Student Assembly

‘ ’ ‘MINUTES
Student Assembly
Thursday, April 24, 2014
4:45PM-6:30PM
Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by U. Smith at 4:50pm.

Members Present

S. Ali Khan, S. Balik, J. Batista, Y. Bhandari, G. Block, E. Bonatti, I. Chen, T. Drucker, R. Gademsky, I. Harris, M. Henderson, T. Hittinger, F. Jimenez, L. Liu, M. Lukasiewicz, Y. Ma, N. Mileti, U. Smith, M. Stefanko, T. Talbot, B. Thompson, N. Tulsky, N. Vasko, L. Wershaw, A. Zhou

Members Absent (Excused)

J. Hutson

Members Absent (Unexcused)

S. Lutsic

Also Present

A. Mulgia, R. Gitlin

II. Approval of Minutes

There was dissent to the motion to approve, the assembly voted to vote. There was no dissent on the minutes. Minutes from the April 20, 2014 meeting and April 17, 2014 were approved.

III. Presentation by Van Horn #66, CUPD Crime Prevention Unit

• Have several programs ready to help ease the tension between CUPD and the student body. Are often invited to give presentations on various topics. More than willing to work with any of the constituents of the Student Assembly. Want to make it known that CUPD educations as much as they enforce.
• Contact information: L. Van Horn, Crime Prevention Officer. Email: lmv46@cornell.edu Phone: (607) 255–7404.

IV. Graduate Student Trustee Candidate Presentation

• There are two candidates running for Graduate Elected Trustee. All students (including undergraduates) are eligible to vote in the election. The candidates are: Annie O’Toole (grad student in Crop and Soil Science) and Ann Bybee-Finley (law student).
• T. Hittinger: If elected, how do you plan on keeping your ear to the ground in terms of students? O’Toole: Plans to have office hours, and attend all assembly meetings. Generally be as accessible as possible. Bybee-Finley: Very involved in the undergraduate life in terms of being an instructor and in classes.
• E. Bonatti: What is your plan for internationalization of the University and interacting with International students? Bybee-Finley: Spent a lot of time abroad, very receptive to the issues of international students. Interfaced a lot with international students. O’Toole: Also spent a lot of time abroad, and understands the international perspective. Emphasis on support systems for international students.
• Community Member Max Weisbroad: How would you improve the Ithaca-Cornell relationship? O’Toole: Does not think the relationship with Ithaca is broken. Difficult to balance because Cornell takes up so much of the town. One issue in particular is ensuring the first-year bus pass is kept. Bybee-Finley: Graduate students have more interaction with the Ithaca community. In general, Cornell and Ithaca interact beneficially a lot.

V. Open Microphone

No items presented.

VI. Announcements and Reports

Organizational Spotlight — I. Harris

• Cayuga’s Watchers is being honored this week. Recognized for efforts in making campus a safer place.

SADAC Update — N. Tulsky

• Meeting next Wednesday at 8am.

Appropriations Committee Update — G. Block

• Meeting have been less frequent. Still reviewing Appendix B.

Internal Elections Announcement — S. Balik

• 2014–2015 SA Executive Board has been elected, current members should reach out to the new members.

Housekeeping — U. Smith

• Committee chairs must submit reports to Ulysses soon.

VII. New Business

R. 73: Changing the SAFC Commissioner Cap to Address Increasing Budget Requests

• This is a bylaws change. There is an added strain on the existing commissioners because of the 30% increase in budget requests.
• N. Mileti: Motion to Amend. Spelling mistake in line 7. No dissent.
• E. Bonatti: Why have a minimum? What if this semester is just an outlier? Response: There has been a steady growth, we think this is necessary.
• Item must sit on agenda for one week before it can be voted on.

R. 74: Approval of New SAFC Commissioners

• All undergraduate colleges represented in this class. Not all students typically from the business background.
• E. Bonatti: What about international composition? Response: Two of the forty members are international students.
• Motion to Move to Business of the Day. No dissent.
• J. Batista: What about fraternity/sorority composition? Response: We make sure all personal relationships are accounted for.
• G. Block: Line 30 is pretty embarrassing. This is not a joke. Motion to Amend. No dissent.
• Motion to Call the Question. No Dissent.
• Resolution adopted. 18–0−0.

R. 75: SAFC Guideline Changes

• Several changes in the guidelines, see attached documents. Biggest concern is about the technical limitations of OrgSync.
• E. Bonatti: Why change back to the one-cycle-per-semester model? Response: We don’t have the technical capacity to do three cycles.
• Motion to move to Business of the Day. No dissent.
• Call the Question. No dissent.
• Resolution adopted. 17–0−0.

Motion to Modify the Agenda. Move R77 above R76 on the agenda. No dissent. Agenda Modified.

R. 77: Addressing the Student Activity Fee Endowment Fund (Charter Change)

• This has been discussed at length prior to this meeting, but this is the final proposal. There will be a few changes next week.
• S. Balik: “Infrastructure” in Permitted Application should be clarified. Response: It is hard to anticipate what that should mean. We don’t want to limit the committee.
• E. Bonatti: Concern about startups that don’t benefit the Cornell community as a whole.
• I. Harris: How do you plan on verifying the rules and sources of funding? And success? Response: Don’t think groups will have many applications. There will be an end of the year report.
• A. Muglia: How does an independent organization have authorization to receive funding? Response: It is a classification technicality. All students organizations are eligible.
• J. Hutson: How would you make renovations happen? Response: Working on it now. There is going to be a steep learning curve.
• In section 9, going to add something about the promotion of applications. More explicit responsibilities. Also want to ensure members from all seven undergraduate colleges.
• J. Batista: VP Outreach/ VP Public Relations? Election process? Response: Same as the normal committee election.
• Discussion tabled until next meeting.

R. 76: Verifying the Fall 2014 Elections Rules

• Rules attached will apply to the fall freshman, transfer, and special LGBTQ Representative election.
• Missed some things
• T. Hittinger: What ideas do you have to encourage more people to run in future elections?
• More people I missed because I was packing up

U. Smith adjourned the meeting at 6:32pm.

Respectfully submitted, Brian J. Murphy Clerk, Office of the Assemblies