I. Call to order 5:34pm
II. Roll Call
All members present except for Aditi and Naina (late)
III. Approval of Minutes
Minutes from last week approved
IV. Special Guest – Katie Boone, Director of Residential Life
Go over requested information. Today I’ll be going over early move in program for spring 2010, management of occupy levels, housing master plan, housing selection process.
Early move in program: It’s a price tag of just over 6000. I am not opposed to this, I just really want to make sure it’s a really well organized and sustainable plan. We did write into the student staff contractual agreement we just put out, which has them cutting back a day earlier for training in thinking that this would be passed.
Management occupancy levels: Read the articles in the paper and read the underground. I am not opposed to dissent. I started in July, read the data on the numbers and knew this would be a problem. We started working on this in September. The philosophy for the University for the Department is to show Preference in housing to freshman. We all embrace the idea that the older student is better equipped to live off campus. We did a lot of data collection. To receive funding to build a new building or addition you have to have an established waiting list for a significant amount of time. We were able to establish a number of spaces that we had on campus that were actually rooms we were using for something else. We decided to establish a triple rate for people who are more financially strapped. We can rent a triple room that will be permanent. We wanted to make sure students with triples could get a discount. It yields more space. The economy is another issue. We as a university are excited that when the economy is down parents tend to send their students to state school, however, housing is risky. Every spring semester we loose a significant number of students we budget to be at 97% percent but we are currently at 101. In the 90s there was in the large waitlist, and then they build the newest communities were built: Erickson and harbor and walker. University state system has decreed in order to have new construction have to have a private-public partnership. We philosophically have chosen not to do that. We have been very creative in how we’ve been able to find something. We opened this year with 220 waiting lists. Over the summer, we had 400 but got cancellations. Commitment is to house freshmen students. We are not in the position to guarantee housing to returning students. Our commitment is to solicit a lot of feedback. We had three student focus groups in the fall semester we then established a 2009 housing selection task force. We also met with RSA.
Josh: what is the deal with walker, do they own it for x number of years and then you get it?
Katie: We have a land lease. We own the land and they pay us rent on it. It’s a 20-year lease. They manage facilities.
We did the math and we said based on the admissions data how many students were coming in and what percent lived off campus. We realized we were going to be in a deficit of just under 200k. We decided to take 5-year residence. So students who have been in housing for 4 consecutive semesters they have been displaced. Those seniors with 75+ credits were sent a letter that they were displaced. I think more information is better. We are currently considering a wait list for them. We are not saying they won’t get housing. Majority of those students in a few weeks we can determine if we can send them all up to walker. Walker had the least people in applications than we foresaw. We will do it in a very fair and considerate way.
Chidi: Isn’t walker more expensive?
Annual lease is not that much more expense. Academic lease is pricier.
Paula: if a student had UMBC listed as permanent address how would you determine Distance A?
This information wasn’t publicized to students until it was too late for them to do anything about it. I live in Walker.
Katie: it was only 32 students and all scholarship student athletes excluded. This was no secret and we got a lot of comments.
Paula: I had a concern because this info wasn’t really publicized to students. Some people might have lived in walker permanently.
Katie: only 32 students, second we exempted out all scholarship students and athletes. We did a significant amount of research. We got a lot of comments, so when we told the students it was not a secret. I can only use what's available to me. If student don’t chose to read what I give them.
What we are doing for people who are displaced:
“Just for Fun” is on May 6 and we're having an off campus housing fair. We will do overnight sessions. We take you on a bus to all the apartments on the transportation route. We did form an appeal committee the met last Friday.
Assistance for waitlisted students:
Some people are asking me why it is called license now. A lot of collages are moving towards license agreement. It’s not a contract and not a lease. Contract is what you provide for services. I’m providing hosing for you, but I don’t want to look at it as a contract. We are rolling up 200 deposed so you don’t have to redeposit to walker. It is a great benefit to students. A stack in west hill will have gender-neutral housing.
