ASMSU Senate Meeting Minutes – April 19th, 2012

SUB 235

Call Meeting to Order at 6:07 pm

Roll Call

Review Previous Minutes

Move to approve the meeting minutes of April 12th, 2012 by Senator French seconded. Minutes approved as stand.

Public Comment

Inter Hall RHA: Here to say that that all 8 residence halls are in support of the parking garage proposal.

Transportation Director: He ishere about the Latenight service and it’s correlation to the parking garage. There is a need for $25 million dollars to complete this project. The permits would increase around $73 per permit. He is not in favor of the parking garage proposal and thinks that there are alternative options such as a bike share program, shuttle bus’, and etc.

Presentations

Mark Frisby, MSU Bookstore: Textbook Rentals and Banner Access: The textbook manager is here to create a line of communication between the bookstore and ASMSU. He is hoping to gain support from ASMSU to gain banner access in order to rent textbooks out to students.

Bernard: There have been 3 or 4 failures in the past to try and gain this banner access and Bernard wants to make it clear that in the past the failures have been due to a lack of communication not security purposes.

Haskell: Which vender are we using at MSU.

David: They use an outside vender similar to other universities own the bookstores which is why there is some resistance.

Haskell: Is there a way for this to be implemented by next fall.

David: No probably not.

French: Has been gaining some information on this topic and the users of the banner system have established that there are some trust issues.

David: The only thing that the banner information can give them access to just students basic information.

Bernard: Spoke with a manager of the banner access and he indicated that he would possibly be able to get this running by next fall.

Tom Stump: What they want out of banner are certain elements that will be carved out and downloaded into their system. This would be used as to coincide to the prior software. The other point is that because the bookstore is a separate entity they want to make sure it falls under FERPA protection. These are the legal and security issues that the bookstore is facing.

Tom Stump: Purchasing Montana Products and Third Hedges Suite Design:In two weeks they are beginning the renovations to Hapner and Langford Halls. In the fall when students come back to campus they will likely be breaking ground on the new edition to the hedges suites. There will be solar panels on the roof and the building will likely be a Gold certified LEED building. The suites will include living rooms and the rooms will consist of single, single, double format. There will be 70 new beds in this building.

French: What is going to happen to the road that is right behind the new proposed building.

Tom: There are still about 50 ft. from that road.

Lake: How do the solar panels work with the snow?

Tom: They are about 18 inches off the roof and they are steep enough that the snow should fall off.

Mains: She loves this idea. Where are the cars going to go for this building?

Tom: There is actually excess parking in this vicinity.

Thuringer: Are you planning to continue this during fall and there is a concern about noise.

Abeh: Are the solar panels going to be used as a full service heater?

Tom: No this will just work as a pre-heat.

Abeh: Who made the final decision to go gold with this LEED building?

Tom: They just recently found out that the budget allows for them to attain a gold level.

Haskell: What is the total amount for this project.

Tom: The original amount for the project was $7 million.

Montana Made Program: This is a process in which MSU optimizes the agriculture that engrossed them. Established in 2004 and in 2011 they have reached $1 million in purchases. They are shooting to reach 1.1 million in purchases. The cook recently began using almost all Montana products. They wonder if they should be receiving food from other states that are closer then just simply Montana. They continue to grow their programs and they have been working with some venders for a huge part of their existence. The dining awards that they participate in are being competed with, with schools across the nation. The local food fair is one of their current projects. They are researching the probability that they will need a program director. Some of the challenger is the accessibility to venders. There was a local producer who could not even provide enough. The safety and pricing are two main concerns.

Abeh: Thinks that this is something that student’s will want to get involved in. What are your thoughts about outsourcing and not putting Montana people first? They want to emphasize that they want to keep the money in Montana. They are concerned that certain products that are not available in Montana they are going to have to resort to some form of outsourcing. In the instances where the supplier cannot provide enough they use those products for special events.

