Student Government Association

I. Call to order

5:34pm

II. Roll Call
All members present except for Chidi
III. Approval of Minutes

IV. Special Guests – Yvette Mozie-Ross and Dr. Rutledge

Dr. Diane Lee: What has just been passed around to you is a sheet on the positives and negatives about making a change. We wanted you to see the arguments. There has been a presentation to the council of deans who said this might be a good way to proceed. We wanted to come to the SGA to hear your voice.

We currently have a drop date that is much later that what most institutions have. The suggestion was to have our drop date conform to the graduate school policy. There will be a push to have the grad and undergrad programs in synch.

Next we will go to the faculty senate and undergraduate program directors. These are faculty from every department who come and talk about their issues. We wanted to see if there was anything we did not consider.

Yvette Mozie-Ross : federal guidelines require that we facilitate inventory of where students stand on their enrollment status after the institutions freeze day. The problem with our drop deadline is that its 10 beyond the freeze day. It currently requires we go back and look at the drop date to make adjustments. The issue that I'm closest to is the co use demand issue (on the hand out). I want to make sure there are sufficient courses for allowing students to progress in a timely manner. It’s hard to justify adding another course when many students will drop anyhow.

Toby: I think two weeks is two short to get a tutor etc. Having the drop date so close might encourage students to drop before they try it.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: You still have a lot of time to drop the course. This discussion regards the date to drop without a W.

Amber: A later date to drop the class allows students the opportunity to do well in a course and to make sure they are taking into account all the different factors and trying everything. Students are not taking advantage of the system they are able to make choices that will impact them in a positive way. Having students rush their decisions is dangerous especially at a university like UMBC. What exactly is our biggest argument for this policy?

Yvette Mozie-Ross: Students are confused about this. It’s a lot of dates to keep in mind.

I think that for students – part of what takes the degree time to be so long is that students are trying out courses. Your doing work for more classes instead of focusing on the ones your going to keep.

Amber: If the add date not change, why does the drop date have to?

The W motivates students. This cause you to make a decision earlier, this is better for you because it allows you to focus on the course you have.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: the current drop date is not serving the students well. The last day to add is the 10-day so someone who needs to the class cannot take it.

Jen: moving it to tow weeks aren’t going to change the situation regarding that, but it will hurt a lot of other students who sign up for class and intend to finish it but cant. Most students who enter the class to drop it will do so on the fist day.

David I.: A lot of freshmen want to experience different classes. 2 weeks isn’t really enough to experience a class.

Dr. Rutledge: UMBC is actually out of the norm on our drop date.

Yasmin: How did this conversation come about? How long was this discussed? Where these graduate professors talking about this?

Yvette Mozie-Ross: it stated in enrollment management. And then we went to the deans to present. They encouraged us to come talk with you.

Yasmin: what were the reasons for that.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: what you see as the positives was what spurred that conversation. There are a lot of reasons we want to support that.

Yasmin: has it been looked at to extend the add days. Is there any talk about extension of add dates.

Dr. Lee: they think that it’s too late already. Faculty say student struggle when they are late to add a class and make up the work. My hunch is that many faculty would be opposed to this.

Josh: 4 weeks is out of the norm. Why is that a bad thing? UMBC has a lot of things out of the norm; I think that’s why people come here. You can’t know after tow weeks whether not you can handle it.

Amber: There’s a lot of merit to the arguments being made, and I would agree with most of them. But the purpose of an institution like UMBC is to produce scholars. We want to make things easy on the institutional level. But if there will be a detriment in the quality of the scholars because of something like this happening.

Dr. Rutledge: these are things that will benefit a student. If a student drops below 12 credits they have to pay back financial aid which can be a big burden for students. It’s not a problem for us to change it in the system. You want to drop courses if there is a great need, not as a strategy for going through the semester.

Jen: most of the people who drop the class at a later date have to choose between a low grade and dropping. These people will have to choose between a low grade and a W.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: You’ll notice on the negative side the FTE production will be negatively impacted. We know that this happens to other institutions that have done this.

