Mike Omboni, Executive Vice President

Rachel Sullivan, Secretary of the Senate

Senate Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, February22, 2017

9:15pm in LLC006

  1. Call to Order: 9:17pm
  2. Elections Report & Ratification of Spring 2017 Elections (Senate Resolution No. 6)
  3. SBA Elections Director: Alden DiIanni-Morton
  4. Three complaints lodged, two audits performed, no violations found or sanctions imposed
  5. One paper ballot (per Bylaws 821 & 822) was employed in the election

Senate Resolution 6. Senator Fleischer moves to vote, Senator Garlick seconds. No objections, Senator Fleischer moves to approve by unanimous consent. The resolution passes.

  1. Public Old Business
  2. Community Comment
  3. None
  4. Approval of Minutes
  5. Senator Winker moves to approve by unanimous consent, Senator Sanford seconds, minutes are approved.
  6. Executive Reports
  7. President:Adam Weiss
  8. Introduces a finance bill for the graduate school mixer. The mixer will be in mid-March in Marvin, and will take the place of a bar review. We will use colored leis to indicate which school attendees are from.
  9. The electronic reimbursement program has been in place for two weeks, and has been successful. A new reimbursement form will go live next week.
  10. Over spring break, the Executive will be wrapping up some initiatives. One new bill will supplement grad week, which is possible because the Barrister’s budget is balanced. The Dean’s Office has told us that we are responsible for paying for Dean’s Jeans and we will provide the finance committee with the list of expenses for that.
  11. Sean’s team will take over the mentor training this year, which targets alcohol responsibility training as well as mental health training.
  12. At the next senate meeting, the Executive will present two new joint resolutions. One is reform for the exam policy, and another is the new HPPS policy, which is to be expected to be endorsed. President Weiss asks for our support as the Executive presents these new policies to the faculty.
  13. Senator Nastase asks what a carnival entails. President Weiss says that he will be given the information on March 1 and will forward it to Senator Nastase.
  14. Senator Fleischer asks if we will receive the weather report for Dean’s Jeans, as it has been rained out for the past two years.
  15. Senator Johnson asks when Dean’s Jeans will be held, and President Weiss says that the date will be released soon.
  16. Vice President of Finance:Matthew Piscitelli
  17. Estimates from carnivals and picnics in the past are available, so VP of Finance won’t be starting from scratch when coming up with costs.
  18. There is about $30 – 40 K left in the C fund, and these funds will expire in July. VP of Finance Piscitelli is looking at what groups have and haven’t spent their C funds to move money from groups who haven’t spent any to groups who have spent all of it. These reports will also enable Finance to better allocate C funds next year.
  19. Senator Fleischer asks whether there will be an appeals process for this, and VP of Finance Piscitelli answers that the process will encourage groups to spend their C funds.
  20. Finance is planning events for grad week, and will present their plans for grad week in two different bills. No cost estimate at this time, as third year students will vote on the events to be held.
  21. Senator Fleischer asks about the receipts for the ski trip buses. VP of Finance Piscitelli has not yet received the refund for the bus trips, but he anticipates that we will get some of that money back.
  22. Chief of Staff:John McGeehan
  23. Barrister’s Ball is coming up in a few weeks, and the Programming Team is looking for sober monitors, who will get discounted tickets. About 20 are needed.
  24. The basketball game will take place in the end of March, and tickets are running out.
  25. The Law Revue show is taking place this Saturday, and everyone is encouraged to attend.
  26. The “Note Bene” will post their first podcast next week.
  27. Applications for the Executive Branch will be available soon, and President-Elect Winker will be interviewing for these positions. About 120 are available.
  28. The SA Elections will be taking place next month, and the law school always supports a candidate who supports the opt-in process. This candidate will be at our meeting on March 29.
  29. There may be a special senate meeting for this candidate, because our spring break is different from that of the rest of the schools.
  30. Candidate registration for this is February 27 – March 3. The information can be found through the GW email accounts.

