, and
supporting SLC's efforts and the University's request.
Minnesota Student Association - Ryan Nagle said that MSA has been
working on election rules for the All Campus Election Commission, affordable
off-campus housing, and Lobby Day.
SLC is also proposing a tax bill to remove sales tax from anything that
students buy that educationally-related, whereas now tax is only removed for
books.
RESOLUTION ON CLASSROOM UPGRADES
Whereas centrally scheduled classrooms are an institutional priority,
Whereas the Twin Cities General Purpose Classroom Technology Upgrade Plan is a
comprehensive multi-year plan that addresses critically needed teaching and
learning requirements in classrooms,
Whereas implementation of this plan, to date, has made a significant difference
in meeting the needs of faculty and the expectations of students,
Whereas this plan must be accelerated to provide a strong classroom environment
that will put University of Minnesota teaching and learning at a level required
in a premier university, therefore,
Be it resolved that to do this, priority must be given to increased and
recurring funding for the Plan.
COMMENTS:
This resolution was approved by the Classroom Advisory Subcommittee and is
being presented to other campus groups for their endorsement.
PERCY CHABY, member
DISCUSSION:
With no discussion, a vote was taken and the motion was approved.
APPROVED
...
Section II. Student Employment Committees.
...
Subd. 2. Powers and Duties.
(a) Review, conduct public hearings on, and present recommendations to the
regents, president, vice presidents, chancellors, vice chancellors, and the
Student Senate Consultative Committee with respect to the rules which
govern student employment on each respective campus.
...
(c) Make investigations concerning the administration of student employment
either at the request of the regents, the president, vice presidents,
chancellors, vice chancellors, the Student Senate Consultative
Committee, or the person designated to be responsible for student
employment or on its own initiative.
(d) Perform such other duties as may be assigned to it by the regents,
president, vice presidents, chancellors, vice chancellors, or the Student
Senate Consultative Committee.
...
COMMENT:
Currently the Student Employment Committees are autonomous from student
governance. This amendment corrects this problem by ensuring that the Student
Senate is more involved with employment of students.
JASON REED, Chair
DISCUSSION:
Jason Reed, Chair of the Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC), stated
that once this amendment has been approved, it will be forwarded to the
President and the Board of Regents for approval.
With no discussion, a vote was taken and the motion was approved.
APPROVED
Richard Pfutzenreuter, Chief Financial Office and Treasurer for the University,
said that Governor has appropriated $56 million of the University's $221
million request. A new state revenue forecast will be available next week, but
the indication is that the state's revenues will be down up to $500 million
dollars. This is more stress on all groups to secure additional funding since
the legislature uses this forecast to decide on state spending and tax relief.
There have also been rumors that the Governor may decide to change his budget
based on the new forecast.
As for the House and Senate, each body will develop its own budget by the end
of March. Then these bills will be sent to conference committee to develop
final figures. The University will not know its appropriation until the
conference committee finishes. According to the state constitution, the
conference committee must complete its work by the third Monday in May
following the first Saturday, which this year is May 21. All completed bills
are then sent to the Governor for his signature. Budget decisions will be
presented to the Regents in June for review and approval.
The University's situation this year is unique because of the Governor's low
appropriation in the face of several high unusual costs, such as health care
and the Medical School. If the University only receives $56 million, the
University will need to raise tuition 14% for two years or cut budgets 6% for
two years. These are the two extremes, so any proposal would likely fall
somewhere in the middle.
The goal is to increase the appropriation, although it will be a struggle to
double the Governor's appropriation. Current indications are that the House
will only add $14-15 million and that the Senate will be higher.
Q: What happens if the legislature approves $100-150 million but the Governor
vetoes this figure?
A: Many people are worried about this situation, but legislators are under
pressure from their constituents to fund higher education. There would likely
be enough votes on this issue to override the Governor's veto. Spending bills
need to reach the Governor, though, before the legislature adjourns otherwise
there is not an opportunity to override the veto.
Q: Is there a magic number that the University needs to receive to avoid double
digit tuition increases?
A: There is no firm number, and he cannot speak for the President or the Board
of Regents, but it would be hard to recommend back-to-back double digit tuition
increases if the Governor's appropriation was doubled.
Q: Is there any chance for only an inflationary increase in tuition?
A: There is probably no chance that a tuition increase would stay at 3%.
Q: What will be the cuts in departments that will accompany tuition
increases?
A: There are no precise figures on a combination of tuition increases and
department cuts. The only certain figures are when each occurs separately.
Q: What can students do to help this situation?
A: Students need to keep in touch with the President and Board of Regents, but
the most important thing is to contact your legislators since they are
convinced that students elected Jesse Ventura. Students need to mobilize and
make their voices heard that you do not agree with the Governor's proposal.
Q: SLC has been encouraging students to send postcards. Is there anything else
that students should be doing?
A: There are four more weeks to influence legislators before the budget targets
are set. The biggest influence for legislators in all districts is phone calls
from students and parents. Students should also contact leaders in the House
and Senate as well as moderate conservatives in the House since they have
deciding cotes. Some legislators, such as Phyllis Kahn, already support the
University's request.
Q: In light of budget cuts, have solicitations been made for private sector
funding support?
A: There is a strong relationship between poor appropriations and a backlash
against the University from private donations since private donors do not want
to see their money substituting for state support.
Q: If the Governor vetoes the budget after the legislature adjourns, then what
is the University's appropriation?
A: In addition to the University's appropriation, the University also receives
another $600 million from the state. If a budget is not approved by July 1,
the start of the next budget year, the University will be short the
appropriation plus $600 million. There are policies in place to reduce costs
in fiscal emergencies, but the University would like to avoid this
situation.
Q: What is the President and the administration doing to help students?
A: The President has been flying around the state to promote the University's
request. Administrators are talking with business groups, rotaries, and lions
clubs and sending letters to the editors of the newspapers.
14. NEW BUSINESS
15. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 3:54 p.m.
Rebecca Hippert
Crookston - Shane Roers noted that over 100 Crookston students recently
attended Lobby Day. A student rally was also held this morning to let all
students know what they can still do to help. Kiehl Hall renovations are also
progressing.
Paul Enever, Chair of the Student Service Fees Task Force, said that three
working groups have been formed to address administrative unit issues, student
group issues, and more access to fees money by student groups. The Task Force
has also recommended that the administrative units be separated from the
student groups in terms of fees processes. Another possible recommendation is
to create a Senate subcommittee to provide input into the fees process. This
subcommittee would include faculty and students to provide input on policies
and procedures to allow for a unified campus-wide approach. A report should be
issued next month.
Percy Chaby reported that Lobby Day was held, and while the coordinate campus
turn-out was great, there was poor representation from the Twin Cities. Of the
300 Twin Cities students who signed up, only 30 attended the event. In
comparison, there were almost 800 coordinate campus students present. SCL will
hold more rallies on the Twin Cities campus and encourage students to write
letters and e-mails, and call their representatives.
Resolution on Classroom Upgrades
Action
CLASSROOM ADVISORY SUBCOMMITTEE
Amendments to the Regents Policy on Student Employment at the
University
Action
STUDENT SENATE CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
Discussion
Abstractor