The fourth meeting of the Student Senate for 2008-09 was convened in Studio C, Rarig Center, Minneapolis campus, on Thursday, April 2, 2009, at 11:31 a.m. Coordinate campuses were linked by telephone. Checking or signing the roll as present were 33 student members. Chair Ryan Kennedy presided.

There was no report.

Ryan Kennedy, Chair of the Student Senate/Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC), said that the Twin Cities campus elections are next week. If a current senator did not sign-up for next year, he or she can still be re-elected if he or she secures enough write-in votes. If senators have friends who are interested, please talk to them about the Senate and how to be elected. Any unfilled seats will be filled by the Nominating Subcommittee next year.

He said that discussion have begun on intercampus coordination and the future of student governance. Also, the legislation that was supported at the March meeting, on Opportunity Minnesota, has been moving through committees and there is a lobby day for it next Tuesday at 9 am.

Crookston – Marshall Johnson said that CSA approved a resolution limiting executive decisions when CSA is in session. During spring break, the Agriculture and Natural Resources programs were merged, an athletic program was cut, and a proposal is still being considered that would require all students to have a meal plan. While they understand that budget decisions need to be made, the resolution asks for proper consulting with students and faculty before decisions are made. CSA is also working on a campus-wide recycling initiative for all campus clubs and organizations. The incentive is a 30-50 percent increase in funds allotted by CSA, without raising student service fees. Lastly, elections will be held on April 15-16 with new officers sworn in on April 23.

Duluth – Katie Best said that UMDSA’s election will be held next week. They are also working on compiling the results from the smoking survey and an alcohol protocol to accompany the policy.

Morris – Kathy Julik-Heine said that MCSA recently approved its constitution. Elections will be on-line on April 22. Negotiations are also taking place regarding technology fee allocations. MCSA is also creating a policy on partisan candidates entering the residence halls during elections. A campus assembly meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday.

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly – Jeffrey Anderson reported that GAPSA’s family bowling night was a huge success with a large turnout. Elections for president will take place next week, although the current president is running unopposed. The remaining positions will be elected on April 22. Graduate and professional student appreciation week is later this month. Lastly, work is being done on the annual GAPSA conference.

Minnesota Student Association - Mark Lewandowski noted that MSA’s elections are April 6-8. Other projects include the free tax preparation program, the Lend a Hand, Hear the Band program on April 16, a student concern forum this last Tuesday, and alcohol-free tailgating options.

Whereas, The student services fees process is run by University of Minnesota students on a fees committee, which makes recommendations. There are many opportunities for student groups to appeal throughout this process.

Whereas, Our All-Campus Elections are not representative of the student body, indicated by only 1,800 students voting in the 2008 All-Campus Election. There are 28,000 undergraduate students at the University. The bill would force any student service fees increases to go through this process.

Whereas, The All-Campus Election Commission is itself an underfunded organization, and would not receive additional funding to educate students about where the fees are going and why they are recommending an increase.

Whereas, Student Groups requesting student service fee appropriations would be delayed in their budgeting process due to the timing of All-Campus Elections (early April) in comparison to the deadlines of our current student services fees process.

Resolved That the Minnesota Student Association actively lobby against the passage of Senate Bill #1055, House File #1252 and work to educate legislators on our current fees process at the University of Minnesota.

Ryan Kennedy, Chair of the Student Senate/Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC), presented the resolution, noting that it was approved by the Minnesota Student Association on Tuesday. The resolution responds to a bill presented to the legislature this year that would require all colleges to put all non-educational of health-related student service fee increases to an all campus student vote. The status of this bill is that it is dead for this session since it has not received any hearings, however, it could come back next session. Therefore the Legislative Certificate Program students are asking that this resolution still be approved to show student support against this action.

A senator said that at the Twin Cities, student fee committee members are already elected by the students, so this might satisfy the requirement. However, he objects to the second ‘whereas’ clause since it says that the Student Senate is not a representative body just because students do not vote.

Q: Who are the authors of this resolution?

A: The authors are Marty Chorzempa, Alex Tenenbaum, and Megan Callahan, three Legislative Certificate Program advocates.

Q: Who are the authors of the legislative bill?

A: For the Senate it was Senator Geoff Michel; for the House it was Representative Sarah Anderson. There was a co-author on each bill.

Q: At Crookston, student service fee increases are sent to the Crookston Student Association (CSA) for a vote, and all students are able to vote at these meetings. Would this satisfy the requirements of the bill?

A: He is not sure if a CSA meeting would count as an all-student election.

A senator then stated that the Twin Cities Student Service Fees hold open hearings, at which time students can voice an opinion.

