The sixth meeting of the Student Senate for 2002-03 was convened in 25 Mondale Hall, Minneapolis campus, on Thursday, April 24, 2003, at 11:40 a.m. Coordinate campuses were linked by telephone. Checking or signing the roll as present were 26 voting student members and 1 ex officio member. Chair Ryan Osero presided.

Judy Berning announced that the Twin Cities Student Senate Consultative Committee members will be holding a meeting at the conclusion of the Student Senate meeting.

Ryan Osero then welcomed all new student senators.

MOTION:

To approve the Student Senate minutes, which are available on the Web at the following URL. A simple majority is required for approval.

http://www1.umn.edu/usenate/ssen/030327stu.html

DISCUSSION:

With no discussion a vote was taken and the motion was approved.

Ryan Osero, Student Senate Chair, provided a recap for the past year. He began by thanking all senators for their service and attendance. He was appreciative of the success from the Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) Task Force. The fall student governance workshop was very helpful and will be offered again next year. Much work has been done with the Student Conduct Code, but more will be needed in response to the second year of riots. Students will need to keep on an eye on the final state budget allocation for the University.

For next year, Ryan Osero noted that one discussion focuses on making the University Senate more inclusive by including civil service and academic professional employees. The Student Senate should also create better ties to the college boards and campus assemblies. Greater activism by students in state issues will also be needed.

Judy Berning, Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) Chair, stated that all her report items appear later on the docket for action.

Crookston – Jean Korkowski reported that campus had a yellow ribbon sale to collect money for the million minute march. Elections have been completed and next year’s CSA chair and vice chair are Kyle Rollness and Cheryl Isder. Campus graduation takes place on May 9.

Duluth – Nick Cecconi said that UMDSA has finished elections and is planning a retreat and awards banquet.

Morris – Kevin Vogeltanz stated that MCSA is finishing a year of reforms to student government and is working on an overhaul of awarding student activity fee money.

Graduate and Professional Student Association – Gina Jennissen said that GAPSA’s new president is Todd Powell. Winners of other officer positions have been posted on the web.

Minnesota Student Association – Josh Colburn congratulated all the new senators and said that MSA completed its elections. The new officers are Eric Dyer and Gina Nelson. Lastly, he thanked the coordinate campus student presidents for their hard work this year on many issues, including the Student Legislative Coalition.

MOTION 1:

To amend Article III, Section 3 of the University Senate Bylaws as follows (language to be deleted is struck out; language to be added is underlined).

ARTICLE III. SENATE COMMITTEES

...

3. CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES

...

Senate Consultative Committee

Membership

The Senate Consultative Committee shall be composed of 10 elected members of the faculty, 9 elected students, 1 academic professional, and the vice chair of the University Senate. [The faculty representatives shall serve as the Faculty Consultative Committee; the 8 10 elected student representatives and the chair and vice chair of the Student Senate shall serve as the Student Consultative Committee; the 8 9 elected student representatives, chosen by the Student Senate Consultative Committee, and the vice chair of the Student Senate shall constitute the 9 voting student members of the Senate Consultative Committee.] The academic professional member shall be designated by the Council of Academic Professionals and Administrators.

...

Student Consultative Committee

Membership

The Student Consultative Committee shall be composed of:

- two undergraduate students from the Twin Cities Campus
- chair of the Student Senate (elected by the Student Senate)
- ex officio representation as specified by vote of the Senate

- five students from the Twin Cities campus, as follows:
In 1998-99, and every other year thereafter, there shall be three undergraduate
students and two graduate/professional students. In 1999-2000, and every other
year thereafter, there shall be four undergraduate students and one
graduate/professional student.

Student members, except for the vice chair, shall be elected in accordance with procedures determined by the respective campuses' student constituencies, subject to the following provisions: Aat the time of their election, students shall be members of the University Senate (except for Crookston).

Student vacancies shall be filled in accordance with procedures determined by the respective campuses for the balance of any unexpired term until the next regular election.

...

COMMENT:

Over the last two years there has been a great deal of discussion about the make-up of the Student Senate Consultative Committee. The general consensus is that SSCC's role is to serve as a place where each campus association is represented and to be a advisory broad. This role can best be represented through equal representation. Many have expressed concerned that the Twin Cities' voice, especially undergraduate's, will be lost. While this is a valid concern, the final say for approval of matter comes from the Student Senate, which will continue to have proportional representation.

It is proposed that this change take effect July 1.

