University of North Florida Student Senate

Senate Meeting Minutes –June 9th2014– 6:30 to 8:30 PM –Senate Chambers

I.Call to Order

-Meeting is called to order at 6:33PM

  1. Pledge of Allegiance- Senator Rotella.
  1. Roll Call – Senate President Pro-TemporeShomari Gloster–

-Quorum is established with 12 voting members.

  1. Approval of Minutes – May 12, 2014, April 4, 2014, March 31, 2014, March 10, 2014, and February 24, 2014

-Sen. Gloster: Motion to correct the “of” to “if” under new business and to change the roman numerals as well. Motion to approve the minutes with these changes for May 12, 2014. Second. All in favor. Moved.

-Sen Baker: Motion to change April 4th to April 14th. Senate President Ramirez: The date is correct on the minutes so we will change that on the agenda during the approval of the agenda. Sen. Baker resends his motion.

-Sen. Harvel: Motion to approve the minutes for April 14th, 2014. Second. All in Favor. Moved

-Sen Gloster: For items number 20 and item number 21 Motion to strike Chief Justice Alex Goetz to read as Chief Justice Danny Powers and to change the roman numerals. Motion to approve the minutes March 31st, 2014.Second. All in favor. Passed

-Sen. Galligan: Motion to approve March 10th, 2014. Second. All in favor. Moved.

-Sen. Tunjic: Motion to approve February 24, 2014.Second. All in favor. Passed

  1. Approval of Agenda

-Sen. Savage. Motion to strike the date April 4th2014 to April 14th2014 on the Agenda. Second. All in favor. Passed.

-Sen. Culberson: Motion to approve the agenda. Second. All in favor. Passed

  1. Recognition of Students Seeking Appointment

-Ray Saadeg. Sophomore. Seeking general senate seat.

  1. Student Remarks (3 minutes per Student)

-Matthew Harris. Sophomore. History Major.I won’t take up too much of your time since we have a full agenda. I just wanted to give a brief statement just as a student as we talk about the OB that’s before you about changing the elections. Tonight we face a large opportunity and take on a huge step as we take on the OB and the changes it can make to our elections system. I am reminded of an incident from the late 19th century when a young man by the name of Thomas Edison turned on the light to the industrial world. He said “I have not failed I have just found 10,000 ways that did not work”. Tonight we look back on the past 2 years and see the many ways that did not work. Tonight we stand to discover the one way that will. How many of you didn’t know that Thomas Edison wasn’t the inventor of the incandescent light bulb? I did not know that. In fact a man by the name of Allesando Volta in the year 1800 first unveiled the glowing filament. What made Edison the revolutionary almost 80 years later is that he made the system work for the world. When Edison unveiled the incandescent bulb in 1879 he shaped the century. Tonight we have the chance to make our election system work once again.We aren’t the first to try, but we will be the first to succeed. Tonight we have the chance to change the future and change the way the student body sees student government. I applaud the portion of this body thathas already supported this initiative. Iwould encourage the Senate to take the next step. Turn on this light and I believe you will see a vitalized and renewed system of government. Thank you.

  1. Guest Speakers

-Josh Baker, Coordinator of External Relations and Events (5 minutes)-(Not Present)

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  1. Judicial Branch Report

-Chief Justice – Dana Baker (Associate Justice)(5 minutes)

-On May 16th we heard Attorney General Matthew Harris’ request of a judicial review, on chapter 303.3 we found that particular statute to be unconstitutional and we strook it from the title. Please see Chief Justice Powers if you would like a copy of that. Elizabeth Hunt is going up for appointment tonight. Chief Justice Powers was able to sit in on her interview and has confidence that she is a qualified individual and will serve the student body well as associate justice. Also, tomorrow at 10:00AM the judicial council will be holding a meeting in the courtroom. The agenda reflects the request for judicial review on chapter 504.5. That is all, thank you.

  1. Executive Branch Reports

-Osprey Productions – John (3minutes)

-I do have a brief report. We have some events coming up in Summer B starting June 23rd. Tuesday the 24th will be our Eco Adventure day from 5-8. Wednesday the 25th, everyone’s favorite day hump day, we are bringing Humphrey the camel to campus from 11-2 at the green. That same night we will be showing Animal House on the green for an outdoor movie. That Thursday the 26th from 3-7 we will be having a laser battle on the green. Lastly, that Friday the 27th from 4-8 we will be having a pool party at the UNF club house. There will be a live band, a DJ, tons of Tijuana Flats, and Italian ice. Thank you.

-Club Alliance –Katie Jackson (AD)(3 minutes)

-We have been super busy trying to get everything together. We have hired 3 coordinators. If you have some free time please come by and meet them and make them feel welcome. We have also set up all the club funding workshops and general meetings for the summer and fall. If you are interested in coming to one of meetings our first one is actually this Friday in the SU auditorium. Our first club funding workshop is on the 27th of this month. We opened up re-registration today, so that is pretty exciting. Me and Justin have also made the decision to add two updated to the Clubs constitution. We know have an anti-hazing policy and a jurisdiction policy. So, that’s all I have.