Paula: Does reslife have any sway over walker’s decision for license?
Katie: We encouraged them to. Their license is under a different agreement. The reality for walker is it’s very hard to kick someone out because it’s a land lease. Have to go to the courts. So by going under a similar agreement like our licensing agreement To make them a little bit easier to us to move student for non payment. It’s still a 17-day process.
Paula: why did the email Walker sent to students say only 5 days notice instead of 17, and secondly don’t those requirements to go through the courts for a lease provide protection to student so that they cannot be made homeless on short notice. And if they do provide protection why did reslief encourage Walker to remove those protections?
Katie: what we kick people out for is nonpayment but also threats to community. With in 5 days if you’re a threat to communities then yes. Lacked any sense of privacy they put a huge notice on you doors. This was a kinder gentler way to do that.
We did not include residents in that decision
Paula: The ease of being able to kick a student out was chosen over having a safe stable place to stay. I’m not comfortable staying at a place where I can be removed by somebody’s arbitrary decision without a legal process. I don’t understand why that decision was made without including student in that process.
I think that you issue is your issue. I think that community perspective. On the whole it is much better to mange what happens in walker on license agreement.
Paula so reslife does have the final say in who gets kicked out?
Katie: Yes. I manage this really closely.
Paula: It would have been really good if this were announced earlier. I know I'm not the only student this affects. When we dint have any information.
Katie: I didn’t contemplate that would be a big deal. I apologies, I frankly didn’t think people would notice.
Housing mater plan:
Phase one: planning and financial analysis- we are in phase 1 we did significant focus groups before I get here
Phase two: is an additional to Patapsco
Phase three: is the renovation of west hill
Phase four: we will access if we need more beds. We build the addition to Patapsco to be open fall 2011. All the students that used to live in west hill are now in patapsco. West hill will be closed the whole year. If we need more beds then we will make the addition to sus
Phase 5: Addition to Susquehanna or Renovation of Terrace and Hillside
In this whole plan will be passive and active recreational spaces that will be put in. We can only build so many additions. We really have to consider room.
I’m very aware of how costly everything is. I don’t want to have to raise the rooming price. So we are going to try to start raising the rates now for buildings that will happen later as well as all the renovations which you will see. I really like involvement with students. I have no problems sharing the plans for patapsco. I like to be transparent and have no problem sharing that with you. It’s a plan it’s not set in stone.
SSDC: Student judicial and counseling program at interfaith center. They will have to pay me rent just like university health services. If we still need it than sus will expand. There will be a breezeway through Chesapeake and sus when they are connected. All wings will have elevator access. It will be a suit style like Erickson and Harbor.
Michael: will students from sus be able to go to Chesapeake.
Katie we’re thinking about that. They are going to be run as two separate complexes.
West Hill Hillside and Terrace apartments Building envelope is the structure of the building. This plan includes no building envelope.
Includes taking down a wall. All of the inside will be changed. All the plans say is that we are going to do it, not how. Students will be involved in those choices.
There will be Basketball and volleyball courts. Grills and picnic tables. Can get to do one this summer.
Poll: What’s your preference, passive recreations pace in the apartment are or a sand volleyball court a basketball quarter to a tennis quart (basketball is the preference).
There will be a new entrance to the dining hall. And this all will have picnic areas. We will place the basketball and volleyball near by, so this whole community is surrounded by the dining hall and brings people in. The plan does include community center for the apartments. Its 10,000 square feet.
Summer we are putting in 3 million dollars into renovations. There will be renovations in Patapsco and Susquehana in 2009. We’re going back to sus and doing a little bit more work. We had to go back into Chesapeake too. Two smoke detectors. Also making changes to the dining hall. The middle section will shrink down where the pizza used to be is where the deserts will be. Given all the work we will be doing over the summer we can’t do the balcony and stair replacement in terrace. Will do plan B: paint and carpet and get new mattresses. We need to go back to patomic and west hill.