Horn: What classifies a product as being Montana made. They are supporting the products that have been processed in Montana. There is a feeling that the small producers should not have to adhere to the same laws as the large producers

Veteran’s Services: Joe Griffin he is here to take a minute to say thank you and also he wanted to take a minute about what they do in accordance to the lack of knowledge in students of what this department does. They have a unique program that is now being used nation wide. There are about 600 veterans on campus right now. There are 5 chapters to the GI bill. Chapter 33 is the most widely used. The state of Montana has a tuition waiver that veterans can use. In general most veterans qualify. The veteran support center is a new addition this year. Different work shops and provide study skills classes. The flag is maintained by the veteran support center. There is going to be an education workshop about PTSD.The student veterans club is very active on campus.They are a resource provider to the community as well.For recruiting most veterans don’t use the GI bill to graduate. Departments are trying to recruit veteran students to increase the amount of out of state students.

Bernard: What percentages of veterans at MSU have serious combat injuries?

There are about 20%.

Abbey: She really appreciates the resource that Joe provides to veterans on campus.

Matt Caires: Changes to the Office of Student Activities:The plan is to work through the transition of three existing programs. There will also be some small-scale summer events that will be occurring in the coming months. This office will specialize in the training of student organizations. He would like to see them providing support and training for students on asking for funds. He would like to see them become a part of the ASMSU funding board as well. With this reorganization will provide a lot of support for particular ASMSU events.

Bernard: Why has there never been funding for summer staff? There is just a lack of funding.

Rogala: In the summer time there are not as many students who utilize the services of this office. There also needs to be a better line of communication between the office of student activities and ASMSU.

Matt: Would encourage senators to approach him if they have any questions!

Duker: Would like to move the resolution for the parking garage to the next item on the agenda seconded.

2012-R-11 Support of a Campus Parking Garage:

Lake: Can we get a recap of any of the issues that may have been addressed at the meetings that not all the senators may have been able to go to.

There is a perception from the neighbors that the increased flow of traffic and the increased risk to their children’s safety. There is not really a better location for the garage because it is this location that lacks the necessary parking. The increase will be an issue for the staff and the faculty.

Townshend: He has done a lot of the research and he appreciates the public forums. He understands that there is a parking issue and the perception of fear in this area of campus. Would it be applicable for senate to research solutions versus the solution that has been proposed? Also what is the next step in this process? They would like to be able to use the design team that they currently have in place. Would there be a second opportunity to revisit this issue?

French: There was similar conversations to these last years and he is wondering what changed form this year?

They are trying to provide a parking service to all the students and faculty on campus and the change is that now there is support for this project from the students and faculty. Is the perceived fear a reason to build this garage?

The issue is the lack of parking in this immediate area.

McKay: She would like to thank the parking facilities. She would like to separate the issues of parking and safety. She would like to emphasize the separation of the school of business and the garage. The building is going up no matter what.

Mains: She has talked to a lot of people and safety is a huge part of this issue so she would like to not see this treated separately.

Duker: Motion to approve seconded.

Haskell: He wants senate to be careful about saying that this elevates the problem of parking on campus this will help the problem but will not solve it altogether. Pushing for a bike share program and more accessibility for streamline. He understands that there are safety concerns but he thinks that the pros outweigh the cons.

Rogala: The timing of this resolution?

Currently this appears to be the appropriate time, even though the building will break ground fairly soon. The difference now is that the students came to parking services. They would like to see them work through these issues and see what might evolve in time. This project is to take around 22 months and he would like to see this happen at once so that the same area does not have to be torn apart all over again. Currently they do not have a cash reserve large enough for the parking garage. She is concerned also with the fee increase and students responses to the increase.

Steffens: He thinks that parking has been a problem on campus for many years. With the growing student population we need to accommodate for the new numbers of incoming students.

Steffens calls previous question seconded Vote: 6/12/0 Motion fails.

McKay: She commends RHA for coming however; she feels that this process has been exceedingly rushed. She thinks that the students deserve senators to take more time.

Bandstra: She believes that we are a campus of solutions and would like to see senators take more time to discuss this issue. She thinks that the perception of fear cannot be included in this resolution.

Feder: She thinks that there needs to be more parking spots than what it is currently being offered.

Horn: Is there any way to create a long-term storage area for cars? This has been largely unsuccessful in the past. There would be an incredible amount of maintenance in this process.

