Senate Meeting- March 10, 2010
Call to Order: 6:04 PM
Roll Call
Acknowledgments:
Penick: Peggy Shanenbaker, member of Provost Search Committee
Hart: Dr. Stacy Downing
Approval of Minutes:
Ruparel: Ruparel being correctly spelled
Penick: Change order of the day into new business
New Business:
Penick: open discussion on S. 10-A-29, no objections
Bearcat Bike Share Program-Sustainability Committee to give a presentation.
Alan Hagerty and Sean Tubb. Sustainability-the actions we take today should not affect the people of the future. We pledged to reduce our carbon emissions to 0 by 2050. We work with the city and the county to do long term projects like reducing our carbon footprint but we also have recycling competitions, etc. the largest carbon emission is cars—even people who are not commuters still use cars to get to school even though they only live 1-2 miles from school. The Bike Share will work a lot like a library. You can take a bike and return it at the end of the day: 12-16 hours. It would reduce the amount of vehicles used, environmental, social, health, and wellness benefits. It would reduce air pollution and the need for parking garages. The earliest known bike share program was in 1961 in Amsterdam. Washington, D.C. already has a program that is already up and running. OSU started a program with 20 bikes donated from Schwinn. Bearcat Bike Share would be housed at the CRC. Hopefully one day it could move to the Care/Crowley Fitness Center. Anyone with a Bearcat Card can use it. You can take a bike wherever you want; you just have to return it 30 minutes before closing. You will receive a key when you show your ID. If you lose the bike or return it late, there will be a fee. We have partnered with UCPD and bike companies all throughout the city. College of Engineering will continue helping to repair bikes. We will offer free workshops to teach people how to use bikes safely, how to repair, etc. April 22—40th anniversary of Earth Day. News will be there. Over 76% of people responded to the survey saying that this was somewhat or very important. We would like to have 30 bikes available. $18,300 is needed. The most critical cost are the bike racks and security cameras. These costs are all estimated but we need to order the bikes soon. We are asking SG to be a founding partner with a donation of $9,000. You would be invited to speak at the Earth Day celebration.
Huron: plans to make the campus more accessible for the bikes.
SC: the campus will reach out to the city to make it more accessible. Perhaps we can implement showers or small locker rooms in buildings for people who commute. The vast majority of students felt that a fair fee for a lost or not returned bike would be the cost of the bike. We are working with Huffy in Dayton.
Sims: The bikes will not be able to be kept for 24 hours. How will students who commute be able to commute at the end of the day if they have to return the bikes?
SC: With the limitations from the CRC, they want to limit it to one business day. Perhaps if this is a success, people will be able to use the bikes for 2-3 days.
Larson: If the bike is returned with a defect, who has to pay for the repairs?
SC: There is no cost to students for general maintenance. If you don’t return the bike, or if it is returned in un-useable condition, there is a fee.
Dulle: Safety? Can you provide helmets for all 30 bikes? This could be a good marketing strategy for you to put information about your committee.
SC: It would be impossible to have a helmet that fits everyone’s head, and hygiene could be an issue. Helmets will be available for purchase in the CRC for a nominal fee. It is not part of the law that you must wear a helmet while riding a bike. The bike will have branding on it with safety information and Bike Share information on it.
Payne: How do you expect to retain the fees?
SC: The CRC will be collecting the fees. They have access to people’s bills.
Payne: If you cannot get all 20 bikes, what are you going to do? I see that reducing the number of bikes and bike racks, you could cut the budget.
SC: We already have 10 donated bikes and we are planning on using the money we can get to buy more.
Hart: Have you talked to anyone at OSU as to why they have not expanded the program? Why security cameras? There are more creative options for security.
SC: Someone talked to people at OSU and Michigan State, I’m not sure what was said but they were in contact. The CRC requested the 2 security cameras. Because there is not a staff person constantly monitoring the bike racks, they want to make sure that nothing happens during the night. The bike racks will be placed in between the CRC and Market on Main.
Ruparel: There are release forms that people who want to climb the rock wall have to sign. Is there one for this program? What about the winter weather? Who will maintain the bikes?
SC: UC Law said that we did not have to make a release form because it is assumed that anyone with a Bearcat ID is aware of the risk. American Society of Mechanical Engineering students will maintain the bikes, and will train new people to maintain them. We have a large volunteer base to maintain the bikes. The bikes will go into storage during the winter.
Taylor: If somebody should fall and break an arm, what would they do? Would SG have marketing on the bike?
SC: UC Legal assures us that we will not be at a liability. We would work with SG to see how you want to market it. You will be listed as a founding partner. Several of the bikes could have “Donated by SG” on them, or the bike racks.
Point of Information: You should assume that something bad could happen.
Slee: I would shudder at taking this much money out of the budget at the end of the year. At the beginning of the year, it is easier to plan the budget around it.
Koesterman: Who is paying for the repairs? Is it annual? It is a large amount of money, but this could be a lasting impact on the campus.
SC: Within our two divisions, we have a fund called the Bearcat Bike Share fund. We are getting in kind donations from bike places around the city. SDC is working with the Student Fundraising Committee. We could possibly get donations from people off campus. Most of the colleges are expected to donate at least $200 each.
RHA Rep. Quinn: Is there any way that when the bikes are returned, someone can check them out to see if anything is wrong with them for the safety for the next student?
SC: The CRC was ready to say that they would check the bikes once they are returned. It is great that they have offered to do this. We are a pilot program so a lot of these issues will work themselves out.
Ealy: Where are the estimates coming from and how accurate are they?