All this past summer the residence halls got wireless Internet access?
Katie: No, that’s actually happening this summer. Patomic, patapsco and sus don’t have it. The apartments are really hard because there’s no room to put heading room. It’s three times expensive. We are trying to come up with a plan.
We are increasing the rates for the rooms. I know students who need to reside need to pay no matter what. If students are not going to be here in 2011, I can understand students feeling a certain way.
Well space it out so that the residential hall areas are paying event if we are actually renovating the apartments.
Housing selection:
Walker deadline passed.
We actually allowed more academic leases this year which is new and all summer school students will live in Walker this summer.
Deadline is March 31st if you want to live on campus.
Squatting – pull someone in. It’s my philosophy that people who want to live together should stay together. If you’re in Erickson or Harbor or anywhere can pull in a room. And in an apartment, you can pull in your whole apartment.
Most credits gets to squat
Commuter student have the least amounts of preference.
Toby: questions about the commuters. How about hose in residential area?
Katie: They are down at the bottom of the list. But they could have appealed.
Katie I welcome your comments.
V. Open Discussion
A. Review of past week
Rahilla: Last week I was at RSA meeting and they had their elections coming up. They have dogapalloza coming up. And NRHH is doing thing where them make paper cranes. Each community will try to make 1000
VI. New Business
I. SL23-0809 – Amendment to the Election Board Policy
Amendment to SGA election policy
Katie what we were wondering about: there was a GPA requirement to run for office. This makes it difficult of someone who is first semester transfer. We wanted to get some clarification form you guys about what you thing about handling that situation. I dint want to discourage anyone from running. I think that having a perspective of coming from somewhere else right away is good.
Toby so this will be in effect for first semester transfer students in the spring, not the fall?
Katie: Yes
Amber how did you guys come up with this solution?
Katie: how we would calculate GPA was based off of what the registrar does. We looked into social works department. We just felt really strongly that someone who wants to get involved shouldn’t be prevented from doing so just because it’s the first semester. It would be great if this could be in place for the future.
James: the thought behind this being in the constitution was that we don’t want people to be coming to campus and not really know hat the issues are on campus and seeking those positions because they are the higher-up ranks. Do you think that is something that is important? Because for president, vp and vp of student orgs, is it something that someone form an outside school would have a good perspective on?
Katie: the way that it currently reads was the fact that that was stated for those positions only meant that the person who originally created it had that thought in mind. We know how they felt about that, but this part was a little more ambiguous.
Toby: this second clause only applied to vp president ad vp of student ors
Katie: it applies to anyone but those three.
Yasmin: I think this is really great I think we saw this past fall we saw something in the constitution that there were no steps or clarity about what to do when that situation arises. This really clarifies the situation for future students.
Jen move to approve
Amber second
Members for: 9, Opposed: 0, Abstaining: 1 Absent: 1
II. SL21-0809 - SGA Approval of FY 2010 TRW Budget
Jen moves to vote Brian second
Members for: 7, Opposed: 0, Abstaining: 1, Absent: 2
III. SL22-0809 - SGA Approval of FY 2010 SEB Budget
Toby: We are not going to discuss any more?
Rahilla: You can if you want to
Toby: In a way I wanted to say that the SEB quadmainia, it only caters to small amount of students. Probably because of funding and space.
Amber: That a legit concern but they do a get a different artist ever year. I think that one way, maybe SGA representatives looking on how we can advertise to students to be a part of that section process
Jen: SEB member are also students I think having SGA members sitting in on meetings won’t change anything. They work for moths and moths. UC ballroom only holds 400 people anyway.
Rahilla: Did we want a more detailed budget? She did not get back to me on that?
Yes
Rahilla we will table this then
Tabled
IV. JL09-0809 - Approval of SGA Budget for FY 2010
I did include a change from Josh about moving leadershape out of co-sponsorship.