MOTION 2A:

To amend Article III, Section 6 of the University Senate Constitution as follows (language to be deleted is struck out; language to be added is underlined).

SENATE CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE III. UNIVERSITY SENATE

...

6. University Senate and Student Senate Officers

...

b. The officers of the Student Senate shall be a chair and a vice chair.

The chair and vice chair shall be elected at a special spring semester session of the Student Senate attended only by student senators elected for the following year. The outgoing chair shall preside over the election. Non-senators and outgoing student senators may not be candidates for these positions. The chair and vice chair shall not be from the same campus. In the event that no one is nominated for the vice chair position from a separate campus, the position will be open to all qualified members of the Student Senate. Term of office shall be July 1 to June 30, and the person holding office is eligible for re-election. The duties of the chair are (1) to be the official spokesperson of the Student Senate and the Student Senate Consultative Committee; (2) to set the Student Senate agenda, to be approved by the Student Consultative Committee; (3) to serve on the board of the Student Legislative Coalition, the University's student lobbying organization to serve as chair of the Student Senate Consultative Committee; and (4) to serve as the University's representative on the Student Advisory Council; (5) to serve on one central University advisory committee and to delegate student members for other advisory committees.

The duties of the vice chair are (1) to assume the duties of the chair in the event of an absence or incapacity of the chair; (2) to assume responsibilities delegated by the chair; (3) to submit to the Senate Office an annual budget request for the Student Senate and Student Consultative Committee, to be approved by the Student Senate during its fall semester meeting; (4) to organize an annual orientation for members of the Student Senate; (5) to monitor Student Senate attendance and ensure that the Student Senate Handbook is updated and distributed; (6) to serve on a central advisory committee that is not attended by the Student Senate chair if there is more than one such committee active; (7) to serve as the vice chair of the Student Senate Consultative Committee.

...


MOTION 2B:

To amend Article III, Section 3 of the University Senate Bylaws as follows (language to be deleted is struck out; language to be added is underlined).

3. CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES

...

Student Consultative Committee

Membership

...

The chair of the Student Senate shall also serve as the chair of the Student Consultative Committee. The vice chair of the Student Senate shall also serve as the vice chair of the Student Consultative Committee. Chair and vice Chair elections should be subject to the following provisions:

The chair of the Student Consultative Committee shall be elected by the Student Consultative Committee members from among the campus representatives, not including the Student Senate Chair or the Student Senate Vice Chair. The vice chair of the Student Senate shall also serve as the vice chair of the Student Senate Consultative Committee. If the vice chair has already been elected to the Student Senate Consultative Committee as a regular member, he or she must concede his or her prior position to another student, to be chosen as soon as possible by the appropriate student constituency. The chair and vice chair shall serve no more than two consecutive terms. The chair of the Student Senate shall serve as an ex officio, nonvoting member of the Senate Consultative Committee. The vice chair of the Student Senate shall serve as a voting member of the Senate Consultative Committee.

...

Chairs: The chairs of the Faculty Consultative Committee and of the Student Consultative Committee shall be elected by their respective members from among their number for a one-year term of office. Chairs shall be eligible for re-election to that position. The vice chair of the Student Senate Consultative Committee shall be elected by the Student Senate in accordance with Article III, Section 6b, of the Senate Constitution. The chair of the Faculty Consultative Committee shall serve as chair of the Senate Consultative Committee.

COMMENT:

By consolidating the Student Senate Chair and the SSCC Chair, the Student Senate will be able to streamline their efforts. First, instead of having two leadership roles, administration, faculty, and students will be able to easily identify the one leadership voice of the Student Senate. Second, the Student Senate Vice Chair will be able to become a more prominent role in the Student Senate. Third, this structure is very similar to Faculty Senate structure, which has proven to be very efficient.

The biggest change in the responsibilities will be the number of meetings the new chair will have to preside over. Furthermore, this change will ensure that the Chair of SSCC is not tied to a student association and will be able to act in the best interest of the Student Senate. If passed, the SSCC will plan to evaluate this leadership decision by December of 2005.

It is proposed that this change take effect July 1.

DISCUSSION:

Ryan Osero began by summarizing the two bylaw changes being proposed, the first of which deals with the membership of the Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) and the second of which proposes merging the SSCC Chair and Student Senate Chair positions. He stated that the bylaw change regarding equal membership would be considered first.

Q: Under this proposal, graduate and professional students would only have two seats, which does not represent the actual numbers across the campuses?

