Student Assembly

Minutes for RSO Auditing Task Force Meeting (3–10–09)
Mezey:A cmte of the SA should be formed to deal with the registration process. All but Kate Duch feel this way.

Lavin:As it stands, it is not viable for a subcmte of SAFC to do this process.

Ari: SAFC understands they are bound to their policies strictly. Registration should not be political.

Andrews: Is this like appropriations?

Lavin:This should just be an SA Cmte.

Scaffido: SAO members should be on it.

Mezey: Cmte should mirror membership of other SA cmtes. Should have SA members, community members, ex-officio staff members.

Lavin: Yes, I agree, staff should be a resource, let’s discuss who should be on this cmte. (Refer to his written suggestions).

Andrews:We should clarify when a group can be denied. (See his written statements). I like the example Joe used, multiple democrats groups should be forced to be part of a larger group

Scaffido: This is actually a problem for club sports. Multiple club sports teams exists with different purposes. Why are multiple people being denied from club teams. Is this like a tryout for an a capella group.

Mezey: This is a performance based issue.

Scaffido: Look at when club sports teams participate in different leagues and such.

Mezey:Don’t you just have the first group that comes to you and allow them to go to tournaments if only one is allowed. A Club Sports Funding Board would exist in my mind, to deal just with club sports. Their needs are so unique, this might take multiple years.

Ari: Groups that don’t understand things are having problems with groups who request too much money. They don’t have a forum where they can deal with these concerns. There is a cost benefit analysis that needs to be done.

Mezey: Set a cap.

Ari: Have a hearing where groups know when to come and can compete there.

Andrews: How about if we have a soccer group that already has their own funds and equipment. They just need the right to have fields.

Mezey: If we’re funding these groups, what if they don’t have practice time. SAFC is acting on behalf of the students.

Andrews: If you have 2 new groups, can they share the fields, can we do room sharing.

Mezey: How to rate rooms? I think it gets so complicated.

Ari: Cmte should not have to do a lot of research. Give groups the burden of doing research on what space they would need, how are you different, how will you burden other funding boards.

Scaffido: How long will these groups last? Cooking club got a lot of money to buy pots and pans, but where are they now. They’re going out becoming a club, and then the goods go missing. It’s really important to work around this problem.

Andrews: There is a lack of fundraising on campus, this needs to change. It brings more of your group to campus.

Lavin: Can we come to a consensus on some issues so we can progress. Every new org should go to this cmte.

Scaffido: What is new? Some groups have been around forever. We can go through a list with you. Let’s look at groups from like 5 years out.

Mezey: Let’s not forget to classify as grad or undergrad. Can we align views from SAO and SAFC?

Andrews: Let’s use SAFC criteria.

Lavin: Let’s increase undergrad percentage. How many groups are actually on the fence?

Scaffido: Not many.

Ari: Outing club.

Lavin: Since you can’t get both, let’s raise the number of required undergrads. It also forces them to find other sources..

Scaffido: SDPB and CCC fund both grad and undergrads, so it get’s tricky.

Miller: We should have an either or provision where you have X number of undergrads or a high percentage.

Mezey: Let’s get back to original discussion. Since Fall 2006 or so? We should grandfather in some groups.

Scaffido: Three years worth would allow 600 groups to be grandfathered in.

Mezey: This would allow them a chance to send in some paperwork.

Miller: It sounds rough, but it is what we must do.

Scaffido: Why are there so many registered groups? What do they do?

Mezey: They do it for space, there are 15 or so in hotel alone, just to serve hotelies.

Ari: Can we track space groups use?

Scaffido: R25 does track it. We have a master list.

Mezey: Greeks can register for space without registering their groups.

Ari: Of non-SAFC funded groups, how much space do they use.

Mezey: If we have data, then we should have a professor work it.

Ari: Who is R25 maven?

Scaffido: Kelly Sullivan.

Lavin: 3 years work for all?

Miller: Yea.

Scaffido: All of this data is self reporting.

Miller: We should check this when groups are audited.

Mezey: Let’s try to grandfather these groups in from over 3 years.

Scaffido: Might not put that in writing just yet, there might be more.

Mezey: Agreed, let’s just think about it. This is just the first time, after that, it should be all new ones.

Lavin: New groups still need to be checked on.

Andrews: That’s why we have the probationary period.

Mezey: I liked Ari’s idea for a campus impact statement. Cmte can then generate questions and such. A hearing will then occur and a tier will be set.

Scaffido: How about petitions?

Lavin: This might create bureaucracy.

Miller: It shows they are willing to put in the effort and it might encourage membership.

Ari: No validation required.

Mezey: Tiers, Trial period for one semester, no funds, no space.

Andrews: I disagree, they need space to organize and grow membership.

Lavin: This is going to take more time

Mezey: After probationary period, they can always appeal to the SA. Ari, look into R25. Joe look into last 5 years. We can debate merits at next meeting. Look at maybe drafting language for how SAO and SAFC define RSOs. Let’s be consistent, and then run by GPSA.

Lavin: Are we gonna just put everything into one big document, or should we have rolling resolutions.

Mezey: We can do some in rolling like SAFC changes, but a lot of this should be one big resolution. We need to get something on the table.