We meant to take out advertisement for TRW. We took that down to 4000. The other thing I did was add 10000 to student orgs pot. We are pushing for student activity fee. By taking away the 6000 from adverting we can Still kept it below the red with the taking away the advertisement. If the student activity fee doesn’t pass will be 17000 in the red instead of 15000. I'm not totally warred about us spending a complete amount of 16000. I have a copy of the budget those were thon only things that changed
Paula: we talked about that little note getting added to the student org advocates.
Yasmin: We had that discussion on Friday; that will be up to the next treasurer and vice president. I would rather see it go into the exec fund then the president or treasurer get to given out as stipends. Paula raised a good point that money was put there to be working with student orgs and she asked to put in the budget that the money goes there. Honesty it was really late in the game for me. I don’t think I wasn’t ready to make hat step. We plan it but it’s all up to change.
Paula: The president could go in and remove whatever they wanted. If the present next year or the treasurer next year decided that we want that money to go somewhere else we could end up having removed a resource for student orgs without replacing it. If that is our intention that the money should go there, I think we should indicate it.
Michael: best place for this conversation to go there would be the debates for treasurer and president.
Paula: maybe but we have to pass the amendment to review the senior org advocate position.
Yasmin: I’m really careful about adding things for the first year in the budget. I feel the budget is something that comes over time. I’m just not comfortable putting my name on a budget that says were never tried this out before but we will put money on it.
Jen: I agree. Executive staff do not get paid however it’s up to the VP of studentr orgs if they want to have staff. The VP of students orgs can chose to to have staff. It is something that should be addressed when it comes.
James: I have a question. Isn’t there a line item for executive staff?
Yasmin: We have an executive pot
James: I wouldn’t think the vp for student ors, if they want to higher staff it would come form that pot of money
Brian move to approve
Naina: second
Members for: 9, Opposed: 0, Abstaining: 1, Absent 1
V. JL10-0809 - Additional Funding for Student Organizations
Yasmin: I did work over spring break. We’re not going to spend the 10000. We have 25000 that we’ve allocated and haven’t spent.
We allocate about 140k dollars, So far. At the end of the year, it usually turns out that we get 35k rolled back in our general ledger of student org money that has not been spent. We Wanted to do it month by moth, but the way business services work it doesn’t work that way. I went through during spring break. And so what I found 25k hasn’t been spent. I’m assuming that some of that will get spent. So the expenditure is more ceremonial.
James: last year we allocated more money to student orgs and it was 160k allocated and we spent 110 k this just increases how much we put up for student orgs, but were very unlikely to hit that. This will increase what we can allocate out
Jen: they could go through and reallocate the money that’s already been spent, looks weird on paper, this is just a formality.
Matt: I not getting why you need ceremony
Yasmin: We’ve already allocated it all. In my books money has been allocated. Some of that hasn’t been spent. It looks weird.
Jen: it’s just sitting in their account.
Toby: will your process of allocating money to student ors change?
Yasmin: No our process has changed a bit on what we’ve been giving out money for. I could come back in a week and say we need another 10k.
Chidi: What happens when org gets money allocated to them and they don’t spend it? What happens to it?
Yasmin: They would have to come back. I’ve been trying to be a little less lenient about the reallocations
Michael: would be fair analogy that the senate loans this to the finance board for wiggle room and then goes back into the general ledger
Toby motion to approve, Simi second
Members for: 9, Opposed: 0, Abstaining: 1, Absent: 1
VI. JL11-0809 – Funding for Erickson Field
James: Legislation in front of you is the accumulation of the work that Michael and I have been doing with regards to Erickson field. A lot of the problems with Erickson field involve it not being taken care of properly. Not regularly seeded or aerated. It has been seeded only once this year. What we needed to do was take this field and make it into something sustainable and more appealing. Erickson field was in the maser plan 10 years ago. We are not sure where it is any more.
