Attendance: Segal, Cordisco, Mullin, Segal, Pickard, Farrow, Troiano, Pilkington, Juhr, Holden, Roy, Ferreira, Jones, Caisse
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Caisse– Dave and I received an email from the Faculty Senate about the Second Grade Option. They did not like it, to put in simple terms. Next up, I will go into the email a little bit. There was a lot of opposition in the Second Grade Option, as was stated in the email. A slight change to what was passed last year. The drop period last year was 3 weeks with a W after that. That is probably going to go through this spring and the president will probably sign it. Because they are not changing the Second Grade Option, she’s willing to have them completely disregard the “W” and anytime after that, you can still drop within circumstances without receiving “W.” The next step for us is to meet with Academic Standard Committee to figure out the next step. We are obviously opposed; we do not want to see a short drop period.
Coates– Have you shared the data on what other schools do?
Caisse– There is an unlimited option to take courses, regardless of what your standing is. At UNH, a course may not repeated.
Coates– I am disappointed because I am in support of a shorter drop period but only when the appropriate changes are made. I think we need to have a more coherent advising system. I think what they are trying to achieve by shortening the drop period makes sense, and I think it would ultimately force people to make sure everything is settled before the semester begins. I do think it would significantly cut course shopping. At UCONN, I think you can take it up one or two times, and it will not get factored in your GPA. I think there are a lot of things that would happen before they shorten the drop period, but I do not think you can go into it like they are trying to do it. It is upsetting to see a flip-flop going.
Caisse– We were fighting the drop period and using the Second Grade Option used as leverage and expanded upon if the drop period were to change. In the email, she discussed a number of things the Faculty Senate would work on if they changed the drop period, including exploring the syllabus requirements. I am calling for an approval of the Faculty Senate dedication to website on their website. The draft of the handbook they are attempting to publish to give to advisors, which will be good to see. It’s in infant stages but is a significant change. I think there is a habit of saying and doing things and starting but nothing seems to be getting followed up on.
Farrow– What is the point of not getting a “W”?
Caisse– There was going to be an open 3-week drop period and after that, you would get a W. That is probably going to get voted on again, but they are offering to completely throw out the “W.” It will still be open three weeks but you will not get “W.”
Roy– What is this handbook? From the advising steering committee?
Caisse– Yes. Now this handbook has submitted things that they were tasked to look at, specific advising problems, and they all contributed to this handbook that Dean Richmond has put together that is 30 pages. I have only read half of it so far.
Roy– It goes back to they talk about a lot of things but do not follow through. They need to make requirements for advisors.
Caisse– I think the handbook mandates training sessions. We will not see the result of that handbook implementation.
SOARC COMMITTEE
Roy– I did not have quorum today and there were a couple groups there. My committee is getting a nice email tonight. All knew we were having a meeting today. The Actuarial Science Club is here to get recognized. They calculate risk. They would be Category “A.” I have also another club- Baking Club which I have sent to Risk Management. I want them to go through Risk Management so that they can get approval. I have Student Athletic Advisory Council come today to talk about their frozen budget and they are talking about appealing it. They have until next Wednesday to appeal it. They will be submitting it and coming next Wednesday. I think that’s all I have for today. If you see any facebook groups that are closed that are members of a student-senate recognized group, please let me know.
CULTURAL AFFAIRS
Ferreira– We had our committee meeting today. Guess you could say the majority of my committee showed up. I have been in contact with Dining Services and they might sell us huge tubs of frosting which could cut down costs. Waiting for them to call back. Also, the confirmation emails for groups that are attending are rolling in which is great. We have an average of 5-6 people per group. The Rammies are planned on being in the first week of April. We have already chosen dates for our nominations booths and voting booths. The awards are already sent in and being made.
SECRETARY
Coates– New changes to the bylaws.
Jones– I’ll take a look at those.
