The first meeting of the Student Senate for 2006-07 was convened in 165 Peik Hall, Minneapolis campus, on Thursday, September 28, 2006, at 11:33 a.m. Coordinate campuses were linked by ITV. Checking or signing the roll as present were 24 voting student members. Chair Joshua Beiningen presided.

Joshua Beiningen, Student Senate/Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) Chair, said that there is currently a communication gap between campus student governments and the Student Senate. He would like the Student Senate to hear more about campus issues and lend support when appropriate. Resolutions from other groups can also be brought to the Student Senate for approval as well.

SSCC is keeping tabs on the review of the Student Conduct Code which is being brought to the Regents later this semester. It is very important that the student voice is heard before changes are made.

SSCC has dealt with a few other issues this fall. The first is following-up on student evaluations of teaching which started two years ago. Last spring the Educational Policy Committee (SCEP) approved a new set of student release questions. These are being held for inclusion on evaluation forms until the four mandatory faculty questions are revised this semester. New forms will then be printed with all new questions. Updates will be provided throughout the year.

Another issue is the Aramark and Coke contracts that are soon up for bid for the Twin Cities campus. Students would like to have more stringent food quality for whatever vendor is selected. SSCC has also approved a set of responsibilities for student senators, which was distributed today.

Lastly, the Senate Consultative Committee met recently and heard a presentation on renovations to Northrop Auditorium. A group is looking at more uses for this space, including more social activities related to academics while retaining its role as a special place for student events. Whatever final plan is approved will result in a two-year loss of this space for any functions.

Crookston – no report.

Duluth – no report.

Morris – Adam Yust stated that the campus assembly has been meeting and a retreat is being held this weekend. A strategic planning resolution is also coming forward to the campus assembly at the end of October for endorsement before a final report is sent to the Regents.

GAPSA – Bree Richards noted that GAPSA’s president resigned at its first meeting. The Executive Vice President has stepped into this role, but now GAPSA needs to elect a new Executive Vice President. A governor’s candidate debate will be held on campus, but it will not be GAPSA-sponsored as was originally proposed.

MSA – Adam Engelman said that MSA is working on its renter’s survey for this year.

Jaki Cottingham-Zierdt, Chair of the Council of Academic Professionals and Administrators (CAPA), said that CAPA is the governing body for the roughly 6500 professional staff at the University. This classification includes a diverse group, such as advisors, researchers, instructors, administrators, and professional clinical staff.

Currently, an academic professional classification and compensation working group is looking to clarify classes and definitions for the group, as well as determine what it means to be professional staff at the University, Some changes have been precipitated by the college mergers, so the working group will also determine where applicants should be placed in relation to new positions that are created.

In relation to strategic positioning, CAPA has been involved on the administrative service task forces which have been talking about shared administrative service teams between small units. CAPA is also concerned that the indices being used for comparison to reach the top three do not mention professional staff as one measure of the institution.

Lastly, she invited all students to attend monthly CAPA meetings, and noted that CAPA is requesting a student liaison to attend CAPA meetings and provide a report on what the Student Senate is doing. Interested students should talk to Joshua Beiningen.

Peg Wolff, Chair of the Civil Service Committee (CSC), thanked Joshua Beiningen for the opportunity to speak at today’s meeting. The CSC is a committee of 15 members that encompasses a broad range of classifications, like CAPA, and deals with issues similar to CAPA, such as salary increases. However, this committee does not represent bargaining unit staff.

One major issue for CSC has been the revision of the Civil Service Rules. There will be public hearings this spring and then they will be sent to the Regents for approval. Another issue is merit pay versus across the board pay increases. The CSC has been working on guidelines to help units implement merit pay increases. Lastly, the CSC administers a professional development fund to help civil service staff pay for professional development costs that are not covered by a department. The funds are being depleted quickly, as more staff make requests for development fuding.

In closing she also invited senators to attend CSC meetings and also asked for a senator to serve as a liaison with CSC.