Plan is an Outside contractor that would take care of the field. Seed and aerate after every major event. Fertilize 3 times a year. Maker sure it gets water. We also have plans for drainage on east side of the filed. We will implement those as we see fit.
Josh: is the 2600 just for the contractor?
James: aeration is a big part of draining.
Simi: is this really something that we should be paying for.
James: its facilities management deal. My reason it’s that we are a primary user and destroyer of the field. Facilities management will not have the have the money to do a plan like this. They are also putting money toward this project. This is just a commitment for one year. I think it’s a necessary
Simi: would there be any restrictions for people using using field
James; if we're paying for it, we set the restrictions on it.
Simi: Just because we don’t like how it looks?
James: Not just how it looks, how it functions as well. You can’t use it when it floods its not a nice field for recreation
Brian: this is a one-year commitment?
James: this amount of money would cover one year. We can look for other places for funding the office of institutional advancement was interested.
Brian: I've only bee here for two years, but it seems like they always try to do things and none of them have worked. This might be t he same way. I don’t know if it’s responsible. We're struggling to fund student org events. This could be a commission to look into for the future. We should be lobbing facilities management to take on whole thing. .
James: Even if it is in the master plan is not implemented in a year. It’s going to be like that for years into the future. Maybe only 5 years.
It’s never been implemented in such a fashion where it came together. They only partially fix it.
Josh: I agree in the sense that it is the scar on the campus 26hundred dollars for something that we don know if it works. I’ve seen things where different campus get different student orgs to go do it. For every student org that does that we give them 10 bucks for their student orgs.
Jams; we wanted to do it with volunteer week coming up. With that you have to buy aerating equipment. We were having trouble organizing that especially how many people it really takes. I like the idea. That’s why I wanted to go with the Outside contract proved methods. Their jobs are landscaping they know what their doing.
Chidi: if we do put this money into it, it’s going to be hard to entail that it is taken care of or IF no one walks on it. We would want to maintain it. If feel like it would take a lot more to enforce this.
James: we went people to be using the field.
Amber: I think this is an important project to increase student interaction between different types of people. That doesn’t mean that we can’t spend where we can affordably do so. How many contractors did you get quote form
James: Faculties management too care of that. They have a way to do that.
Jen: I think this is a good project, the price is too low for me, for that little it would have been done by now. I don’t that 26 would have done it
James: we went to have it not just after events but other times of the year
Whitney: I was wondering if a contractor came out and was on sight and if they think it will be successful
James: yea that’s what we were doing. It’s easily aerated there concern is also drainage. We tested a clay drainage system. Want to see what an aerating will do.
Yasmin: I was wondering who you spoke to. There is a facilities management plan to implement something that is 200000. Their next plan is a 500000 pan. I think it would be important to get hold of that plan. I don’t want to see us put money into a field that will be taken over by facilities management later. I would like to see a bit more research into this plan.
James: There is a plan to fill it ion. I did see the master plan. The might be the one you are talking about. I can look ore into that.
Michael: I see no mention of Erickson field.
James we can look into that. That plan will not bb implemented by next year
Josh: I don’t feel like a 2500 band-aid will help. I don’t see how that could possibly do anything thing on a field that big. I don’t feel like any amount of throwing seeds or aerating is going to fix it.
Brian: this is a good project, but in the fiscal times we are in you have to decide where to draw the line. Our priorities should be student life and funding.
James: would you guys be more comfortable voting on this if the contractor came in here and talked to you? I don’t know how to prove that planting and watering grass makes it grow.
Paula: I feel like you guys want James to just through hoops. Brian was right in saying. Our job is to find events for student organizations. There a huge pop of this school that are not represent here. The field is a big part of student life. I’m feeling real inconsistency here. I’m concerned because we’re not representing the needs of campus.
James: I'm cool with bringing in more information.
Brian it’s our job as senators to be responsible with the students’ money.
Move to table the motion
Whitney seconds.