Jen: the issue will be for students who initially intend to take the class. By the second week it’s hard to tell if you will be able to handle a class for the rest of the semester. If I were a transfer student I would take notice of this. I think if this does happen I think it’s important to make sure students are aware of that.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: I'm sure we'll have some sort of process in place to look at students on a case-by-case basis during the transition period. I think that because this is the way of life here at UMBC we look at this as a chance to “shop around”. This is unique to UMBC. That is the reason we have pre requisites. These should guide you.

Jen: that depends on the professor. Some are completely different.

Dr Lee: one of the things about adding a course last minute is that they will heir a part time professor. This can be detrimental to students if they do not know about how this professor teaches. Students struggle the most in those courses.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: we ran the number and if we move in this direction there will be substantial FTEs (full time equivalency) drop. We feel the benefits outweigh the costs.

Simmi: Part of what I like about being and inter disciplinary major is taking classes that are different. We are also known for the liberal education here. Is there anyway to open up the add date for an extra week? I think its possible for students to do well in a class after the 10th day. Do you think its possible to extend the add date?

Yvette Mozie-Ross: I don’t think we would do a service by changing the add date.

Josh: This would increase the seats per class. UMBC has large classes as it is. I don’t think big classes would be good. Capacity is too much.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: people who didn’t get in the class might not feel the same way.

Jen: I don’t really feel like students would want this. We want to encourage students to stay in classes and explore. I think that’s what makes us different from other schools.

Amber: as a senator sitting here I have to represent the student body. I can’t fathom students being for this. Jen is right, we shouldn’t conform ourselves just to be like other universities. We should be leaders in that respect. Chances are if students are in the course by the 4th week they will need it for something. This policy would make student chose between a W and an F in the first two week. You should consider the increases in lower grades.

Part of this might be an issue with the instructors. They should make sure students have a better understanding to of what is needed in the class.

Brian: do you have any feedback from other schools? As students does this 4-week drop date make us less competitive then other schools?

Yvette Mozie-Ross: no. 4 weeks is a lot of time to be in a course with no indication that students were actually in a course.

Jen: in a lot of classes you don’t get to the course material by the 3rd class. We need to address the issue of professors not giving enough information for students to know if they need to drop the class. Students will have nothing to base the decision on.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: part of the textbook policy was to get students the information about the class early enough to start making these decisions.

Naina: at other university I have heard of class dropping days. Where people can explore classes. Also I don’t know if you guys have considered classes that only meet once a week. Two classes are not enough. Maybe you could consider 3 weeks to drop a class instead of 2 weeks.

Rahilla: I'm curious about how the FTEs actually affect the system.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: when we looked at how many students drop between the 11th and 20th day. This number equated to about 107 FTEs.

Dr. Rutledge: The state provides money per FTE student. The more FTEs we have the more money goes to the university. The state doesn’t consider you FTE until you have 15 credits. Some students aren’t taking a full lode because they couldn’t get into a class.

Yasmin: Some classes do a two-day absence policy. If you don’t come to two classes they you get dropped. This might help open up seats. My concern in this policy is the freshman. This would determent them.

David I.: I think now with the current financial situation is not the best time to be lowing FTEs and getting less funding from the state.

Dr. Lee: when you have to heir a part time person for a new section is not cost efficient. When I came to UMBC if felt like this should be like a place where student can explore. We have one of the poorest recodes on the state for 4-year graduation. Our culture has promoted exploratory learning. One of the outcomes of this is the late 4-year graduation date. Even our 6-year rate is among the lowest in the state. I think the point about holding faculty very responsive for this. We should do a much better job of having these things online. We tell faculty to spend time explain the syllabus.

Dr. Rutledge: we have discussed the FTD issue with the state so they know about it.

Dr. Lee: Regarding transfer students. One of our most common criticisms is that we cannot get transfer students the courses they need. Course availability is a big issue.

David I.: my concern is the website saying that the drop date was at 2 weeks

Yvette Mozie-Ross: we didn’t know they had changed this. It could be a technical issue. It’s easy to set it up so you could implement it. It hadn’t actually been changed.