Senator Crowell motions to move Bill 42 to the Agenda, and Senator Sanford seconds.

Senator Crowell motions to move the finance committee’s reports to the beginning of the committee reports, and Senator Fleischer seconds.

  1. Committee Reports
  2. Finance: Donald Crowell
  3. Bill No. 37 - LLM Movie Night (Ad Hoc Request)
  4. Senator Qin proposed this event. Senator Fleischer moves to approve by unanimous consent, Senator Khan seconds. Senator Kessler objects.
  5. Senator Fleischer moves to vote, Senator Winker seconds. The bill passes unopposed.
  6. Bill No. 38 - Russian Panel Speaker Event (Ad Hoc Request)
  7. Senator Qin proposed this event as well.
  8. Senator Kessler says that student organizations have to advertise their events “broadly” in order to use SBA funding. However, the LLM students have been advertising these events to their Facebook group each week. Senator Kessler asks whether this is sufficient to constitute “broad” advertisement. He also asks whether programs like this one have been advertised to a wider audience interested in international law, and he is concerned that they are not open and accessible.
  9. Senator Vaynshteynsays that some of these panels have been widely advertised, and Senator Mamsa says that posters have been put up. VP of Finance Piscitelli says that because LLMs are only here for a year, they only receive ad-hoc funding.
  10. Senator Winker says that the LLM students have been effective in advertising on the day of these events.
  11. Senator Fleischer moves to approve by unanimous consent, Senator Talwar seconds, bill passes.
  12. Bill No. 39 - FL Speaker Panel (Ad Hoc Request)
  13. Senator Nastase moves to vote, Senator Fleischer seconds. Vote approved. Bill passes by unanimous vote.
  14. Bill No. 40 - BLSA Black History and the Arts (Ad Hoc Request)
  15. Showcase at Busboys & Poets, food and drink are not provided, so funding is just for the room, lighting, and sound.
  16. Senator Fleischer says that this is an educational event, and that the event is expected to be widely attended. Senator Vaynshteyn moves to approve by unanimous consent, and Senator Garlick seconds. Bill passes.
  17. Bill No. 41 - Basketball Negotiations Competition (Ad Hoc Request)
  18. This competition is based on issues that arise surrounding the NBA.
  19. Senator Fleischer moves to approve by unanimous consent, and Senator Iyer seconds. Approved.
  20. Bill No. 42 – Graduate School Mixer
  21. Senator Vaynshteyn asks why leis are being used, and President Weiss says that they are being used in lieu of armbands.
  22. Senator Gardner asks whether this cost is being shared between the graduate schools; it is.
  23. The event will take place March 23, and will be in place of a bar review.
  24. Senator Fleischer moves to approve by unanimous consent, Senator Sanford seconds, bill passes.
  25. Appointments: Caleb Raymond
  26. Senator Raymond is not here. Senator Fleischer says that there is nothing to report.
  27. Student Organization: Samantha Block
  28. Nothing to report.
  29. Academic Policy: Megan Steffl
  30. Senator Steffl is not here, there is nothing to report.
  31. Audit: Mary Khan
  32. Nothing to report.
  33. Wellness and Programming: Sean Winker
  34. Nothing to report.
  35. Facilities and Technology: Gil Landau
  36. Senator Landau is absent, Senator Weiss says that on the SBA website there are two locations to submit facilities requests. There should be a Newsletter submission about the facilities requests.
  37. Rules & Constitution: Kevin Wiatrak
  38. Senator Wiatrak is absent. Senator Fieischer says that the rules and constitution are being streamlined and amended, particularly the elections by-laws. It will be presented in separate bills.
  39. Senator Kessler asks how far in advance we will receive the bills. The next Senate meeting will be on March 15, and we are expected to receive the bills sometime close to spring break.
  40. Adjournment

March 15 is our next meeting.

Senator Fiescher moves to adjourn, Senator Pierce seconds, we are adjourned. 10:19 p.m.