Student Senate Meeting Minutes
February 19, 2008
7:00 p.m. Belknap Research Building
I. Call to Order-7:05 p.m.
II. Roll Call (see attendance record)
III. Executive Cabinet Reports
a. President Hoffman
i. At a meeting with Governor Beshear
b. Executive Vice President Brueggemann
i. Rally at the Capitol is tomorrow
c. Academic Vice President Flairty
i. Sent a report, please attend the Rally tomorrow
d. Services Vice President Spencer
i. A report was sent via email
ii. Students saved $30,000 because of the book initiave
IV. Reports of Boards and Standing Committees
a. E-Board- EVP Kate Brueggemann
i. Met on Valentine’s Day, will discuss during Resolution 22
b. Academic Policy- AVP Matt Flairty
i. Nothing to report
c. Appropriations Committee- Senator Luka
d. Senate Development Board- Senator Chenna
i. Nothing to report
e. Student Organizations Board- Senator Frommeyer
i. Senator Awadallah was in a car wreck, will report when he arrives
f. Student Activities Board
i. Brittany Salsman was present to give a report, contact her for SAB schedule
V. Old Business
a. Update on Senate Resolutions
VI. New Business
a. Approval of the February 5, 2008 Senate Meeting Minutes
i. Motion by Senator Murphy, 2nd by Senator Foster, APPROVED, unanimous
b. Consideration of Resolution 19, Executive Branch
i. Senator Murphy wants to stress that the Resolution has nothing to do with the current Top 4, and thinks that they work extremely hard
1. Senator Murphy told the “starfish” analogy, believes that the Senate is simply sitting by and watching things happen, and not acting
2. believes that the Senate has failed, and thinks that the Legislative branch of SGA should begin their independence
ii. President Brauch understands the intention, but believes that it contradicts the Constitution, and believes that it would require an Amendment
iii. SVP Spencer believes that the Executive Branch needs a veto power if they want to pass the Resolution or a similar one
iv. Vote to reflect views of Senate- failed, with little opposition
c. Consideration of Resolution 20, SAB Scholarship
i. Senator Murphy stresses that this is no reflection on the job done by the 14 chairs and vice-chairs of SAB
1. Senator Carrier asks how many hours each chair and vice chair work and if he’s researched it
2. Alex Hunnicut clarifies that the Vice-chairs only get $800 a semester
3. Senator Downs asks if tuition remission is in a separate part of the budget
a. Senator Murphy says that it is, but that the money can be transferred back to the SGA programming fund
4. Dean Mardis clarifies that the remissions are a part of the tuition remission escalator
5. Senator Wallin asks if they can stack their scholarships
a. Julia Onembo- yes
6. VP Pfendt asks how many chairs and vice chairs and volunteers
a. Julia- 7 chairs, 7 vice, total maybe 50. not an exact number
7. VP Jacobs- where would the money go
a. General programming fund- Senator Murphy
ii. Senator Awadallah- the chairs and vice chairs work extremely hard and don’t have the time to get a part time job, they already put in an extremely large amount of time
iii. VP Jacobs- thinks that they work extremely hard, and even help out on the health sciences campus
iv. Senator Carrier- has worked with the Special Interest Committee and thinks that they work extremely hard, and they only receive the tuition remission, not renumeration
v. Senator Wallin- wants to ask if the stacking can stop, add an amendment
a. Students who are currently on full tuition will only receive the 2,500 instead of the full tuition, no 2nd was given
vi. Call to question- President Connor, 2nd by Senator Foster, Approved
vii. Vote on Resolution 20- FAILED with little opposition
d. Consideration of Senate Appropriations Requests
i. See Senator Luka for itemized list and dates of meetings
ii. Motion to approve- Senator Downs, 2nd by Senator Awadallah, APPROVED, unanimous
e. Consideration of the Student Organization Board Approvals
i. Senator Awadallah is approving three organizations
ii. The RSO fair was rescheduled due to bad weather
iii. See Senator Awadallah for itemized list
1. Motion to approve- Senator Carrier, 2nd by Senator Olds, APPROVED, unanimous
f. Consideration of Resolution 21, Spending for Student Welfare
i. See Resolution 21
ii. President Fowles states how imperative it is to provide tutoring and research, which not only benefits the law school but also the entire University
1. U of L is one of the only schools in the nation that doesn’t have student research
iii. Senator Ellingsworth states how important it is for the research assistants to have work
iv. President Fowles would like to exclude the law school from Resolution 23
v. VP Jacobs asks why it was the first to be cut
1. President Fowles says that it wasn’t, many cuts were made
vi. Demetrius Gray asks if the President has been asked
1. No, but the Dean has
vii. Senator Luka asks if the Dean overspent in the fall, because only the new programs were supposed to be cut
1. President Fowles- a lot of the money went to the free clinic that the law school is opening
viii. Senator Ellingsworth- this is a one time thing because of the money spent in the fall, it is an emergency situation
ix. VP Jacobs- everyone has budget cuts and everyone is suffering
x. President Kosalek thinks that this is a really respectable use of the money instead of just giving councils more money
xi. Senator Carrier- the graduate school needs research too, and she understands that they need the money to help all of the student, really hurts the 1L students who came to U of L for the tutoring
xii. Senator Downs- offers a friendly amendment to change amount to 10000