Amber: I hope when this issue is presented to the faculty senate, you will bring up our issues. I would be a lot more comfortable with this if I knew w hat other solutions were discussion this you end. What other options do you have? Were these things discussed?

Yvette Mozie-Ross: honestly I'm not sure what other options we listed. The three weeks would not be an option. We wanted to align it to the schedule adjustment, which was 2 weeks. You cant extend the add date.

Amber: would it be possible to have more discussions in the future for other solutions? I would like to see more long-term conversions.

Josh: I'm getting the impression that you guys aren’t here to take input. I feel like this is a done deal for you.

Yvette Mozie-Ross: this is not the case because we haven’t talked to all the people we need to. We haven’t had a discussion with the faculty senate. We are in the midst of implement a new student information system. I don’t know why that showed up on the website. The only people who can see this are the consultants. I’m guessing they set up the back end because they know these conversations were happening.

Joe: how long has this been an issue?
Yvette Mozie-Ross: the conerns have been going on for years.

Joe: I feel as a transfer student this just sort of came out of nowhere. I thought it was nice to have the 20 days.

Dr. Lee: we’ve actually had a person for the first time that has been looking at academic policies. That is why this seems out of the blue. There are more committees working on this now. As we go forward there’s no reason why we couldn’t share this portion of the minutes. You will capture the words and the issues brought up here. You would know for sure threat we were trying to represent what was said here. I would bring forth this section of the minutes. I can invite persons to come to undergraduate program directors because I chair that. I would let you send some representatives to come.

V. Open Discussion

A. Review of past week
Transcript fees – Could look into discounts for students with financial aid. Agreement to research it and then bring it up to the USM.

Brian: USMSC met yesterday. There was a long discussion about whether or not to allow for shadow reps in the constitution and we're going to vote on it next week.

Whitney: Emailed about the academic standing issue. I reviewed the proposal and will pass it around so you guys can look at it.

Gabe: steering committee had two presentations. One final about legislation tuition freeze passed. No pay increase for anyone on famous also a small cut to UMBC. Also talked about the textbook legislation pass. Also did a presentation on housing and parking. Issue with parking about weather or not to build garage or to make current parking more efficient.

Rahilla: RSA’s meeting had Chartwells talking about their plans for next year. Dogapallooza is April 25

B. proveIt! Updates

VI. Project Updates
A. Increased Library Hours (Matt, Simmi, Sunaina, Toby)

Naina: Were just working on publicity. Were hoping to do stuff with stress free zone.

B. Reaching out to International Students (Chidi, Rahilla)

Rahilla: I sent out a couple of emails, will keep you guys posted.

C. Black and Gold Campus Signage (Aditi, Whitney, Jen, Toby)

Aditi: I got a couple of signs. I’ll get back to you with that. I’m meeting with Dr. Hrabowski next week to see about financial issues. I’m determined to get the remaining money.

D. Follow-up on Transit Tracker (Simmi, Matt, Amber, Rahilla)

Rahilla: We couldn’t get all of the details on the contract. It changed. They made a lot of improvements. They did carry out a lot of advertisement but funds were a bit of a problem. They had a whole campaign package and everything. Planning on putting up LCD but funding is an issue. Might wait till master plan is complete before putting in LCD.
VII. New Business
VIII. Executive/ Ex-officio Reports
IX. Announcements
X. Roll Call
All members present except for Chidi, Brian and Amber.
XI. Adjournment
7:55pm
XII. Pass the Gavel

roll call: everyone here

Approval of minutes

New Business

Inauguration ( tabassum)
. Last year gave 50,000 to a student who wanted to change the campus
. 22 people submitted their proposals in which 5 people were the finalist
. The project was completed in 1 year
. Last year we worked on the green space ( outside Finearts building)
. Construction starts on May 8th
. The process received a lot of criticism and praise
. Should we reduce the project budget from 50,000 to 30,000
. Helping to narrow the focus now
. We should include faculty in their groups, so they have a faculty advisor
. This will improve involvement with faculty
. Having a problem with the seniors, mostly undergraduate
. Student input on the proposal - committee thought it was the wrong proposal
. Should we expand the selection committee?
. Yasmin: I would suggest not associating a amount currently to it
. Yasmin: You guys did a wonderful job last year
. we have $10,000 in our budgets, to not associate a number with it
. Harsh: something related to campus and unity

