Student Assembly

Minutes — March 8, 2012
Cornell University Student Assembly
4:45pm — 6:30pm, 401 Physical Sciences

I. Call to order / Roll Call

N. Raps called the meeting to order at 4:49pm

Members present

S. Balik, G. Block, S. Breedon, D. Brown, A. Chopra, B. Francisco, A. Gitlin, R. Gitlin, D. Goldberg, M. Gulrajani, G. Hoffman, J. Kay, J. Lee, A. Meller, J. Mueller, D. Muir, A. Nicoletti, A. Pinkney, N. Raps, J. Rau, N. Treffeisen, A. Wolford, E. Yeterian, A. Santangelo

Arrived late

R. Desai, A. Raveret

Absent and excused

P. Scelfo

Absent and unexcused

S. H. Pittell, E. Szulman

Also present

Chelsea Cheng, Evan Cortens, Amy Edwards, Sasha Mack

II. Approval of the 02/23/12 and 3/1/12 Meeting Minutes

• Both minutes were approved

III. Univerity Academic Calendar Committee

• Jeffrey Doyle (head of the committee), Cassandra Dembosky (University Registrar Office), Dean Fry (Dean of the Faculty Senate)
• Currently working to adjust the calendar — their starting point was to alleviate student stress
• Proposed calendar
  • No classes on the Wednesday for Thanksgiving break
  • Two day break for President’s Day in the Spring semester
  • Spring break will be 2 days longer, and will split up the period of instruction between President’s Day and the end of classes
  • Keeping Commencement on Memorial Day Weekend
  • Study week and exam week will be condensed. Additionally, there will be a one day study break during the middle of exam week, and exam scheduling will be altered to avoid back to back exams for most students
  • Senior week will be shortened to 3 days. The exam schedule will be altered to ensure senior-heavy classes have early exam time slots, effectively preserving a full senior week for most
• A. Nicoletti: 2012–2014 by-line funding was passed for Senior Week. When will notice be sent about changes to the calendar so that funds can be adjusted accordingly?
  • Changes will be gradual and probably will not be implement for another 5 years
• A. Chopra: Why move exams back a full week instead of a few days?
  • Many options were considered (changing the last day of classes, shorten the exam period, etc.) but the proposal they came up with was the best option
• J. Kay: Feels students would prefer an extra day of study to an extra day for Spring break. If faculty and Administration are on the same page, then it would work, for the people who have papers as well as exams will have a difficult time completing everything with a shortened study period
  • The proposal is the best one to accommodate both Slope Day and Senior Week. There will have to be a process to suggest that faculty does not expect papers to be due around exam time
• D. Brown: How do you plan on measuring student health changes once the calendar is adjusted?
  • There is no metric for that, but they hope that the changes will have a positive impact
• A. Chopra: What is wrong with having Slope Day on Thursday?
  • Shortened weeks are not good for students or faculty, especially for classes that have discussions multiple times a week

IV. Open Microphone

• None

V. Announcements / Reports

Elections Announcement — A. Raveret

• Elections went really smoothly and a record number of people voted (approximately 5400). He went on to list the results of the election

Gorge Safety Announcement — A. Chopra and R. Gitlin

• They will begin filming on Monday and will have another announcement after Spring Break

Garbage Cans Announcement — R. Gitlin and P. Scelfo

• Meeting with Spring Buck on Monday regarding placing the SA’s name on the cans
• The three cans will also be accompanied by three recycling cans

CALS Announcement — S. Balik

• Talked with the Dean about some events proposed during their outreach event — many seem plausible and the SA is to remain updated

Outreach Update — N. Treffeisen

• Encourages continuation of outreach events now that elections are over

VII. Business of the Day

Appropriations Committee Special Projects: Everyone Campaign — A. Nicoletti

• Funding was approved on Monday
• Everyone Campaign: student-led campaign to raise awareness on campus regarding sexual assault
• No dissent was expressed, to the funding was approved

Resolution 39: Charter for the Umbrella Programming Fund — N. Raps, A. Nicoletti, and R. Desai

• Amendment proposed last week was added to the charter: groups receiving funding from UPF cannot receive funding from SAFC
• J. Mueller: What would happen if a group decided to back out of the UPF?
  • Does not see this as a reality, but the group can go back to receiving funds from ALANA or SAFC
• S. Breedon: Did all the groups agree to have two representatives on the UPF Committee?
  • Yes, everyone agreed that those numbers would work well
• B. Francisco: BSU was seen at Asia Night — will there be more support for more cross cultural events?
  • Yes, CAPSU reached out to BSU so hopefully good relations will continue. Additionally, there is an administrative push for it, especially since the remodeling of 626 Thurston
• J. Mueller: 10 voting and 2 non voting members — what happens in the case of a tie?
  • The result would be a no since Robert’s Rules state that there needs to be a majority to pass. Usually, a chair can decide whether or not they wish to vote in the case of a tie
• Call to question, seconded
• Vote: 21–0−0
• Resolution 39 passed

Willard Straight Hall Bylaw Changes — Michael Motley ‘12

• Michael has been working on the Bylaws for the past few years. The major change is adding the Pub Committee as a sub-committee. Other changes are minor: elections, grammar, etc.
• G. Block: What do you see as the structure of the pub committee? Will it become its own committee? Who will be the director?
  • The director will be a Special Projects Director elected by the Student Union Board (according to the bylaws). Potentially, it will become independent but at its start this is the best decision
• Call to question, seconded
• Vote: 20–1−0
• Willard Straight Bylaw Changes approved

VIII. New Business

Resolution 40: Appendix B — A. Nicoletti

• There are two documents overseeing the byline funding process. Appendix A guides how funds are allocated and Appendix B is a contract with the funded groups describing how they should operate and spend their funds. Appendix B needs to be revised after all the allocations are made during the by-line funding process
• A conversation will need to happen for 2–3 meetings to discuss changes made to the document

The next SA meeting is after Spring Break on 3/29/12.

N. Raps adjourned the meeting at 6:30pm

Respectfully submitted,
Chelsea Cheng