  • Question (Sen. Baker): What time on Friday is the meeting? 11:00.

-Attorney General – Matthew (3 minutes)

-I would like to yield my time to the Presidents report.

-Treasurer –Acting Treasurer, Collin (3minutes)

-I would like to yield my time to the Presidents report.

-Vice President –Anthony (3 minutes)

-Orientations are going great;we have a lot of people coming up not only interested in senate but all of the branches. I have also been working on finalizing the lounge; I have picked out the colors. That was a lot of fun. The good news is that it will be coming in a lot cheaper than we initially thought. So that’s good because we are saving money. That’s it, have a good one.

-President – Joseph (5minutes)

-Good evening everyone, just to clarify what the Vice President was talking about;the original bill was a $54,000 allocation from the SU fund balance for some furniture. I was hesitant signing this bill at first because of the cost but after doing some more quotes the right way we will be spending half of that now. First off I have been in contact with Chartwells and some other vendors on campus about offering veterans discounts in the fall.Chartwells will be offering a 10% discount to veterans who have the blue V on their osprey 1 cards come fall, and I hope some other vendors will get on board. We have been in contact with the Jaguars organization, and everything is looking good in a continued partnership. More details on that will be coming out later about the event and the sale. I have been sitting alongside Chief of StaffWaychoffon the library learnings commons project board. The administration is looking to do large scale renovations to the library. We want to invest in our library create a space for our students that they will like. They are going to increase a lot of the furniture which will allow for an increase in collaboration. Also some really awesome technology in there. We have solidified a vendor, and are working on finalizing the design. Once that is finalized either myself or someone else on the committee will give a presentation to you all on it. It will be online starting in the spring semester. Tomorrow will be my first full Board of Trustees meeting and we are going to be voting on to approve a budget with a $0 increase in tuition. This will be the first opportunity we have had to do that in a while. It has been a great year legislatively for our students. Last, the elections reform that is coming to you tonight. It was my number one priority coming into office. Our current system is just not right. We should do better and we can do better. I believe this is the best thing for this organization and the constituents that we serve.I would encourage you all to vote for that legislation. I would now like to invite Gracie (Director of Communications) and Armando (Director of Graphic Design):*shows new logo on projector*

  • Armando: good evening everyone, like Joe stated we have been working on a new logo. A logo is an organizations chance to make a good first impression. As digital media coordinator I feel as if it is imperative that student government has a strong logo to make a good first impression on our students.
  • Gracie: The old logo is very recognizable as you can see. The problem is although recognizable, it is dated. The goal with this new logo is to find an updated look while still maintaining our brand. *shows two remedies of the new logo* Armando has worked really hard and has been really dedicated.
  • Armando: The new logo projects a sense of strength; it is something new ospreys can have a sense of pride in.
  1. Legislative Cabinet Reports

-Constitution and Statutes Committee – Chairman Shomari (3 minutes)

-My committee last met on the 19th. We passed two bills, first being OB-14SA-2771 which passed 2-0-1. Also, CR-14SA-2772 which passed 3-0-0. Both items are on second read tonight. If you have any questions I will be happy to assist you.

-Budget and Allocations Committee – Chairman Michael (3 minutes)

-Last committee meeting was on the 22nd of May, Spinnaker came in requesting money for the Radio. It died as it did not get any motions on it. I am looking for two sponsors for two separate travel requests. So, if you would like to sponsor one of these bills please reach out to me, I need to get these in by Wednesday. That’s all I’ve got.

-Elections and Appointments Committee – Chairwoman Katherine (3 minutes)

-At the last E&A meeting, our committee approved Title 6 from OB-14SA-2771. The senate will vote on that tonight on whether or not to adopt this. I will also be introducing Ashleigh Watkins for legislative appointments tonight who was interviewed and voted on unanimously at our last committee meeting. So be prepared to ask her any questions that you might have. I would like to see more out of session involvement. I wrote a joint resolution that is on first read tonight for an inbound shuttle stop at the Crossings.Currently there is a shuttle stop that shuttles students away from campus to One Stop, but there is not an opposing stop that takes the students to campus.It is a bit of an inconvenience for those students who utilize the shuttles. So if anyone is interested in sponsoring that bill please contact me. I will be attending both the safe space trainings that you all received via email. This is great information that you can use as role as a senator.

-University and Student Affairs Committee – Chairman Chase (3 minutes)

-Our last meeting we passed the OB which changes 4 words. Sen Kontol is here to explain the Osprey Voice which is due this Friday the 13th by 5:00PM.

Senator Kontol: I have been sitting on the sustainability committee. We want to know if students are aware of the reusablewater bottles on campus and if they know about the discount. So the two questions for osprey voice are, are people aware of the water bottles and is the discount a good incentive to purchase the water bottles.