AEPi’s ISRAEL (5:40 PM)

. There is actually need to be some adjustments, since the meeting was delayed a week, therefore getting food for the event will be a fundraiser
. The event will take place May 2nd in the game room
. Room was packed last time we had this event and there were over 100 people who showed up.
. need $15 for student marshals
. We are planning to have a Dj who will perform for free
. The food will be Mediterranean and Israelian
. We want to have smoothies at this event
. Paksa is cosponsoring this event
. Silva: Where is this event held? How long will the event be?
. The event is in the Game room from 8-11 PM
. Yasmin: Have you gone to events planning?
. Yes, we need intelligent lighting to make a club atmosphere
. Yasmin: What about the student marshals?
. We need to have student marshals because they require them to be there
. Nikunj: How long is the event? Do you need student marshal during set up?
. We would need student Marshal for 5 hours
. Yasmin: Last time there was no one taking attendance?
. There was a person taking count, and they stopped letting people in once they reached the 70 people limit
. Harsh: What is the capacity for the game room?
. 200 people with the Marshal Staff
. Erica: OSL doesn’t enforce the policies, its events planning
. Yasmin: With 2 marshals, can you have 125 students or 200 students?
. With 2 students marshals it would be 200 students
. Yasmin: What is the educational purpose of this event?
. We would have a lot of paper publications to teach diversity
. Emily: Can you elaborate on the decoration?
. Blue streamers, blow up stuff
. VOTE
. Yasmin: I am really torn, I did go to Purram, but at the same time it is a fraternity
. Last time we only had 12 fraternity people, and the rest were umbc students.
. James: I think its a fine event, but couple of things should be cut down.
. If you do not want us to charge for the drinks, we won’t
. Nikunj: Are we cutting down the hours of the student marshals?
. Yes, they will be there for 5 hours
. Yasmin: Intelligent lighting is $150, it is not necessary for the event to happen. I think we should cut it
. this would make Decorations $25
. Yasmin: Cutting drinks to half?
. James: If it is not a lot that they are charging for the drinks, I think it is alright to charge students for the drinks
. Catherine: How much would you charge for drinks?
. $25 cents to a $1
. total came out to be $490
. vote: 4 representatives, none opposed, none absent

WILL’s Global Women’s Health Action Week ( 5:40 PM)

. this event will be held at mainstreet and commons terrace
. Harsh: What were the changes?
. We changed the commons package which was $200
. Yasmin: 300 quarter sheets (white), 100 color flyers, it will be $70
. total will be $415
. Emily: How many people are you expecting?
. we have a lot of cosponsors, at least 300 through out the week
. Yasmin: Does that say mailing tube? Who are are u mailing the tube?
. We put mail in the tube which is shaped like a tube. We will be mailing it to Dr. Hbrowski. It will be part of local community to have a larger impact. Having people fill out card saying we would like to see that happen
. Harsh: What is Kiddie pool and rubber ducks for?
. Each duck will have a question inside. It is for UMBC campus
. VOTE:
. Yasmin: I think this event sounds really good. It is pretty unique and draws people in.
. Emily: I agree especially when it is on Mainstreet and Commons Terrace
. We have six co-sponsorships, so therefore the event is campus wide
. 4 representatives, none oppose, 1 abstaining, none absent

Delta Sigma Theta’s Financial Fortitude ( 6:00 PM)

