Skip to main content

This is an archival copy of the 2006–2017 Assemblies website. This information is no longer updated.

20101129 Minutes

Student Assembly Finance Commission
November 29, 2010
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
Calvin Baldwin, Lee Blum, Anna Connors, Emlyn Diakow, Jacob Frank, Charlie Feng, Matthew Gruber, Dan Gusz, Kristen Jenkins, George Kang, Catherine Kim, Chan Young Kim, Sang Kim, Rahul Kishore, Daniel Krenitsyn, Chris Lee, Brandon Levitan, Lauren Rosenblum, Robin Shapiro, Diana Simpson, Kevin Song, Holden Steinhauer, Mack Wallace, Samantha Weiner, Jessica Zhao

III. Business of the Day

Guideline changes voting/ Executive board elections

L. Rosenblum said that the majority vote on the guideline changes will determine whether they will be presented the Student Assembly.

The guideline changes include the following in bold:

Documentation (Chapter 11)
Applicant organizations must submit documentation to support certain kinds of requests and demonstrate that the funds are likely to be used as proposed. All documentation must be printed directly from the source (i.e. if printed from a website, a screen shot of the relative information).
� Logo, header or URL are considered necessary in documentation to prove validity of the source.
� Word and/or Excel files are not necessarily valid forms of documentation.

Durable Goods (9.5)
Adding to list of prohibited expenses for Durable Goods
- videogame hardware, software, and games
- refrigerators
- flash drives and hardrives

Under the Durable Goods Purpose
The commission funds consumer goods that are typically used repeatedly over a period of years and are able to exist without significant deterioration and are necessary for an organization’s purpose. This does not necessarily limit the funding of sports equipment.

Add new section under ‘Eligible Expenses’ that is titled ‘Repairs
Specifies the equipment to be repaired; provides price estimation of repairs and photo documentation of damaged good with explanation of how damage occurred.

Travel Events (9.4)
Under Prohibited Events
� Retreats, including off-campus events in which group members partake in team building, training activities, and other such activities which do not further the purpose of the organization.

Under Transportation
Applicant:
�
includes in its application Documentation of airfare costs or bus fares in addition to Proof of Travel Distance, if funding is requested for air or bus travel.
Commission:
� funds transportation at the lesser of either the Internal Revenue Service rate, obtained from the Office of the Assemblies, or the documented airfare costs (see Negotiated Rates for more information; and,
� Will not fund for travel expenses beyond the cost of traveling to and from the final destination. Examples of these prohibited expenses are, but are not limited to, public transportation fares and parking fees.

Publication
Under the eligibility section:
As the 2nd bullet
� Be printed and distributed with a minimum number of 100 copies.

Budget Hearings
The applicant may cancel a hearing until one business day before it is scheduled without penalty. If no representative of the applicant attends a scheduled hearing or all of the representatives are late (they arrive 10 minutes after their scheduled appointment’), the commission notes the absence or lateness and reduces the allocation to ninety percent of what it would otherwise be.

All the changes were passed.

L. Rosenblum said that she will keep the commissioners updated on whether they will pass in the Student Assembly.

The commission then moved on to executive board elections for the co-Chair, VP external, VP internal, and VP Public Relations positions.

Co-Chair candidates: Rahul Kishore and Kevin Song.

K. Song left the room.

Rahul Kishore spoke to the commission about his year-long experience on the e-board as VP external which has allowed insight on the issues in the system. He expressed his desire for change in SAFC, and mentioned several of his ideas including letting groups modify budgets at the table, having more than one budget cycle, and year-long caps instead of semester caps. Kishore wanted the commission to be seen as an organization that would enable student groups, not a limiting force. He described his vision for the commission to be more efficient and transparent. Other than editor of the Daily Sun, SAFC would be his primary commitment.

After answering several questions from the commission, R. Kishore left the room.

Kevin Song spoke about his passion for the SAFC and his enjoyment on serving on the commission. He felt that he was qualified for co-chair position, and had served on the SA/SAFC ad-hoc committee which made him knowledgeable on certain things that might effect the commission in years to come. Song also spoke about his commitment to the SAFC’s future success. He was worried about how the organization was seen by the public, and instead would like to see the SAFC as a helpful counselor, rather than obstacle by groups. He expressed the importance of improved education for both the commission and the student organizations themselves. Other than being VP of the BAC and Real Estate Club, the SAFC would be his primary commitment.

After answering several questions from the commission, K. Song left the room.

The commissioners discussed the candidates among themselves, and then voted.

K. Song won the majority of votes, and is the new co-chair.

VP External candidates: Sang Kim, Rahul Kishore, and Larry Kogos.

Each of the candidates spoke about the active role they would take on the e-board, and answered questions from the rest of the commission.

The commissioners discussed the candidates among themselves, and then voted.

L. Kogos won the majority of votes, and is the new VP external.

VP Internal candidates: Charles Kim and Kristen Jenkins.

K. Jenkins spoke about several of her ideas to improve commissioner education on the SAFC. She also talked about her commitment to the administrative side of e-board, as well as sprucing up communication within the commission.

C. Kim discussed his ideas to better train new commissioners. He also spoke about the importance of educating old commissioners as well, and felt that the better education would lead to more success for the SAFC.

After each of the candidates answered questions from the rest of the commission, they left the room.

The commissioners discussed the candidates among themselves, and then voted.

K. Jenkins won the majority of votes, and is the new VP internal.

VP Public Relations candidates: Rahul Kishore and Daniel Krenitsyn.

R. Kishore restated his vision for the SAFC and his commitment on serving on the executive board.

D. Krenitsyn expressed his desire to make commissioner recruiting more aggressive. He mentioned several ideas and ways he became involved in the recent recruitment. Krenitsyn said that the SAFC is currently seen as a distant, faceless organization, and wanted to change these attitudes towards the commission.

After each of the candidates answered questions from the rest of the commission, they left the room.

The commissioners discussed the candidates among themselves, and then voted.

R. Kishore won the majority of votes, and is the new VP Public Relations.

The commissioners offered their congratulations to the new executive board.

L. Rosenblum asked the newly elected e-board to meet with the old e-board after the meeting.

IV. Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Valerie Pocus
SAFC Clerk, Office of the Assemblies

SAFC Shortcuts

Contact SAFC

Willard Straight Hall Main Lobby
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

ph. (607) 255–9610
fx. (607) 255–1116

safc@cornell.edu