A: This topic was discussed, but it should not be an issue since the Student Senate is proportional. SSCC would function better with two members from each campus since this committee represents each campus organization and not each individual student.

Judy Berning, SSCC Chair, stated that SSCC did discuss equal membership and proportional membership. The committee felt that there was a need for change, and this was the proposal that represented the greatest change.

A senator then said that while they believe in the proposed structure, the role of SSCC still remains unclear. If SSCC should function as a mini-Student Senate, then it needs to remain proportional. If, however, if the committee performs only the functions stated in its bylaws, then equal membership is most appropriate. Senators need to decide for themselves the role of SSCC, scheduling committee or quick stop for administrators, which should then determine the best structure to approve.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the equal membership amendment. Judy Berning then asked senators to vote against the motion so that additional technical changes could be approved in the motion. A vote was taken and the motion was not approved.

A motion was then made and seconded to suspend the rules to consider amendments to the motion. A vote was taken and the motion was approved.

Judy Berning stated that there were several technical amendments to be made in the first full paragraph under membership. She proposed that the revised paragraph read, “Student members shall be elected and/or appointed in accordance with procedures determined by the respective campuses’ student constituencies, subject to the following provision: at the time of their election, Twin Cities undergraduate students shall be members of the University Senate. A student member will relinquish their seat in the University Senate upon election to the Student Senate Consultative Committee.’

A motion was made and seconded to approve the amended paragraph. A vote was then taken and the amended paragraph was approved. Discussion then returned to the full motion, as amended.

A member of the SSCC Task Force stated when SSCC discussed changes to its membership, there was some discussion of forwarding both amendments. He was then surprised when the equal membership proposal was the one chosen to be forwarded.

A senator then expressed concern about voting on any changes before clarifying the role of SSCC.

Ryan Osero then read the duties and responsibilities section of the SSCC charge.

Another senate member expressed concern if the motion was not approved. The Student Senate is proportional and should remain this way because of its function. As for the SSCC, it is primarily a steering committee. As to the notion that SSCC is an advising committee for the administration, he is not sure that this is a power that he wants the committee to have and that proportional membership represents the best interests in this structure. One body within student government should have equal representation as a way to ensure fairness.

Ryan Osero then noted that the time for this item has expired. A motion was made and seconded to extend the time for discussion for an additional ten minutes. The motion was approved.

Another senate member noted that since SSCC is not separate from the Student Senate, but can make decisions on behalf of the Student Senate, that proportional membership is needed.

A senator asked for discussion of the role of SSCC before a decision on membership is made.

Another senator said that they would be scared of a coordinate campus majority on SSCC.

A senator then said that there are different needs between colleges on the Twin Cities campus, and only having two representatives would deny Twin Cities students their voices. The equal membership proposal ignores the reality of the situation in terms of where students are located.

A senator then said that Twin Cities students have to understand the needs of the coordinate campuses. Currently, any proposal at the Student Senate level can be outvoted by Twin Cities members. If membership remains proportional, then why should coordinate campus students continue to be involved since they do not have enough votes to place items on the agenda or approve items at Student Senate meetings.

A senate member asked whether the argument for proportional representation is that Twin Cities students can accurately express all views with four students, but not with two. If the answer is yes, then the Student Senate should be dissolved and a proportional SSCC could act in its place. Coordinate campuses feel that equal membership is the only way that they can express themselves without being overridden. If this proposal fails, then coordinate campuses should consider what they are accomplishing by attending these meetings.

A senator then noted that this same discussion took place last year, and to end future debates, equal membership should be approved so the Student Senate can move onto other items.

Ryan Osero then noted that the time for this item has expired. A motion was made and seconded to extend the time for discussion for an additional five minutes. The motion was not approved.

A vote was then taken on the original motion as amended and the motion was approved with 18 in favor and 10 opposed.

Ryan Osero then noted that the time to discussion motion 2 has expired. A motion was made and seconded to extend the time for discussion for an additional ten minutes to only discuss motion 2. The motion was approved.

Judy Berning said that this idea has been discussed for the past three months as a way to streamline efforts and make the position comparable to the Faculty Consultative Committee.

A motion was then made and seconded to approve motion 2. A vote was taken and the motion was approved with 25 in favor and 2 abstentions.

This discussion was tabled until fall 2003.

MOTION:

To approve the following statement.