Agenda Items 6. and 7. are considered to be non-controversial or “housekeeping” in nature and are offered as a “Consent Agenda” to be taken up as a single item with one vote. Any item will be taken up separately at the request of a senator. (A simple majority is required for approval.)

MOTION:

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

http://www1.umn.edu/usenate/ssen/060406stu.html
http://www1.umn.edu/usenate/ssen/060504stu.html

Student Senate committee memberships for 2006-07:

STUDENT AFFAIRS - Students: Maria McRae (chair), Jenn Funke, Ian McConnell, Hilary Ploeckelmann, Jeffrey Wencl, Caroline Younts, 3 to be named. Faculty/PA: Jean-Marie Del-Santo, Jennifer Engler, Andy Howe, Carolyn Nayematsu, Kathleen Roufs, Catherine Solheim. Alumni: Nathan Pelzer. Civil Service: Jon Ruzek. Ex Officio: Kendre Turonie, Amelious Whyte.

FOR INFORMATION:

ACADEMIC HEALTH CENTER STUDENT CONSULTATIVE - Students: Jeff Pinnow (chair), Linnea Jorgensen, Michael Lueneburg, David Nelson, Dana Simonson, 10 to be named. Ex Officio: Barbara Brandt.

STUDENT COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES - Students: To be named (chair), John Faustgen, Ronald Miller, 5 to be named.

DISCUSSION:

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

MOTION:

To amend Article VI, Section 5 (C) of the Student Senate Bylaws as follows (language to be added is underlined). As an amendment to the Student Senate Bylaws, the motion requires either a majority of all voting members of the Student Senate (18) at one regular or special meeting, or a majority of all members of the Student Senate present and voting at each of two meetings. This is the first meeting at which this motion is being presented.

ARTICLE VI. COMMITTEES OF THE STUDENT SENATE (Changes to this article are subject to vote only by the Student Senate)

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5. Student Senate Committee Charges

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C. STUDENT COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES

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Duties and Responsibilities

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d. To review and forward as appropriate to the Student Senate any proposed changes to the charge, membership, or ex officio members for committees of the Student Senate prior to approval from the Student Senate.

[Subsequent bullets would be relettered.]
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COMMENT:

The Committee on Committees (ConC) was asked by last year’s Faculty Consultative Committee Chair to consider an amendment to the ConC charge which would give responsibility for all other committee changes to the ConC and therefore allow ConC to provide oversight and consistency when committees are proposing changes.

DISCUSSION:

With no discussion, a vote was taken and the motion was approved with 18 in favor, 4 opposed, and 3 abstentions.

Vice President Richard Pfutzenreuter joined the Student Senate to talk about the University’s Biennial Budget Request. In terms of process, he noted that in odd-numbered years the University submits a biennial budget proposal to the legislature. This year’s proposal will be for funding from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009.

The Regents first review the request, scheduled for October, and then approve it in November. A final copy is then delivered to the State Finance Department by November 14. The Governor makes his recommendations first and then both proposals go forward to the legislature in January. A final decision is made in May.

He then distributed a plan with details on the request, noting that numbers will not be present in the plan until they are presented to the Regents next week. The request heavily reflects the continuation of strategic positioning in two areas, Ensuring Excellence and Investing in Minnesota’s Future.

These initiatives will be paid for through three sources: state funding, tuition increases of four to five percent, and internal reallocation. The University will aggressively be asking for state funding this year for the areas being highlighted.

Q: Morris is still finalizing its strategic positioning report. Does this mean that the campus will not be included in this year’s request?

A: No, since specific dollar amounts have not been assigned to each sub-area.

Vice President Pfutzenreuter said that he would be happy to return to talk about the request in more details, once those details are publicized.

Joshua Beiningen asked senators to suggest any possible agenda items for this year’s Student Senate and SSCC. If senators have ideas at a later date, please feel free to email him.

Senators then made the following list of ideas:

There were no nominees for the position.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:26 p.m.