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Cordisco– The newsletter will be out by Thursday hopefully. Will feature our lawyer since he is not utilized enough. Will feature the new URI Calendar.
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
Mullin– Elections- counting of the ballots went well. Had a great system that we will pass on. In terms of the week ahead, I want to work on growing social media following this week. I want to try and get access to the facebook page and now the twitter. The one thing that URI News does is they have been going after all the freshmen who have just accepted admission and post in their twitters. Look for survey going out tomorrow. Have a meeting with the woman who did the URI Think Big logo. If we could decide what we want to do with the logo, we could try and possibly get sweatshirts or t-shirts with the new logo on it. Unrelated note, URI Shadow Day is this week. Take underprivileged children to class with you. Is anybody going to the moccasin thing?
Pilkington– Have a script for the Student Senate Recruitment project.
Roy– I want to do something for graduating seniors, I was talking about doing sashes for graduation for commencement with the logo and your position on the other side. If you could be able to help me with that, that would be great.
Mullin– We could probably do t-shirts at Vistaprint for a good cost. They have ridiculously advanced technology.
Holden– Who would have to approve that?
Roy– We would have to prove that to ourselves.
Holden– Some fraternities won’t get their sashes unless they pay their dues, so I am not sure if you would have to do something or ask somebody.
Pilkington– We will try and do the script for the promotional video next week. There are 9 people. How many pages is the script?
Mullin– 4.5 pages.
Pilkington– For our recruitment video. We can go around and make an informational video about Senate and talk about responsibilities and positions within the committee. We have to schedule going to film it.
Mullin- I am going to try and see if we can load it up to the URI website and see our video and then try and set up the YouTube channel.
Coates- Can you send out a doodle.
TREASURER
Segal– A lot of people asked me about stipends. They are next Tuesday.
ELECTIONS COMMITTEE
Farrow– Counting went very well. We had a pretty good system. It was actually nice to have four people, but still need five. Our committee is going to be working on questions for the presidential debate for our Wednesday meeting.
Coates– Kim has some debate questions that you guys could use as well.
Farrow- There are some that don’t apply to the times anymore, so we will try and come up with new questions.
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Troiano-Petition booths tomorrow at 1pm in the library. Try and working on Road to the Statehouse next week.
Coates– Can you find a volunteer from your committee that would like to help me with the RIPTA issue? Get the form to fill out to sign up for a booth.
CAMPUS AFFAIRS
Juhr– Meeting tomorrow. Coates sent me a state bill regarding the arming of campus police officers. Need to look through it. When are you free to re-schedule meeting?
Coates– I can let you know after meeting.
Holden– What is the plan for Counseling Center?
Juhr– Had a meeting tomorrow but rescheduled it. Have a meeting February 28th at 10am.
VICE PRESIDENT
Holden– Hope everybody had fun at formal. Will send out a feedback sheet about what you like or did not like and what you would like to improve for next formal. There was a lot of planning that went into it. My apology today if there have not been people at your committee meeting. It was not mandatory but to the discretion of the chair person. That is a strike against them. If they argue with you with about the matter, please have them come talk to me. Aside from that, I have heard that a lot of people on committee are not pulling their weight, let me know. Senior speaker committee applications are out.
Mullin- Do you have people signed up?
Holden- The only way people can access the application is to go on to the website. A lot of these applications will not come until the last second. People wait until the last minute, but if I know people know how to access the application, they will know that it is out there. Sign-up sheets for the booth will be going out next Wednesday.
PRESIDENT
Coates– Got a call from WPRO. I tweeted them something about the bill proposed regarding RIPTA to their newsroom so I am hoping that is what is it about. This bill has not even made it out of committee yet. I have a friend who does legislative analysis and she says she does not think it will make it out of committee. I will be working on that in the next few days. Hope everybody has taken the time to review bylaws changes. Extremely important. Going back through them a second time. Liked a lot of the changes I saw. Only had a few suggestions. One other thing I will bring up to committee is I was thinking about proposing to the committee suggesting candidacy and declaring candidacy to run the Senate by getting signatures on a petition to run for Senate. Helps us in the long run getting people involved.