. It is part of the May week
. Programs will bring in someone to talk about the economy
. The entire week event is free to UMBC students
. We are asking for food, decorations, and flyers
. We went to commonvision and for the big banner and 250 flyers, it would cost $150
. The other two events are taking place at the Erickson Field
. Yasmin: Are you also advertising through spotlight, LCD?
. Yes, we will be using those as well
. Harsh: Were you talking about the entire May week or just one event?
. The whole May week
. Silva: What is the food for Happy Hour?
. Sometime they have performances
. How many people come to get food at Happy Hour?
. About 30-40 people
. Stephanie: What is the decoration for?
. Baloons
. Stephanie: Are bingo cards part of decorations?
. No
. Silva: Can we cut decorations?
. Catherine: Does decorations include plates?
. Yes
. Yasmin: I feel comfortable with Financial Fortitude, but we should focus on hoe it is restricted funding organization. The Happy Hour cost about $ 450. It might sound really cool, but they are restricted funding organization
. It is a big thing for UMBC students and it will help to educate UMBC students
. Silva: I do not mind the first two, but the Happy Hour
. Yasmin: We did fund OPHi’s food. Also keep it in mind that this is a similar situation
. James: move to cut the decorations
. Yasmin: it is in a room
. Yasmin: I do not feel comfortable funding the refreshments
. Harsh: Are the flyers just to advertise the one event or the whole May week?
. The flyers will contain the entire May week
. Everyone agrees on cutting the refreshments from all events
. Yasmin: Can we go one by one
. Cutting refreshments from Financial Fortitude
. decorations are cut as well
. $20 for Financial Fortitude

Delta Sigma Theta’s Bingo

. The bingo will have something informative
. Harsh: Are we ok with the flyer’s and refreshments?
. Silva: It is a fun interactive activity
. cutting $50 for refreshments?
. vote: 2 representatives, 3 oppose, none absent

Delta Sigma Theta’s Cultural Happy Hour

. Stefan: we can cut the food
. Food is the main part of the event
. It is in commons, and It is a big event in commons
. Yasmin: Where is this at commons?
. Mainstreet
. Yasmin: Have you reserved it yet?
. No
- Harsh: Does everyone agree on this event?
. James: I guess I am slightly leaning against, although this event is for everyone
. Harsh: I am concerned about the message
. We are also paying for the speakers and this is the biggest event of the week
. Yasmin: Object to voting, I would be more comfortable voting If I knew more information. AEPi’s came to us with the same problem. I do not feel comfortable voting for it yet. I would like to table it. I do not want to fail something that could be beneficial
. Vote: 4 representatives, none opposed, 1 abstaining, none absent

JSU’s Family Shabbat

. every friday Jewish celebrate Shabbat
. This event will be at the Interfaith Center, from 6-7 PM, and the dinner will be from 7-11 PM
. This event is family shabbat where families are invited in order to promote growth
. We would like to know families by holding this event, the audience will be UMBC students
. JSU is asking for decorations, utensils, and materials
. We are also asking for food which would be for about 100-110 people
. Yasmin: How many will be UMBC students out of the 110?
. 60% will be students
. Harsh: Is the amount 440?
. No, it is $990
. Silva: Will you be charging families?
. Parents $18, and the kids will be $12
. Harsh: Is it free for UMBC students?
. yes
. Emily: I think it is a bit much for 90 students
. The food is Kosher and that is the reason it cost a lot. This is the cheapest caterer I could found
. Silva: I think it is a great event, but it is a lot of money
. You funded one of my Shabbat’s before but you took 2 away
. Catherine: It is not enough UMBC students, and also they are charging parents $18.
. It is open to all UMBC students
. Harsh: What else happens at the event?
. speeches, prayers
. Harsh: I wouldn’t mind UMBC students paying for the food If they wanted
. Catherine: I wouldn’t mind cutting the food
. Yasmin: There are a good number of people who go to this event. Students to go this event will benefit from it. I would like to fund the event partially
. Emily: How many people came to Topsy Turvy Shabbat?
. I do not know
. Yasmin: I would say $500
. Catherine: I like $500
. Vote: 4 representatives, none oppose, 1 abstaining, none absent

Cleftomaniac’s Acapotluck ( 6:30 PM)

