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20051114 Minutes

Student Assembly Finance Commission
November 14th 2005
5:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.
163 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

The Meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.

II. Roll Call

Commissioners
Jeffrey Cohan, Jillian Dorans, Liz Falcone, Erica Fischer, Lisa Gilbertson, Sorby Grant, David Lederman, Scottie McQuilkin, Nadia Ormsby, Spencer Pepper, Dana Sckolnick, Caitlin Shetter, Eric Schulman, Anastasiya Sidorova , Kate-Lynn Timmermans, Evan Walker, Soyeon-Yu, Joey Zielinski

III. Business of the Day

Club Sports/Commissioner Interviews

L. Falcone started out the meeting discussing the new definition of what a club sport is that the club sports commission brought to the SAFC for approval. Ms. Falcone expressed her personal problems with the definition as she thought it was too narrow. She also said, though, that the club sports that participated in figuring out the new definition agreed upon it, and now they want the SAFC to add this definition to the bylaws.

E. Walker asked which groups were excluded by this new definition.

R- Any groups that did not compete intercollegically.

E. Walker pointed out that with this new definition more groups would be put into the general category of clubs, which could hurt all of the other groups.

L. Falcone said that the SAFC could change the percentages that club sports get due to the change in number of groups.

K. Timmermans was quick to point out, however, that this would look like we are showing disfavor to club sports.

E. Fisher asked if not club sports would ask for more money?

R- No.

L. Falcone said that this is not a sinister move by the club sports. She added that all club sports just felt as if they were being treated unfairly.

D. Lederman said that many other groups opted out of being called a club sport so that they could get more money when budget hearings occur.

E. Walker asked when the Club Sports commission could apply for its own money.

L. Falcone responded by saying that it would be 2008 at the very earliest.

D. Lederman said that the club sports list is a very dynamic list, and many groups move on and off it yearly.

L. Falcone pointed out, however, that the criteria for designating each group as a club sport or not is still very convoluted. She added that the e-board will need to talk about this matter internally.

K. Timmermans asked if there is a level of competition required.

R- Any intercollegiate competitions.

A. Sidorova pointed out, however, that the debate club competes intercollegically as well.

L. Falcone responded by saying that the groups must be “athletic” groups.

J. Zielinski asked if anyone is dealing with duplicate groups yet.

L. Falcone said “No, not yet”. She then began to present the club sports definition more professionally. She pointed out that she is simply presenting the definition, and trying to facilitate discussion. She added that the commission can add the definition as is or ask the club sports to change it.

D. Lederman said that if the definition was sent back to the club sports commission it could be changed for the better.

E. Fisher asked if the new definition will go into affect in the spring.

R- Yes.

J. Zielinski asked is it up the SAO or the SAFC to decide who is a club sport.

R- It is up to each individual group as well as the SAO.

E. Walker asked how much more club sports gets cut versus normal groups.

R — Almost double the cuts for club sports.

Vote: Yes to add the definition, No to send the definition back to the club sports commission.

Yes: 13 No: 5 Abstain: 1

-The definition passes.

-Final policy changes are passed out, and all commissioners read through it.

Vote: Yes to add the changes, No to not add the changes

Yes: 20 No: 0

-The policy changes are approved.

L. Falcone moved onto the interviews which are this Saturday (Nov. 19th). She added that the times and rooms will be sent out through email, as well as asked the commissioners to name things that the SAFC should look for in new commissioners.

S. Grant asked if there could be either a serious room, or a joking room for interviews.

D. Lederman responded quickly by saying that there should only be serious rooms.

K. Nadolny said that the SAFC should not be too serious however because “�it might scare them”.

S. McQuilkin added that each new commissioner should understand the commitment and dedication it takes to be a commissioner.

J. Dorans added that they should want to be a commissioner for the correct reasons.

S. McQuilkin added that they should know what the SAFC does.

K. Timmermans said the SAFC should ask the interviewees to dress business casual.

S. Yu disagreed and said that they should not tell them anything then just see how each person dresses.

A. Sidorova said that another quality to look for would be previous leadership.

D. Lederman also added that they new commissioners should be personable.

K. Timmermans added that punctuality would be key.

S. McQuilkin added that a good set of ethics would be crucial.

L. Falcone asked that the SAFC commissioners email herself with questions to ask each interviewee. Lastly, she pointed out that the SAFC does not have a quota to fill. Instead, she said, they will be choosing on the quality of each candidate.

IV. Meeting ended at 5:45 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Daniel Kantor
SAFC Clerk, Office of the Assemblies

Contact SAFC

Willard Straight Hall Main Lobby
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

ph. (607) 255–9610
fx. (607) 255–1116

safc@cornell.edu