Meeting Start Time: 6:32
Attendance: Caisse, Coates, Holden, Juhr, Roy, Segal, Troiano, Ferreira, Zaman
DOC (reported by Holden)
- DOC is ready for the newsletter to go out every week. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s fantastic!
Academic Affairs
- The committee is researching a university wide attendance policy.
- Emailed Nancy Eaton to find out about new academic Standards and Calendars Committee times.
- Working on complaint about professor who did not hand out syllabus.
- Provost does not want to meet with college liaisons until everyone is elected.
- Chris emailed Troiano about drafting a letter to the State regarding Opportunity RI.
- Chris will be attending the first Faculty Senate meeting Thursday at 3 at Cherry Auditorium in Kirk.
o Will make sure Caisse sends out an email to make sure everyone attends.
Vice President:
- Senate retreat
o Waivers for the retreat are available in the Senate office
o Time: 10-3
o Will meet at 9:15 in Senate office
o Dress appropriately
o Will do quick reminder at meeting
- Student Organization Club Fair
o Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
o Time: 11-3 (Casey available 11-1)
o Volunteer, will count as an office hour
o Signed up, ideas?
- Encourage students to declare
- Educate students on services provided by senate
- Good visualization
- Give away post-its, flashlights, wristbands
Cultural Affairs
- Diversity Week Event- October 4 at 6pm
o Icebreaker: Connection
- Celebrates commonalities/unique points
o Stand-up activity
o Posters on opposite end of room
- Share what we are leaving behind/ bringing into future
o Bracelets
- Promise of what to take away from activity
- Meeting with MUSIC tomorrow (9/20) at 6 pm at Hodge Forum
- Diversity Services of URI
Chief Information Officer
- Working on compiling goals and responsibilities for position
- Request for Information from Ferreira
o Contingency Grant request for residence halls from November 2000
External Affairs
- Preparing for Commuter Appreciation Week
o Senator Dobrzynski and senator Labate will speak to Bruce about logistics on renting out the Union
o Other members getting information on lawyer who worked on Orange Sticker
- He works for ACLU
- Q&A Seminar to inform commuters on their rights
- Think drunk buses is a good idea
- Should create page for rentees on commuter website to rate home they have rented so prospective rentees know what to expect.
o Rating system
o Ri gitney wondering status of lawsuit. Troiano thinks it’s great idea. Coates will look into it 😉
Campus Affairs Chair Juhr
- Hertz
o Booth at the Student Organization Fair.
- Sue Sharkey and Juhr will be working at booth along with others from committee
- Anyone who helps out will receive driving credit
o Need to hand out Hertz fliers to be hung up
o Make clear to Hertz that their marketing is not our concern. It is not our program. We brought them here, now they need to be more active.
- Safety and Lighting Walk
o Still need schedules from committee; will pick day accordingly
- Need to have schedules in by tomorrow
o Invite SMAC (Students for a More Accessible Campus)
o Speak to Major Baker
o Make sure it is not during a Senate meeting
- Single Semester parking passes- need to contact someone about
- Bill on the floor for Wednesday
- Vice-chair Sharkey: Sharkey. 8-0-0
President Coates
- Recreation Fee
o Draft for survey- look over
o $125-$170. Approximate $150 range- maybe even $200 to make extra cash.
o 1400. Adding over 3000, total of 4400.
- Intramural Sports
o University put registration online- boosted enrollment
- Field Lights
o Senate gets to name the field we have paid to light- suggestions?
- Student Senate Northern Lights Field/Recreation Centre
o Two football fields and two soccer fields. Will be massive because the university bought the farm space, which will be made into fields.
o It will be the BEST-lit intramural sports complex at any university
o Will receive a plaque, ribbon cutting ceremony
Secretary Segal
- Next week is stipends.
Elections
- Nobody is volunteering for booth Wednesday- still spots open
- Cicero is not technically on committee, so we are down a committee member. He will still help; however, he cannot work at the booth, or sign people up.
- We’re going to contact nursing to send out email to list-serve. Will also have Senator Ferreira send out an email to residents.
- Declarations close Friday
- Elections are Wednesday 9/28 and Thursday 9/29.
- Counting ballots on the 29th. Hopefully we have a good turnout.
- Got emails from freshman asking about elections.
- Will have just one booth on Wednesday at the Organization Fair instead of two.
