Student Assembly Finance Commission
April 18, 2011
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, Edward Barton, Charlie Feng, Jacob Frank, Matthew Gruber, Erich Heintzen, Catherine Kim, Charles Kim, David Kim, Rahul Kishore, Lawrence Kogos, Stephanie Lau, Chris Lee, Lauren Rosenblum, Robin Shapiro, Diana Simpson, Kevin Song, Holden Steinhauer, Margaret Szerbicki, Yong Kai Tan, Andrew Verri and Jessica Zhao.

III. Business of the Day

CUDA resolution/ Recruitment candidate / Attendance voting/ Co-chair election

M. Danzer, the LGBTQ liaison from the Student Assembly, proposed to the commission to include a checklist form about disability accessibility for local events. For example, groups would note whether the room for the event is disabled-accessible, if there is an accessible bathroom nearby, if elevators can be used instead of stairs, etc. The resolution would require students to fill out the checklist to receive funding, but the accessibility of the local event itself would not influence its allocation.

H. Steinhauer asked about the UUP form.

The CUDA representative explained that the UUP form is not required for club events, only extremely large events. He said that incorporating this change within the SAFC guidelines would be more feasible and effective than working with the SAO to get the UUP form changed.

E. Barton asked what was the point of the form if there are no implications for groups.

M. Danzer said that the point of this resolution is to bring awareness about the issue to student groups who might not have taken the accessibility of their event into account. The checklist would help insert accessibility into the thought process of event planning. Groups might realize that their event is not accessible to those that would most benefit from the event, such as mental health outreach.

D. Gusz thought that this resolution would create more bureaucracy, when what the SA should be doing is simplifying the process. He thought there should be a better way to raise awareness than just create another obstacle for groups to get funding.

H. Steinhauer agreed that much of the funding process is composed of simple forms, and thought it would be unnecessary to add another layer.

M. Danzer asked if the commission could swap this accessibility form with an existing redundant one that is less important. With the recent SA changes, groups might even be able to bring the form to budget hearings. He added that raising awareness about this issue in other ways, such as flyers or emails, is usually ineffective. L. Kogos suggested including an accessibility checklist to the online application system instead of a form. However, Ari would need to be consulted about the technical issues.

M. Danzer said that he would actually prefer if this was imbedded into the online application system. He asked if any of the commissioners were interested in working with this issue to set this up.

J. Frank asked if the resolution was a preemptive solution, or if there were actually complaints about accessibility.

M. Danzer answered that a number of students brought it to their attention that they are not able to attend certain events. Also, the estimates of people affected do not even include those with temporary disabilities.

J. Frank said he thought that this addressed a valid issue, but he thought that the approach was placing the burden on student organizations, when it should be more of a university issue.

L. Rosenblum moved the discussion towards accepting a twelfth commissioner.

R. Kishore talked about the qualities of potential candidate in question, but added that it was not utterly crucial to accept a twelfth applicant.

After further discussion, the commission unanimously agreed to accept the applicant.

K. Jenkins said the commission had to vote on the standings of M. Hepfer and J. Frank, who had accumulated maximum attendance points this week.

M. Hepfer and J. Frank gave their rationales for their absences.

The commission voted, and M. Hepfer and J. Frank remain on the commission.

L. Rosenblum then initiated the election for co-chair.

The K. Jenkins, R. Kishore and L. Kogos were each given four minutes to talk about their qualifications and goals as co-chair.

After much discussion about the candidates, L. Kogos with the majority vote was elected incoming co-chair.

IV. Meeting was adjourned at 6:15pm.

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