Student Assembly

R.21 Moratorium on New Student Groups

Whereas, it is the first and foremost duty of the Student Assembly to enhance the life of every undergraduate student during any and all circumstances

Whereas, the administrators of Cornell have been forced to significantly decrease budgets across all fields at Cornell, including the budgets of the Dean of Students and Student and Academic Services

Whereas, the Student Assembly has been urged by multiple administrators from the Office of the Dean of Students to keep the current state of finances in mind with regard to our duty to provide for the undergraduates

Whereas, the number of student groups has grown drastically over recent years, and where a number of these groups’ mission statements overlap and coincide with other groups whose purposes are particularly similar

Whereas, it is the duty of the Student Assembly to remain accountable and responsible for all monies garnered by the Student Activity Fee including monies allocated to registered student groups

Whereas, a moratorium on the registration of new student organizations for a period of one semester will provide an opportunity to adequately asses and audit currently registered student organizations and the method by which they are allocated funding

Be it therefore resolved, that a moratorium shall be placed on the registration of new student groups with the Student Activity Office for the Spring Semester of 2009 that shall begin on Wednesday, February 4th and shall be lifted on June 1st, 2009. Registration of new student groups shall be permitted under circumstances of special need as determined by the Student Activities Office

Be it further resolved, that an RSO Auditing Task-force be established to determine the SAFC funding eligibility of currently registered student organizations through the SAO as well as develop a standard that shall be used by subsequent bodies in order to determine funding eligibility for newly registered groups in the future. The RSO Auditing Task-force shall consist of 4 members from the Student Assembly, including the President and the VP Finance who shall chair these meetings. The other members of the SA shall be elected internally. The SAFC shall designate 4 ex-officio members, including at least one co-chair and three commissioners who shall be designated at the discretion of the co-chairs. The Office of the Assemblies shall designate no more 1 administrator to serve as an ex-officio member. The SAO shall designate no more than 2 administrators to serve as ex-officio members of the RSO Auditing Task-force.

Be it further resolved, that the RSO Auditing Taskforce be established as soon as possible and convene shortly thereafter and will disband effective June 1st, 2009.

Respectfully submitted,

Ryan Lavin ‘09
Student Assembly President
At-Large Representative

Gregory Mezey ‘09
SA Vice President of Finance
Hotel School Representative

J. Anthony Miller ‘10
SA Vice President of Internal Operations
Engineering Representative