Amber: just because it might not work doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to solve it for students who want it.
Yasmin: my worry is not fiscally. My worry is the number of co-sponsorships we do and then we find out there wasn’t enough info given to facilities management. This happened with the banners. We had these issues with the banners. I’m proud of you guys for really questioning things.
Event tabled.
VII. Project Updates
A. Increased Library Hours (Matt, Simmi, Sunaina, Toby)
Toby: Naina and I met with OCSS has a study place at chick-fil-a. And talked about a study place at chick-fil-a we wanted try to use place after it closed as a study place. We discussed some issues with that. One issue is staff No one staffed the place after 8, security; we would have to rearrange the furniture. Going to talk to OSL to make rue that we can get this to work out. If not we might look at other places.
Jen: It was renovated to be made into a 24hour space
Toby it was
Student: how is going to be set up?
Toby I think right now tables and chairs are ok place to study. Not a lot of rearranging needed.
Toby: meeting tomorrow about extending library hours the week prior to final exams.
B. Reaching out to International Students (Chidi, Rahilla)
Chidi: Other institutes that have large pop of international student have outsource vender, that come and sell different food. Another thing we talked about was getting scholarship for international students. Something to just help students out. We are having a meeting next week with office on institutional advisement, English learning center, the admissions office, career services, etc.
C. Black and Gold Campus Signage (Aditi, Whitney, Jen, Toby)
Whitney: Aditi was saying timeline was pushed back. Still issues with commitment from other people.
Jen: I have been doing advertisement. I not going to put it up until we have money
Toby: black and gold card is going really well. I want whomever the contest winner to be on the card. But he said possibly the winner can be iffy its need committee to approve to.
D. Fees (Jen, Aditi, Chidi, Josh, David)
Fees: we spoke briefly I sent a bunch of requests to business services.
I’m looking into all the mandatory fees. Where exactly is all the money going to? One thing laundry fees, RSA also looking at that, a lot of schools don’t charge for laundry any more. Looking to change contract for laundry provides. Lastly printing. I would like to see some sort to of quota. I’m guessing that’s not going to go very far.
E. Follow-up on Transit Tracker (Simmi, Matt, Amber, Rahilla)
We haven’t met yet.
VIII. Executive/ Ex-officio Reports
James: a lot of meetings with student orgs Michael has been working on constitution generator that will allow student orgs to enter information.
Paula: Gender-neutral housing met. We placed some students in walker. I know that a lot of students were rejected because we had a number of students apply. Asked them to apply to west hill, which is what they are doing. No RAs are going to be allowed to live in gender-neutral housing. We decided RAs apartment to be a safe place.
Michael: election website up.
Gabe: diversity is working on what makes you different thing. We should be happening next Wednesday. Fouad said early move in thing is done. We have UMBC bumper stickers in bookstore now. Prove it has been set for May
Retriever rewards been having issue with website. Push it back until next fall.
Yasmin: had a student activity fee meeting with student leaders were going to start putting flyers up.
Josh:
RSA’s report: dogapalooza coming up. You’ll get more in email. We are sending a delegation to Tucson, Arizona for conference in May. We have been working on paper cranes for children’s hospital. Campus smoking policy, we are planning to meet with facilities management. Facilities management will move designated smoking area to place your not allowed to smoke. RSA exec board is doing nomination. We need more people running. Need pictures of room for 3D virtual tour.
IX. Announcements
Bryan when are we going to be doing the rest of the conformations?
Gabe: next week
Gabe: election time rules for the office: no campaigning, materials in office.
Simi: first year council doing black and gold thing 17 same day as quadmania. For food we would do barbeque or to have ice cream.
Lynne Schaeffer will coming next week. VP of finance
Questions for her ill take them now.
Student activity fee will be talked about with her. She will be one those who says if we get it.
Do your office hours.
X. Roll Call
Aditi and Rahilla absent
XI. Adjournment
8:00pm
XII. Pass the Gavel