Roy– I think less people will declare. I do not want to decrease our chances of getting a full Senate.
Mullin– What was the number of signatures?
Coates– About 50.
Pilkington– You can get signature amounts depending on the position they are running for.
Mullin- You could raise the standard every year.
Coates- A lot of people do not know how to run for Senate. When somebody is out gathering signatures, it could help us get more people. You could tell someone from the college reps that they have to get to what amounts to 1 percent of their college or something like that. I will run it by bylaws tomorrow. I think we can implement for the fall.
Ferreira– Would that apply to you running off-campus? Getting 25 off-campus signatures?
Coates- Had an issue with a club sport. Not going to elaborate–off the record. I will inform everyone more fully next week when the decision is finalized by club sports council. Significant issue. We have a club sport being kicked out of club sports. It is something that everybody needs to be aware of for next year. Lastly, online elections- I went through all four proposals. Cut one company out automatically because of costs. One costs a certain amount per vote and the other two are unlimited in terms of votes. VoteNet in my opinion is the best one because they’re actually almost completely even except you can get more information about candidates through multimedia. We could also have the opportunity for incumbents to have voting records posted. The other thing I liked about this company was their authentication methods. I have to get legal to agree to release information about students. If they refuse, that means we have to do something else. We could also give them the book we have now which has their name, major, class standing, and address and they could give you a pin number to turn into a password. If we could get orientation to help us implement that when students register, that means every freshmen at this university would be able to eligible to vote in a Senate election. That could turn out to be a huge thing.
St. Pierre– They do email, e-campus, computer lab all on Day 1. If you talk to Dean Richmond, she definitely may be interested in doing that.
Pilkington- Would alumni be voting in the election if you graduate?
Coates- They give you a timeline. Two days before the election, they upload the book and would match it against what is registered.
Segal- There’s on and off-campus and then greek housing. Could it handle that?
Coates- We are going to have to find a way to program it to constitute what locations are on-campus.
Mullin- Would they be able to send out emails to students?
Coates- I don’t think this online voting program does, but there was another that would do that. They have the capacity to email people who only have not voted. They also have guaranteed increase in voter turnout. I will say right now that I would like permission to get rid of a company that wants to charge per vote. I am going to do a test run on Wednesday through a test-vote. They allow me to log in as a fake voter and experience their system. Next Monday, I am hoping we can vote on which company you would like to pursue a contract with. The last step is to make sure legal is on board. Either way, I will have to get the lawyer’s approval, because we would be giving information to a third party. All three of these companies have non-disclosure agreements and have guarantees to not sell information to third parties. I am pretty excited.
Coates– I emailed Melissa Boyd-Colvin to come and do a transition workshop in the next couple of weeks. I am not sure about how long it will last, but I will email and let you know about it. Also, there is one other issue in the bylaws that I forgot about regarding elections. Does everyone think online elections should be open 24 hours during elections today? We would also have to have a provision about public booths with computers for students to vote. The other thing is that we also need to look at the reason we close meetings. There are a few other reasons we close meetings, but I was thinking about adding a session about executive work sessions. I think we loosely took minutes for Senate retreats. I think we should accommodate for them in the minutes.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Holzman– I did not have quorum today. Had a nice chat with IFC and Panhel and Sailing Club. We would like to see Senate next week. There are questions about the stipend line, for some reason as well as the retreat for SOLC. Called ASA back in because of the issue with their grant because not everybody was on board. Waiting on happy/not happy with budget forms. Got a bunch of them back.
Holden- If you did not have quorum today, are you going to schedule an emergency meeting?
Holzman– I am not sure.
Holden– If there are bills that are time sensitive, you might want to.
Adjourned 7:53pm