MINNESOTA PRIVATE COLLEGE COUNCIL STATEMENT

The Student Senate Consultative Committee charged the Student Affairs Committee to investigate the proposal made by the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC) to the state legislature. This proposal calls for 30% of the state’s higher education budget to be dedicated to need-based financial aid by 2006. The Committee heard reports from the following individuals:

Based on these reports, the Student Affairs Committee does not support this proposal for the following reasons:

Approved by the Student Affairs Committee on April 22, 2003

DISCUSSION:

Adam VanWagner, 2003-04 Chair of the Student Affairs Committee, presented the statement on behalf of the committee.

Q: Who will the approved statement be forwarded to? Can it be sent to outside entities?

A: It will be forwarded to the President and can also be sent to HESO, the House, and Senate for information.

A senator urged the Student Senate to support the motion.

Another senator supported the statement in general, but did not agree with some of the language in the third bullet.

Adam VanWagner said that the Student Affairs Committee (SCSA) added this bullet since David Laird, during his discussion, was evasive on direct questions asked by the committee.

A vote was then taken and the statement was approved.

MOTION:

To approve the following resolution.

Whereas, many issues in Student Government take more than one year to fully complete; and

Whereas, each year many new Student Senators spend a great deal of time learning the University’s intricate governance system; therefore be it

Resolved, the Student Senate Chair appoints at least three Student Senators by May 15 each year to serve as mentors to new Student Senators; be it further

Resolved, the appointed Student Senate Mentors can be either a returning Senator or an exiting Senator that will be a student through the following fall semester.

Approved by the Student Senate Consultative Committee on April 17, 2003

COMMENT:

Over the past year there has been discussion to improving and implementing new programs to the Student Senate. This resolution is simply to help new Student Senators find their niche in the University Senate. Furthermore, the Mentors will be able to inform the new Senators of issues that still need work and will help provide consistency to the Senate. If this resolution is passed, SSCC will discussed and approve the Mentors' responsibilities at our May 1 meeting.

DISCUSSION:

Judy Berning, SSCC Chair, said that the intent of the resolution is not to create controversy, but is to help further work of the Student Senate. It needs approval today so that the mentors can be in place for next year.

Q: How many mentors will there be? Is this number the total or per campus?

A: The resolution states a minimum of three mentors so that there can be coverage at each campus.

Q: How will mentors be selected? Who will decide their duties?

A: Mentors will be appointed by the Student Senate Chair after agreeing to serve in this capacity. The duties will be approved by SSCC next week, and are not included in this proposal.

Q: Will Senate support be provided to mentors?

A: The Senate Office is always available to provide process and history support to any Senate or committee member. The Senate staff would not be responsible for logistical details, such as setting up meetings.

Q: How will communication take place between mentors and senators?

A: The Senate Office will maintain contact information for mentors and these people will be invited to the fall orientation as well.

Ryan Osero then noted that the time for discussion has expired. A motion was made and seconded to extend the time for discussion for an additional two minutes. The motion was approved.

Q: Will mentors replace the chair transition meetings?

A: Transition meetings will still take place for student leaders, but the mentors provide transition for senators.

A vote was then taken and the motion was approved with 26 in favor and 1 opposed.

Daniel Weiske, a student senator from the College of Liberal Arts, was elected Student Senate Chair.

A senator proposed that the SSCC/Student Senate Vice Chair election be tabled pending the outcome of the bylaw changes at the University Senate this afternoon. The motion was seconded.

A motion was then made and seconded to overrule the decision of the Student Senate Chair. The motion was not approved with only 5 in favor, 20 opposed, and 3 abstentions.

Q: When will the election happen before the end of spring semester?

A: The time for the election will be set at the discretion of the chair, and may be conducted via email.

A vote was then taken on the motion to table and the motion was approved with 22 in favor, 5 opposed, and 1 abstention.

Josh Colburn, Adam VanWagner, and Dan Weiske were elected 2003-04 Twin Cities undergraduate Committee on Committees members.

Judy Berning, SSCC Chair, noted that the reason that a request was made to postpone the vice chair election is because, if the new bylaws are approved, the vice chair position would be elected by the SSCC and not by the Student Senate.

A senate member said that he might have changed his vote on this motion it is had been pointed out that the Student Senate would no longer be electing the vice chair position.

Q: If the proposed bylaws are approved, which group will elect each position?

A: If approved, the Student Senate will elect the SSCC/Student Senate Chair position and the SSCC will elect the SSCC/Student Senate Vice Chair position.

Q: Who will be eligible to serve in the Vice Chair position?

A: As written, senators are eligible to run as long as they are not from the same campus as the SSCC/Student Senate Chair.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:35 p.m.