The University of North Florida Student Government Senate
Senate Meeting Minutes
March 6th, 2017 ♦ 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM ♦ Senate Chambers
I. Call to Order
A. Meeting began at 6:35PM.
II. Interfaith Invocation – Senate Chaplain Capers
A. None.
III. Pledge of Allegiance – Sergeant-at-Arms Lovell
IV. Roll Call – Senate Pro-Tempore Perego
A. Quorum was established with 28 voting members.
V. Approval of Minutes – February 27th, 2017
A. Senator Markowitz – Motion to approve the minutes from February 27th. Second. All in favor. Approved.
VI. Approval of Agenda
A. Senator Kovac – Motion to approve the agenda for tonight’s meeting. Second. All in favor. Approved.
VII. Recognition of Students Seeking Appointment
A. None.
VIII. Student Remarks (3 minutes each)
A. Zeta Tau Alpha – Talked about their philanthropy event, Crown Classic, on March 31st from 10:00AM – 2:00PM, and the other events they will be holding throughout their week. No questions followed.
B. Senator Thames – Talked about the adopted budget and things to take under consideration while voting. No questions followed.
C. Senator Lee – Talked about signups for Roundtable on March 13th and 14th from 10:00AM – 4:00PM by the Student Union. No questions followed.
D. Senator Harrison – Talked about Dance Marathon and the SG Team that is currently registered. All proceeds will go to Children’s Miracle Network. Questions and answers followed.
IX. Officer Reports
A. Senate President Dallas Burke
a. Welcomed Senator Velasquez back from recovery. Recognized the B&A Committee members, Chairman Jordan, Treasurer McCauley, Assistant Director Knipe, and Advisor Shore for their hard work and service on the adopted budget. Went over procedures for tonight’s meeting and gave advice on how to structure motions to amend the budget. Also went over the changes to the Senate and Committee meetings schedules for the rest of the semester. Emphasized the need for volunteers for Roundtable next week. Senator Orientation is April 8th from 10:00AM – 1:00PM. President Delaney will be guest speaking at the April 10th Senate meeting. Took an informal poll for interest in the Summer Study Abroad trip to Spain for scholarship considerations. No questions followed his report.
B. Elections Commissioner Aesha Soliman
a. Announced that a sample ballot and the candidate biographies are now online. Also announced that the free Elections t-shirts are in and that she needs more poll workers; all senators have to work at least 2 hours. She will be sending out text reminders to the volunteers for their shifts, and t-shirts will be available at stations for the poll workers or at her office. Questions and answers followed her report.
C. Chief Justice Elisabeth Avilla
a. Announced an open Associate Justice Seat and that her office received three Judicial Complaints today that are undergoing the Internal Merit process. She then talked about the upcoming hearings, with JC-17S-001 on Wednesday morning at 8:30AM in the Courtroom and JC-17S-003 also on Wednesday morning at 9:30AM in the Courtroom. JC-17S-002 was found to have no merit, so no hearing will be held for this complaint. No questions followed her report.
D. President Bella Genta
a. Reports for the Agencies –
i. Thanked the people that participated in Talon Painting Party.
ii. Announced that representatives from the Lend-A-Wing Pantry will go visit the UF Food Pantry this Friday.
b. Informed Senate that she will be meeting with Dr. G to gather more information about the summer abroad trip to Spain.
c. Reported that she will be meeting with a subcommittee of the Faculty Association to talk about the course syllabi bank.
d. No questions followed her report.
X. Business
A. Fiscal Year 17-18 A&S Fee Budget and Provisionary Language Presentation
i. Assistant Director Knipe – Reminded everyone of three important things to remember while amending the budget:
1. The importance of this budget,
2. That these proposals came from Budget Directors; respect their experience and expertise,
3. Remember the students we represent and how this will benefit them; keep out personal bias.
ii. No questions followed her reminder.
Senate was at ease at 7:10pm to allow time to set up the budget presentation.
Senate reconvened at 7:14pm
iii. Chairman Jordan and Treasurer McCauley
1. Presented the Fiscal Year 2017 – 2018 A&S Fee Budget as adopted by the B&A Committee. Went through each index and the changes made from the budget proposals. Proposed amendments they would like to see. Questions and answers followed.
2. Presented the proposed changes to the 2017-2018 Provisionary Language, including major changes in how Homecoming and Osprey Productions access the Ticket Revenue funds, Spinnaker OPS staff positions hour wages not exceeding $9 per hour except for the Digital Programmer, which can receive $15 per hour, allowing the Student Union flexibility in the range of employee pay, disbanding the Homecoming Committee and allowing the Executive Branch to oversee the former committee’s duties, specifies which indexes can use student travel and what exactly they can spend those funds on, and splitting the Travel Request index into Fall and Spring travel lines that are organized by departure date. Questions and answers followed.
