The third meeting of the Student Senate for 2006-07 was convened in Studio C, Rarig Center, on Thursday, March 1, 2007, at 11:37 a.m. Coordinate campuses were linked by ITV. Checking or signing the roll as present were 19 student members. Chair Daniel Moore presided.

Peg Wolff, Chair of the Civil Service Committee (CSC), said that the appointment process to determine 2007-10 CSC members is starting. The committee has been working on language alignment between bylaws and rules and updating professional development guidelines. There is also a state audit taking place on retirement packages, which the committee is watching. Next year's pay plan has been finalized, but there are other compensation issues for the committee to discuss.

There was no report.

Daniel Moore, Student Senate/Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC) Chair, said SSCC has been involved in two issues, which are for action later on today's agenda. SSCC has also spoken with Victor Bloomfield on the issue of public engagement and incorporating service-learning in the curriculum. The committee noted that engagement opportunities should be wide-ranging, classes that contain service-learning should be noted with a special designator in the course guide, and standards should be established to determine which courses should receive the designator. The committee will be asking the Educational Policy Committee (SCEP) to look into these issues.

At the March meeting, SSCC will be receiving an update on student evaluation of teaching questions. Future topics include green building and LEED-certification.

Crookston – Trent Senefelder reported that two bylaw amendments and one constitutional amendment will be presented at tonight's CSA meeting.

Duluth – no report

Morris – Adam Yust stated that the campus assembly met last week and is concerned with the financial state of the campus. MCSA is finishing with technology fee allocations and approved two resolutions, one on LEED-certification and a second on a designated suppliers program.

GAPSA – no report.

MSA – Jeff Holtz said that Support the University day is March 28 at the capitol. MSA has started its MSA Express service which offers free rides around campus late on Fridays and Saturdays. MSA is also completing its renter's survey and housing guide, which will be available in the next few weeks, and voted to support Minneapolis housing inspections. Lastly, MSA is promoting its Lend a Hand, Hear the Band program, which allows students to attend an on-campus Guster concert for 10 hours of community service.

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/061130stu.html

DISCUSSION:

Due to a lack of quorum, the motion was tabled.

MOTION:

To approve the following resolution.

WHEREAS, the University of Minnesota recognizes that students learn best in a diverse educational environment^[1]; and

WHEREAS, the University of Minnesota is committed to fostering a uniform campus environment of inclusion, knowledge, and understanding in which faculty, staff, and students learn to value diversity and to respect individual differences that enrich the University community; and

WHEREAS, ethnic background questions based on ethno-geographic origin provide for a more inclusive and consistent level of generality which minimizes confusion in ethnic classification schemes; and

WHEREAS, setting mandatory minimum requirements for admissions applications while leaving individual programs, departments, schools, and colleges the ability to augment their applications with additional options^[2] as they please allows for flexibility without compromising a base level of inclusiveness; and

WHEREAS, compliance at the University administrative level is essential for uniformity and ease of transition; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Student Senate recommends that all programs, departments, schools, and colleges restructure their applications for admission to base any ethnic background questions on ethno-geographic origin, with the mandatory minimum requirements for the ethnic background question wording to include the following:

ETHNIC BACKGROUND (CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)^[3]:
American Indian/Alaskan Native
Asian/Pacific Islander
Black/African American
Hispanic/Latin American
Middle Eastern
South Asian
White (non-Hispanic)
Other, please specify:^[4] ____________________________________
If you wish to self-identify further, please do so here _______________________________


and therefore

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University shall exercise its right to augment the ethnic classifications mandated by any future resolution, proposal, or order from the U.S. Department of Education or similar governing body such that all categories stated above are included.^[5]

and therefore

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the PeopleSoft software used by the University for its faculty, staff, and students (for admissions and enrollment) be updated to reflect these changes.

Approved February 8, 2007 by SSCC.

DISCUSSION:

Due to a lack of quorum, the motion was tabled.

MOTION:

To approve the following resolution.

Whereas, It is the responsibility of the Student Senate to respond to the needs of our constituency, and

Whereas, the constituency of the Student Senate includes undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and

Whereas, numerous members of our constituency are either Teaching Assistants or are taking classes under the instruction of a Teaching Assistant, and

Whereas, a reoccurring issue that is often discussed in various levels of student government on the University of Minnesota campus is the preparation level of Teaching Assistants, and

Whereas, there is currently no common policy, outside of the English language proficiency requirement, that is enforced university-wide regarding Teaching Assistant preparation, and

Whereas, the University of Minnesota possesses numerous resources, such as the Center for Teaching, that have the potential to aid in the preparation of Teaching Assistants, and

Whereas, it is in the best interest of both students and Teaching Assistants to have a common Teaching Assistant preparation policy for the whole university community because of the advantages of resource access, efficiency, and campus wide commonality, and

Whereas, the University of Minnesota is currently undergoing numerous structural internal changes regarding various policies and their enactment, and

Whereas, any change of Teaching Assistant preparation policy should occur in conjuncture with the larger and more in-depth changes on campus, therefore

Be It Resolve, the Student Senate shall work with organizations such as the Senate Committee on Education Policy, the University Senate, and other relevant groups to determine, through research and thorough discussions, what specific options are available for altering the current Teaching Assistant preparation requirements, and further, the Student Senate shall decide as soon as possible which option is in the best interest of our constituency and forward the proposal to the University Senate for possible approval.

DISCUSSION:

Due to a lack of quorum, the motion was tabled.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

^[1] University of Minnesota. Systemwide Academic Task Force on Diversity. Transforming the University: Report of the Systemwide Academic Task Force on Diversity. February 3, 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2006 from http://www1.umn.edu/systemwide/strategic_positioning/tf_final_reports/diversity_exec_summ.pdf
^[2] These are minimum requirements; each individual school or college is left with the discretion to add checkboxes as it sees fit—so long as subcategories of particular checkboxes are indicated as such. For example:
Hispanic/Latin American
¨ Puerto Rican American
¨ Chicano/Mexican American
The process by which individual schools and colleges add such checkboxes to their applications shall be left unchanged by this resolution.
^[3] As an alternative to stating “Check all that apply,” an application may state “Check only one” as long as “Bi- or Multi- Racial” is added as an option.
^[4] The “Other” category is highly recommended, but not mandatory. It is theoretically possible that an applicant may not “fit” into any of the above categories, but the extra burdens that an “Other” checkbox places on the University in terms of reporting requirements are not something that Project: Check It wants to impose.
^[5] Project: Check It recognizes that the U.S. Department of Education is in the process of undertaking similar revisions. We believe that these revisions are inadequate as they do not concentrate on making applications more inclusive; rather, they concentrate on making them more specific, particularly with respect to Hispanics. In doing so, the U.S. Department of Education is seeking to switch to a two-question system—one question specifically for Hispanics, and a second question for all other applicants. Should such a proposal pass and become the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, the University would be bound to comply; however, the University would retain its right to add on to the U.S. Department of Education’s scheme, which this resolution requires that it do.