Bjornson: There is a huge deficiency for the students who live in this vicinity of campus, and that is what this garage is for.

Lake: Would like to see all the students concerns addressed and not just a select few.

Duker: He understands that there are alternatives that were pursued and this has not corrected this problem in the past. He would rather see this table then have it die. His interest in doing this now is that a team is in place now. He understands that there are a lot of hesitations.

Bernard: He believes that the body has shifted on this project and he would like to see this move forward. Fee changes are going to happen anyways so he believes that this is a good time to pursue this project. There is going to be a time to address the other alternatives.

McKay: The design team will be available through October so this does not need to be rushed. She ultimately supports this in the future once there has been some mulling over.

There is a friendly amendment to line 10 by Duker seconded.

McKay: Moves to table this until the first senate meeting of the fall semester seconded. Vote: 13/5/0. Motion carries.

Duker: requests 5 min recess seconded.

Unfinished Business

Budgeting

  • Brandi Higgins: Budgeting Presentation:There has been a change made to the exponent budget. The exponent met on Tuesday to discuss it becoming a long-term budget. The main changes are in equipment part of this budget. These will be the capital line items that will be recycled through every year. The travel will include the instate travel and also the supplemental that was previously passed. They are predicting a slight increase in the revenues. The final fee will be $2.43.
  • Human Powered Transportation, Funding Board, Exponent, and Remaining open budgets:

Haskell moves to open the exponent budget seconded. Vote: 19/0/0.

French: This has been well researched and he thinks that this a good number and a good idea as it stand’s.

French moves to close the exponent budget seconded. Vote: 18/0/1 Motion carries.

French moves to open Campus Entertainment budget seconded. Vote18/1/0. Motion carries.

Townshend: Moves to amend line item 62102 to $50,000 seconded. This was calculated by the previous campus entertainment director’s recommendation. This will be distributed to the supplemental fund and RSO funding board. Vote: 19/1/0. Motion carries.

French: Move to close campus entertainment budget seconded. Vote: 19/0/0. Motion carries.

McKay moves to recess for three minutes seconded.

Lake moves to move exponent budget to next item of business seconded.

McKay moves to open HPT budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

Motion to move HTP under sustainability by Mains seconded. Vote: 20/0/0.

French moves to open funding board seconded. Vote: 20/0/0 Motion carries.

Townshend moves to amend funding board budget to $20,001 seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

Townshend: moves to close funding board budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

Townshend: moves to open sustainability budget Vote: 20/0/0 Motion carries.

Townshend: moves to close sustainability budget as amended seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

Townshend: Move to open supplemental budget. Vote: 17/2/1. Motion carries.

Lawson: Move to close supplemental budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

McKay: Motion to open streamline budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

McKay: Motion to close streamline budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

McKay: Motion to move $751.49 into the reserve seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.

McKay: Move to approve budget as a whole seconded. Vote: 20/0/0.Motion carries.

New Business

  • Supplemental Request: Sustainability Center Remodel Overage, $3,602.34: Last summer there was a new space created downstairs for the sustainability center. The estimate came in extremely quick. When the renovations began they found that one of the walls had several problems and therefore, they had to demo the entire wall. The office of student success financed this move. Gretchen and Blake reduced the cost by $900.

Approve the supplemental by Lawson seconded.

Haskell: Which reserve account should this be taken out of? This should be taken out of the ASMSU reserve.

Lake: Why is this coming out of the supplemental? This is a matter of policy. This is just a way to untie the sustainability’s reserve. Vote: 18/0/1. Motion carries

  • Supplemental Request: Initial Investment in a Climbing Wall, $2,500: There was a resolution to redesign the climbing wall and the estimates have been made. We have made a commitment to the buildings. Passing this will not stop them from asking for more money but this is to gain the start up fund for this summer. Finance board saw a proposal for this. This is more of a sponsorship very similar to the planetarium. This is simply to show that ASMSU supports them.

Motion to approve by French seconded.

French: Believes that just spending this because we have it is faulty logic.

Haskell: He thinks that we should entertain being conservative on this issue. We should not just continue spending everything we have.