xiii. Senator Awadallah- thinks that this will be detrimental to U of L’s law school admissions
xiv. Senator Luka- thinks that the Dean would not have made the choice to do this if it would be this detrimental. The dean has chosen to pay the tutoring program, why should they give money
xv. President Henshaw- this issue directly affects student outcomes, and thinks that although the money could be used for fun things, the Senate should support the law school
xvi. President Barnes- sits on Appropriations, and academic outcomes should weigh heavier than everything else, call to question- President Henshaw 2nd, passed
xvii. Vote on Resolution 21- APPROVED with little opposition
g. Consideration of Resolution 22, Student Athletic Tickets
i. See Resolution 22, presented by EVP
ii. AVP Flairty thinks that we should reflect the changing demographics and change the way tickets are allocated
1. last year, 400 freshmen were denied tickets
2. tickets should go to students, graduate students should not be allowed to bring a guest
iii. President Henshaw thinks that the grad schools should be allowed to decide how to give their tickets
iv. AVP Flairty think that it is blatantly unfair for students who pay the fee to watch spouses get tickets
v. President Barnes- the grad schools should be allowed to decide how they give their tickets
vi. Senator Foster- thinks that this disenfranchises students, and it concerns her that non students get tickets
vii. Senator Awadallah- if you really need a ticket, ask a graduate student for one. Give the tickets to students
viii. Senator Luka- we get new grad students every year too, there was an agreement in 2005 that has been followed
ix. VP Whistle- freshman orientation is maxed out, and grows more every year
x. President Hoehn- makes a point that dental tuition is over 50,000 and she didn’t get tickets, the dental school pays a lot of money and would like to go to athletic events
xi. Senator Ellingsworth- the graduate student athletic fees pay for 1/3 of the fees, they should get their 1/3 and get to spend it a lot
xii. President Brauch- if I could sit where I want to, maybe I wouldn’t need a guest
xiii. VP Jacobs- if he wants to bring a guest, he should be allowed
xiv. Call to question- Senator Luka, 2nd by President Barnes- did not pass by 2/3
xv. AVP Flairty- the guest issue is extremely important, the top 4 represent the entire student body, their job is to make sure that student fees are protected and
xvi. Point of order- Senator Luka, according to Roberts rules of order, pro/con should be followed
xvii. Senator Foster- if it has to do with sitting with your friends, then find a new way to reallocate tickets
xviii. Senator Downs- doesn’t the entire Senate approve things over the undergrads? They should be allowed a say in grad power
xix. VP Jacobs- makes a point that many people are married to university employees
xx. Senator Bonenberger- undergrads are married too, and sometimes married people don’t come to games and that’s why our attendance sucks
xxi. Senator Ellingsworth- we are not sitting in student section, do not have good seats, and they do go to games
xxii. VP Pfendt- why cant a resolution be brought up to change the seating arrangement
xxiii. Senator Luka- call to question, 2nd President Fowles- approved with little opposition
xxiv. Vote on resolution 22- APPROVED
h. Consideration of Resolution 23, Spending of Carry Over Fund
i. See Resolution 23, presented by VP Jacobs
ii. Senator Jones- the law school would be exempt? Offers a friendly amendment
1. VP Jacobs- yes
iii. Senator Bonenberger- says that her former president didn’t offer a budget, so she doesn’t have a budget
1. friendly amendment to give the law school monies to the education school
iv. Senator Luka asks why the money is given proportionally when Appropriations should decide
1. Because the Senate approved the budget
v. Senator Murphy- thinks that, like the law school tonight, different situations arise and the money should be given to appropriations
vi. VP Jacobs- everyone should see something
vii. Senator Foster- agrees with Murphy, thinks that A and S is having trouble spending their budget
viii. Senator Awadallah- agrees with Murphy and Foster, when councils need money they should get it
ix. Senator Downs- the appropriations committee has enough to do
x. President Nguyen- asks where President Hoffman wanted the carry over funds
xi. President Hoffman- yes, the exec board did have plans for the carry over funds
xii. VP Jacobs- points out that his constituents need something and should see something
xiii. Senator Murphy- call to question, 2nd foster- approved
xiv. Vote on resolution 23- APPROVED
i. SGA Budget
i. Presented by President Hoffman
1. Would like to examine every dollar spent by SGA, but that’s impossible
2. thinks that the budget should reflect the major priorities of SGA
a. advocacy
b. the fee paid by all students should be spent on the students and on their services
c. support and enhance student life
3. CPC will now have $65,000 in it, which had to be taken from other places, usually about 10%
4. student life is very important, and the CPC is a good way to support it
5. thinks that we should investigate how we pay people
6. the CPC needs to be formalized
ii. VP Jacobs would like the budget presented on email
iii. President Brauch- why is student affairs anticipating another $3,000 error
1. only the VP of finance can do that, needs a back up plan
j. Senator Luka- 2nd by Senator Ellingsworth- approving the 5,000 appropriated- APPROVED
VII. Announcements
a. Proxy’s names needs to be sent
VIII. Adjourn-8:42 p.m.
Taylor Hamilton Page 4 of 5
Director of Administration