Senate Meeting, 08/25/08
I. Call to order (5:40 pm)
II. Roll Call
• Present:
o Speaker Gabe Rettaliata
o Asst. Speaker Jen Kent
o Brian Frazee
o Neketa Kakar
o Sunaina Khandelwal
o Aditi Srivastav
o Rahilla Tarfa
o Whitney Torchia
• Absent
o Omoye Ebhomielen
o Amber Spry
o Chidinma Ukonne
III. Icebreaker
IV. Speaker/ Assistant Speaker Elections
• Motion by Gabe to delay elections until next meeting to allow all Senators to have a vote. No objections.
V. Action Guide Review
• David Hoffman reviewed Senate job description and how it plays into SGA’s roles. Also looked over pg. 25 of action guide.
• Gabe went over the attendance policy- only 2 unexcused absences allowed for the year, including Senate meetings and committee meetings
• David did a brief intro to parliamentary procedure, referencing pg. 29-30 of action guide.
• Gabe then briefly went over the glossary of terms (pg. 31), writing legislation (pg. 35), SGA budgetary procedures (pg. 37), and the SGA tome entries starting on pg. 53. He encouraged all Senators to look over these sections in particular, but also recommended reading the other sections as well.
VI. Introduction to “The 5 Projects”
• Gabe introduced the five projects and explained that these were baby steps into introducing SGA members to completing projects.
a. Transcript Fee
a) This group is looking into the $8 fee per official transcript
b. Pond Cleanup
a) This group is planning a pond cleanup day and a pond naming contest
c. Student Org. Involvement Card
a) This is a program that will track how students go to and reward them for high attendance.
d. Halloween Fest
a) The group is planning a student org. fair on Halloween including people getting dressed up, as well as other events.
e. Web Services Update/ Upgrade
a) This group wants to revamp the SGA website as well as other SGA web services to make them more user friendly
b) Brian asked about looking into changing the UMBC homepage
c) Steve said it has been bad since his freshman year
d) Jen agreed with Brian
• Gabe asked anyone not in a project group to join one.
VII. Plans for Upcoming Year
• Gabe handed out sheet from Campus Walk activity from the Retreat. Encouraged everyone to fill it out to help brainstorm ideas for Senate projects. Senate will also consult project list compiled during retreat.
• David said he will send that list out over SGA listproc
• Gabe asked who Senate would like to have as guests at meetings
o Bookstore Bob
o Provost Hirschman
o Tom Delucca from Chartwell’s
o Dr. Nancy Young
o President Hrabowski
VIII. Executive/ Ex-officio Reports
• SGA President Steve Gilmore-
o Please attend Convocation
o Involvement Fest is Sept. 3rd, look for an e-mail
o Over the summer, met with committee to do teacher evaluations by students online, to replace paper based SCEQ’s
o Election Night Extravaganza- Brian Frazee and Sameera Syed have been working on this event
o Homecoming- Katie Dix is Homecoming Chair. Movie will be Batman: The Dark Knight, Sat. there will be pre-game activities
o Look for Cabinet and USMSC confirmations to come soon
o Readership Program needs an additional $4000
o Retreat follow-up meeting- look for an e-mail
o Be sure to update your Corp. Time calendars
o I would like to meet with each person in SGA individually over the coming weeks
• SGA Advisor David Hoffman
o “Make UMBC Yours” session from 1-2 pm on the 26th- to help students get involved with organizations and campus life.
o There is a new Provost- meet him
o Nancy Young was named permanent VP of Student Affairs
• SGA Treasurer Yasmin Karimian
o Attend a treasurer training session to learn more about finances
IX. Announcements
X. Adjournment (6:34 pm)
XI. Pass the Gavel