B. Fiscal Year 17-18 A&S Fee Budget and Provisionary Language Deliberations
i. Budget
1. Chairman Jordan – Motion to amend the Fiscal Year 2017 – 2018 A&S Fee Budget such that $4,150 be moved from the Index 402097, Special Request, to Index 402030, Recreation and Wellness, Operating Expenses, line item 8, Utilities, so that it reads $6,000. Second. Discussion. Roll call vote:
a. Senator Mims – Motion to amend by unanimous consent. Second. Some opposed, so it went back to a roll call vote.
b. Roll call vote on the motion to amend the budget: 27-1-0.
i. Someone accidentally abstained, so the revote is as follows: 27-0-1, amended.
2. Senator Adamson – Motion to amend the Fiscal Year 2017 – 2018 A&S Fee Budget to reduce the Proviso Transfer Fund Balance from $60,000 to $40,000, as well as reduce Index 402097, Special Request, line item 2, by $20,000. Second. Discussion. Roll call vote: 3-1-25, motion does not pass.
a. (Senator Markowitz would have vote no, so the vote would have been 3-0-26).
3. Chairman Jordan – Motion to adopt the Fiscal Year 2017 – 2018 A&S Fee Budget as amended. Second. Discussion. Roll call vote: 28-0-1, adopted as amended.
Senate was at ease at 8:32pm
Reconvened at 8:40pm – quorum reestablished with 28 voting members.
ii. Provisionary Language
1. Senator Jordan – Motion to amend the Provisionary Language such that page 2, lines 48 and 52 reads “133,408.01,” as reflected in the approved budget Second. Discussion. Roll call vote:
a. Senator Adamson – Motion to amend by unanimous consent. Second. All in favor. Amended unanimously.
2. Senator Kazdin – Motion to amend the Provisionary Language such that on page 1, a new item 3 is added that reads “No OPS wages may be used for academic purposes, including but not limited to, the payment of graduate internships.” Second. Discussion. Roll call vote:
a. Senator Beaucham – Motion to amend by unanimous consent. Second. All in favor. Amended unanimously.
3. Senator Beaucham – Motion to amend the Provisionary Language such that on page 7, in the last paragraph, “$7” is changed to “$5”, and “$15” is changed to “$10.” Second. Discussion. Roll call vote:
a. Senator Beaucham – Permission to withdraw the motion. None opposed, so withdrawn.
4. Senator Beaucham – Motion to adopt the 2017-2018 Provisionary Language as amended. Second. Discussion. Roll call vote:
a. During discussion, there was a debate over the change in Provisionary Language that specifies how the Osprey Productions Index and the Homecoming Index can access money from the Ticket Revenue Fund line item, which is housed under the Osprey Productions Index. The following is a summary of statements from President Genta:
i. In previous arguments over the Provisionary Language change in how the Osprey Productions Index and the Homecoming Index can access money from the Ticket Revenue Fund, a question was brought up on the oversight of funds gained through external sources, such as advertisements by the Spinnaker decentralized index, as a correlating example for the oversight of Homecoming and Osprey Productions external ticket revenue. Because Index 402400 is a decentralized A&S Fee funded index, President Genta asked who has oversight on funds garnered through external advertisement revenue in relation to who has oversight over the external ticket revenue produced by Homecoming and Osprey Productions events. This argument was brought up in order to argue against the Provisionary Language change that specifics the need for Homecoming to request funds from the Ticket Revenue Fund line of the Osprey Productions Index using a Seven Signature form, while Osprey Productions must request a line item transfer of funds from the Ticket Revenue line. President Genta made this argument in order to question the consistency of the new change in Provisionary Language. Counter-arguments were made, which can be found in the audio recordings from this meeting.
b. Senator Myers – Motion to call to question. Second. All in favor. Called
c. Roll call vote on main: 28-0-1, adopted as amended.
XI. Announcements
A. Senator Beaucham: Asked the senators to sign up and show up on time for their Elections poll worker shifts.
B. Senator Slattery: Announced that she will be available after the meeting for questions about the Crown Classic Philanthropy event.
XII. Final Roll Call – Senate Pro-Tempore Perego
A. Quorum was reestablished with 29 voting members.
XIII. Adjournment
A. Meeting adjourned at 9:32pm.
Minutes were taken by Lauren King, Senate Secretary