-I encourage any of you to come by and give me suggestions for Osprey Voice questions.

  • Question: where can you purchase these bottles? Right now they are sold at Outtakes.

-Senate President Kaitlin (5 minutes)

-As Senator Savage mentioned we had a Roberts Rules workshop put on by Mr. Shore. Attached to the email Mrs. Shore has included Roberts Rules cheat sheet. Remember that you al represent the students, if you disagree with anything please do this during discussion. As you can see there are many things you can do according the cheat sheet. If you are interested in being the interim parliamentarian for the summer please let me know. On some exciting news,Polo’s are being ordered. Sen. Gloster will pass out a sheet for you to put your shirt size and phone number. I will be gone starting this Wednesday, in my absence Shomari Gloster will be acting Senate president while I am away on our SG leadership trip. We have two trainings coming up.The first one is the LGBT safe space training on July 11th from 9:30-12:30. July 25th will be the interfaith training from 9:30-11:00. If you do have any policies and procedures recommendations please come to me or any of our committee heads.

  1. New Business

-Legislation considered for 1st Reading

-Senate and Joint Resolutions on 1st Reading

  1. JR-14SA-2773

-Legislation considered for 2ndReading

  1. OB-14SA-2771 Sponsored by Senator Gloster and Senator Savage.

-I am sure we have heard this bill many times now and should have gone over it in depth please listen up to Attorney General Matthew Harris.

  • Attorney General Matthew Harris: I will spare you all the read through again since you all heard it at Committee. As people already mentioned, it changes titles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 13. Title 3 just includes the closing of a loop hole. Title 4 changes include the addition of new committee to senate and the dissolution of the E&A committee. Title 5 is now dealing with election complaints. Titles 6 is a major reduction, we took it from 19 chapters to 4. We are reducing the barriers that students had before, making it more simplistic. Not in a sense that we are making it easy for them, just in a sense that we are making it not as hard. It is now a system of declaration of intent, no more signatures, and no more extraneous documentation. Most of the finer details about the election will be decided by the new elections commissioner. The new position will be working out of an independent office. This commissioner will be responsible for drafting a new policies and procedures that pertains specifically to the elections. And those will be confirmed by the Senate and signed by the President. Title 7 deals with enforcement and gives this new committee subpoena power. Title 13 creates the Government Oversight committee.

-Senator Baker: Motion to approve OB-14SA-2771

*AG Harris: Point of information, it would be a motion to approve it with friendly amendments*

-Senator Baker resends other motion: Motion to amend OB-14SA-2771 with the friendly amendments. Second. Discussion. Motion for unanimous consent. Second. No objections. Passed.

  1. SB-14SA-2771(A)

-Passes due to the passing of OB-14SA-2771

  1. CR-14SA-2772 Sponsored by Senator Gloster and Senator Savage

-This referendum changes the senate seats from 52 seats to 40 seats. Also this eliminates the college and graduate seats.

  • Attorney General Matthew Harris: Graduate seats and college seats have not been filled in the past years. That is why these chambers are empty. We will still hold college seats elections in the fall. Since it would take an entire year for this to go into effect. It is important to mention that graduate students are allowed to run for general senate seats.

-Senator Baker: Motion to approve CR-14SA-2772. Second. No discussion. Motion for unanimous consent. Second. No objections. Moved.

-Senate and Joint Resolutions on 2nd Reading

  1. Judicial Confirmation

-Elizabeth Hunt-Majoring in Philosophy and minoring in English. She has been in a rigorous interview process. I would like to become a member because it will be a good experience for me. I will work hard to. Personally, I have also had an internship and I really want to get involved in the college. I am also involved in the Law Fraternity on campus.

-Sen. Gloster: Motion to confirm Elizabeth hunt as Associate Justice. Second. No discussion.

-Sen. Baker: Motion for unanimous consent. Second. No objections. Passed.

*Sworn in by Associate Justice Dana Baker*

  1. Judicial Confirmation

-Elizabeth Hunt-Majoring in Philosophy and minoring in English. She has been in a rigorous interview process. I would like to become a member because it will be a good experience for me. I will work hard to. Personally, I have also had an internship and I really want to get involved in the college. I am also involved in the Law Fraternity on campus.

-Sen. Gloster: Motion to confirm Elizabeth hunt as Associate Justice. Second. No discussion.

-Sen. Baker: Motion for unanimous consent. Second. No objections. Passed.

*Sworn in by Associate Justice Dana Baker*

  1. Announcements

-We have an emergency senate meeting in an hour so please stick around for the elections of the Go committee Chair.

-If you are interested in sponsoring any of the travel requests please see Sen. Rotella

  1. Final Roll Call - Senate President Pro-TemporeShomari Gloster–

-Quorum is reestablished with 15 voting members

  1. Adjournment

-Meeting is adjourned at 7:33PM.