SC: we may be able to get the bikes for a much cheaper price than we have expected. Most of our costs have come directly from our suppliers. The security cameras we are unsure of because the CRC told us one week ago that they wanted them and they used the price that they used on the cameras they purchased three years ago. The bike racks are chosen for their convenience of the student—basket to put groceries, books, etc.
Ealy: Perhaps if the baskets were taken off, we could lower the budget. $9,000 is too much for us to afford right now. I would be more in favor of $5,000.
Lolli: We made $8,000 two years ago and the money has been slowly dropping but we would use that.
Landen: I would use this very often if I went here. The $9,000 is well worth it.
Janek: Would campus safety be willing to fund the security cameras? When are you planning on turning this into a full time program?
SC: we haven’t worked with them but we have talked to them. About 6 months out, we hope to turn this into a full time program.
Lolli: In terms of the programming, we commend you for all of your hard work. This is what SG gets funding for. This is a program that we should put the funding towards from the designated fund. We can pull $3,000 from the designated fund. There is $1,000 from something. We could pull from the marketing fund. I do not know if $9,000 is possible. What is the minimal amount needed to launch this program by April 22?
SC: about $5,000.
Lolli: This program will be able to be used by all people on campus. SG should fund this to an amount that helps it get kicked off and then we can wait to see how the response is. This will benefit all members of campus, so we should not have to fund more than the university has.
Maull: What kind of bikes are you using? I recommend getting unisex bikes so there is no inconvenience for people if there are no bikes left for the opposite sex.
SC: Mountain bikes—some men’s and some women’s. We should do at least half and half based on the survey results.
Quinn: a program like this may suffer from under funding. Next year perhaps they can come back and ask for more. We could commit to a certain amount now for next year. We are expecting that with the budget increase, we will get more money for funding of student initiatives.
Payne: What upcoming events in spring quarter do we usually fund?
Lolli: Sigma Sigma will be asking to fund their annual carnival, the inaugurations, the elections, OSGA fee. We may have to take it out of the designated fund.
Penick: What amount would people feel comfortable with?
Maull: $5,000. We should do the minimum to get the ball rolling.
Slee: $5,000- $6,000 would be feasible.
Ruparel: Would the technology fund be used? We could fund the program for $4,446.35 with $3,000 out of the designated fund, $1,000 out of the retreat fund, and the rest out of marketing.
Stephens: The budget is open and is just a theoretical gauge.
Hart: We should not take the money out of the designated fund because this is a buffer and we should wait as long as possible to use this money.
Huron: Can we up the amount to $6,000 by using money out of the sustainability fund?
Penick: Move to call to question S.10-A-29 with the following friendly amendments bill be changed to “029” from “29,” “$9,000” be stricken and changed to “$1,000 from marketing, $3,000 from rollover, $1,000 from technology, and $1,000 from sustainability,” and “marketing will be provided on the bikes and on the bike racks to be determined by SG with the SG logo in conjunction with the Student Sustainability Coalition”
Lolli: recess for 5 minutes so we can decide where this money will come from
Move to reopen discussion on S.10-A-29, no objections
$5,000 from designated and $1,000 from sustainability. This money in the designated fund was generated from students for students with the idea of using it to complete a project.
Payne: I would like to make it $5,213 so that we do not have a $213 rollover. I think we should also pull money from either technology or from marketing.
Lolli: I was under the impression that we wanted to make the amount $5-6,000.
Hart: If we get to the end of the year and we have some money that has not been spent, I think it will make us more responsible if we do not use the money from the designated fund. We may get to a point where we do not have any money left. We should not take the money out of the designated fund.
Miller: you can always take money from the retreat fund since we are not going on another retreat.
Ruparel: Even if we take the money from the budget, it doesn’t matter where we take the money from.
Hart: The designated fund will carry over from year to year.
Huron: motion to close discussion.
Lolli: Move to call to question S.10-A-29 with the following friendly amendments “29” be changed to “029”, the total amount be changed to “$7,000.35 with $5,213 coming from the designated fund, $1,000 coming from the sustainability line item, $446.35 coming from retreats, $341 coming from marketing”
Hart: objection. I do not want to take money from designated fund. Bill is called to question with a vote of 13-11-1.
This bill passes with a vote of 20-3-2.
Penick: 20 minute discussion on the Provost Search Committee.
By vote of 17-8-0, we are in discussion about the PSC.
Peggy Shannon-Baker is the graduate student representative and Penick is the undergraduate student representative. We have some papers that we will leave that you can leave ideas on after the meeting if you do not feel comfortable addressing them in front of the body. What are the opportunities available to the University of Cincinnati in terms of academic, what are some of the challenges, (Provost is the Chief Academic Officer, right hand to the President).
Quinn: This would be a great opportunity for us as students to exhibit the strides we have made at the university for those who have made strides to make us who we are today. We should make a position in house for someone to be “Vice-Provost.” We have some outstanding individuals who are vice-provosts.
Hart: Great idea from Trustee Quinn. I am not well versed on some of the candidates who are running for this position. One of our biggest challenges is the budget issues. We need someone who has a strong financial background to take this position. It is important for people to understand what types of things are value added opportunities to students and what are kind of useless. I think one of the biggest issues is with having more students and the same or lower amount of faculty/staff.
Koesterman: I agree with Quinn on keeping the position in house. Does the Provost Committee have anything to do with the semester conversion? (Yes).
Quinn: All for in-house. This may not be the case but a candidate from the state of Ohio could be very beneficial. Not that anybody couldn’t become accustomed to Provost Committee business, but it would be very beneficial to us.