Ryan Kennedy did not think that these hearings would count under the bill since students cannot vote at this time.

A senator then noted that the second ‘whereas’ clause only pertains to the Twin Cities campus. She then stated that the state should not tell institutions how to run their fees processes.

A senator proposed a friendly amendment that the second ‘whereas’ clause be removed.

This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

A senator then proposed a friendly amendment that the ‘resolved’ clause be amended to read, “Resolved That the Student Senate actively supports the legislative advocates actions...”

This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

Q: Since this resolution was written from the perspective of the Twin Cities campus, do the remaining clauses still represent the processes for the coordinate campuses?

A: Yes, except for the use of the term ‘All-Campus Election Commission.’

Q: Would an all-campus election on student fees override a decision by the chancellor?

A: He is not sure, but he would assume yes since the bill provides the final say to the student vote.

A senator said that since all Crookston students can currently vote on the fee increase, he would ask that the first ‘whereas’ clause be expanded to cover more than just appeals from student groups.

A senator then proposed a friendly amendment that the first ‘whereas’ clause be amended to read, “There are many opportunities for students and student groups to appeal and/or participate throughout this process.”

This was accepted as a friendly amendment.

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

Ryan Kennedy, Chair of the Student Senate/Student Senate Consultative Committee (SSCC), said that he would like to have an open discussion on coordinating student governance between the campuses in terms of operating, interactions, and communication, both between the groups and with the legislature.

A senator said that electronic information, such as an all-campus email, is necessary to reach students especially in the professional programs.

A senator then stated that a similar discussion was held at Morris, and one suggestion was an annual or biannual leadership summit to discuss goals and provide more transparency.

Ryan Kennedy said that this weekend and again in May, the student body presidents will be meeting to discuss issues, where the organizations are going, and how to provide transition to next year’s leadership.

A senator then noted that there are issues with leaders as well as members in each of the student groups. At this time there are only a handful of students who are very knowledgeable on the issues. A discussion needs to be held on getting the collective knowledge of each organization. He also suggested reaching out to Senate committee members so that they are more knowledgeable about the remainder of the student governance system.

Another senator then suggested creating a blog to share information.

A senator said that one goal is to have more students involved in the processes taking place on each campus.

Ryan Kennedy said that another goal is to increase coordination and communication among those students already involved.

A senator then said that Crookston, after a survey of students, now sends minutes, updates, and a preview of upcoming issues via email to its students each week. The aim is to make the emails attractive so students will read them.

Another senator said that the Minnesota Student Association (MSA) is only allowed two direct emails to students each year, after approval by the Provost, therefore Crookston’s approach will not work for MSA. This limits MSA’s ability to reach students, and points to the larger issue of the administration not respecting MSA.

A senator said that a regular student email could be constructed like Brief, a weekly publication for faculty and staff that covers each campus. However, the problem with email is that many people delete more than they read. He would favor a blog or central repository to post issues and decisions. Students could then be directed to this one address.

Another senator said that there are several threads in this discussion. One is increasing transparency and communication between student governance across the campuses. A second is patching the relationship between student governance and the administration. The third is increasing student governance’s transparency when it communicates with the larger student body. He would advocate for working on the second thread since it seems like the administrative relationship is a bigger issue in making student governance effective and respected.

A senator commented that the administrative relationship at a small campus is close due to proximity, but strained. At a small campus, the administration needs to be more involved since it is much easier to rally the entire student body around an issue. Sometimes it is not that students do not want to participate, but they feel that there is no point in expressing their opinion when the administration does not listen.

Another senator said that one issue is also that, throughout the system, students do not know who to contact for information. An increased and open dialogue is needed, along with personal visits to get to know people and establish contacts on another campus.

Q: Have Senate meetings been held at the coordinate campuses in the past?

A: No.

A senator said that retreats are held for other levels of governance, so he would recommend this for student governance as well.

Another senator said in the short-term he would asked that an email list of senators be compiled for sharing information among the members.

A senator said that work could be done with the University’s technical people to use what is currently available. This is the way that the University, as a whole, is moving.

Another senator said that one issue will be getting other students and administrators to know about and look at a site that discusses student governance. He asked senators to look at different technology options to see what would work best.

A senator then said that the information cannot be too centralized so that upkeep is needed on multiple sites. A balance needs to be reached.

Q; Why was the University Senate meeting for today cancelled?

A: There was only one item of business, so the Business and Rules Committee made the decision to cancel the meeting.

A senator asked that the discussion on student governance be continued at the next meeting.

Another senator then reminded the Student Senate of its protocol on Senate Mentors. He asked that this item be placed on the April 30 meeting agenda and that continuing senators consider serving in this capacity.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:44 pm.