SOARC
- Working on making re-recognition paper-work digital
o Will be a lot more easier, convenient, and efficient
Finance
- Vice-chair Merolla
o Vote: 8.0.0
- Chair and vice-chair will sit down so vice-chair may get better understanding of finance
- Rowing Club
Holzman: Rowing Club requested $75,000. How much did you pull from basketball courts?
Coates: They are not getting it.
Holzman: I was thinking in $25,000 range. They are also looking to request 81K in another 3 years.
Coates: No
Holzman: Maybe we can justify giving half.
Coates: We have too many Club Sports teams to be investing that much in one. Maybe they need to request funding from the university. Club Sports as whole has been mismanaged, and we refused to give them cash. I don’t see how we can give that much student tax money to ONE sport.
Holzman: I won’t put more than 50.
Coates: That’s too much.
Holzman: 20? What they want this year: they currently have 3 fourma shells? Planning to sell, 1 safety boat. 15 k. 5 rowing machines. The issue with the machines is that the women’s team no longer lets the men’s team use their machines because they are a club sport.
Coates: I don’t even think we should give them 15, especially if we are already accused of overspending on white, upper-class events.
Holzman: Well, tonight was just informational. I told them it is a huge amount. What they are trying to do is have enough equipment for every team member to be competitive. They have 42 members, and maybe that is too big? It opens up a big discussion that I will have with the coach. All their old equipment- they sell off to make money for new equipment. They are paying $300 in dues, $600 for Spring Break, $600 for championships, and $200 in personal gear. Doing the least you can do to be involved is $500- For everything, it is $1700. That’s a lot. Each member is also responsible for 24 hours in book-a-thon. Just to keep the program going in 20-25K. They need a boat every 4 years with some equipment in between. You’re looking at 10-20 grand/year.
Coates: If it is that expensive to have a rowing team compete at that level, it should be a varsity sport.
Holzman: We will talk about what is sustainable for us.
Coates: We already give the Club Sports x amount of dollars, and now we are giving one sport extra money? Now are we going to create a line in our budget for one team?
Juhr? Why is it not a varsity sport?
Holzman: Titile 9: It has to do with matching the number of men’s teams to women’s team. Scholarship money is also a concern.
Coates: When the university gets hit with having to cut the budget, it easily cuts athletics. They cannot cut teacher salaries or fire the teachers. The staff is already down to a skeleton crew. Administrators will not give up anything. Athletics is easy to cut- results in a lot less scholarships as well. Because they’re switching out of the conference of football we’re in, we’re saving money because the conference requires fewer scholarships. The number of men’s scholarships will be down and the university will have to cut down the women’s to match.
- Surf Club:
o Three things on contingency grant: band, lights and sound, and food.
o Wants to cater/barbeque for 500 people. However, the event is supposed to be an Extreme Sports Caravan.
o Will have Tarp Surfing and he is trying to get Badfish for it.
o I’d be willing to give 2-3 grand for this.
Coates: SEC should be doing music/concerts. Seems like he’s found a unique way to tie it into his mission statement.
- Finance handbook
o Finance handbook will go on floor to be voted on next Wednesday so it can be ready for Presidents’ Meeting on October 3rd.
President Coates
- Need to track down Summer Senate dollars. Boiteau’s mess-up. We need to make sure university didn’t spend our money. If they did or are holding it, we will sue them.
- Students’ Rights and Responsibilities Committee.
o Caisse, Weinreich, Coates, and someone younger who will still be around.
o I wrote the bill last time and handled the press when I was chairman of Academic Affairs.
o Chairman Holzman has been involved in the past and can tell you what kind of uphill battles we face. Need to convince faculty to vote against administrators who do not see the side of the students. There is a lot of interest that needs to be protected.
o Vote: 6-1-2
- Homecoming
o We need to approach Finance Committee about fireworks at homecoming. It’s an awesome marketing technique- huge crowd- credit senate for fireworks.
o Once we get the Summer Senate money and apply for a tax grant to pay for the fireworks, it will come up as a vote. I’ve been on board with it. Any opinions/ concerns?
- Equity council has first meeting
- Meetings with Exec members
- Budget and planning- will let you know once I find out more information
- Recreation fee
o There will be no vote on recreation fee- will determine whether we go forth with it
- Compacts
o Worked on IFC and Panhell compacts- will be finalized this week
o Club Sports- next compact