. It is a cookout to attract more people
. The event will be at Commons Terrace
. It is an outdoor Concert
. We are asking for food, money for balloons, and utensils
. Stephanie: How many people are you expecting?
. Do not know. It would vary
. Yasmin: How necessary are decorations for the event?
. Not completely necessary
. Yasmin: How will you be advertising?
. Free printing from Honors college, facebook
. Yasmin: My only concern was decorations
. Silva: Decoration is necessary because it will draw attention
. Yasmin: Cleftomaniac will draw people even if they do not have decorations
. Taking out decorations $200
. Vote: 4 representatives, none opposed, 1 abstaining, none absent

TSA’s Nightmarket Additional

. written description
. Want to have a joint event
. Want to make it bigger this year
. $ 350 for food, $150 for decorations
. The event will be on commons terrace, 8-9 tables with food and games
. Silva: What time is the event?
. The event will be from 5-10 PM
. Silva: What kind of decorations?
. lights ( Asian), not sure yet
. Catherine: How many people will be attending?
. 200
. Yasmin: When is the event?
. It is next thursday, but we are having an Asian forum on wednesday before the event
. Yasmin: $ 150 is a lot of money for decorations
. We added tables and chairs with the decorations
. Catherine: I do not think we need $ 150 for decorations
. Yasmin: They should use paper lanterns
. Total is $425
. Vote: 4 representatives, none opposed, 1 abstaining, none absent

Written descriptions

Erickson COM’s Professor of the year

. Presenting one faculty Professor of the Year award
. Yasmin: It is wonderful, but we do not fund gifts
. Vote: 4 oppose, 1 abstaining, none absent

Erickson COM’s Executive Board Transition

. Passing down notes to the next generation
. They need 8 GB memory stick ( from the bookstore) which will cost $29.99
. Yasmin: OSL does have someone who can do this
. Vote: 4 oppose, 1 abstaining, none absent

Craft Club’s Blanket Races

. Craft club will hold a Blanket Race event from 4/20-4/24 holding knitting, crocheting, and scrap quilting races
. The event will be at commons from 12-1 PM and 3-4 PM monday through thursday
. This is there first year holding this event
. The money will go towards supplies, needles, hooks, blocking wires, and stitch dictionaries
. Yasmin: They changed their date from 27th-30th
. Yasmin: I like everything, but the dictionaries
. Silva: What will the dictionaries be for?
. Maybe prizes
. Yasmin: I think they are kind of pricey
. Vote: 4 representatives, none absent, none oppose, 1 abstaining

Erickson School of Aging Majors Ecofest Table

. need money for poster board, pictures, food and decorations
. total is $30
. Yasmin: move to vote
. Vote: 4 representatives, 0 oppose, none oppose, 1 abstaining

Christine’s Announcement

. Student inauguration
. Nominating people from the finance board, and they have to be finance board members

Roll call
Every one here that was here before

Adjourn at 7:15 PM

I. Call to order

5: 37pm

II. Roll Call
All members present expect for Amber and Chidi
III. Approval of Minutes
Minutes from last week will be approved next week.

IV. Open Discussion

A. Review of past week

Whitney: emailed Mr. Mozie-Ross she hasn’t responded yet. I was Just asking genera questions about transcript fee costs. The campus-dining hall met. We went over the names for the dining hall. I’m going to pass them around for you guys to help me narrow it down. Looking at something to replace Gelatto's. Might serve milkshakes and smoothies there. They are looking to add veggie burgers to the grill in the dining hall.

Rahilla: Dr. Diane Lee did respond to me and she said she would bring up our issues at the faculty senate meeting.

Sunaina: was someone going to draft a pro and con list?

Yasmin: I thought we were going to send students as representatives.

V. Project Updates
A. Increased Library Hours (Matt, Simmi, Sunaina, Toby)

Sunaina: We are coming up with flyers design. Academic row has some signs that show extended library hours. We requested a spotlight. If we can prove that students utilize this, the administrators can be convinced that we need this in the future.

Jen: the library keeps data like this normally so we will have something to look at.
Sunaina: they have a team going to get this date

B. Reaching out to International Students (Chidi, Rahilla)

I went to the library to find about the cards issue. They used to see them on campus. I have been contacting people about getting hem back.
Paula: students taking English language classes don’t have any representation on campus. We could be thinking about was to engage them.

C. Black and Gold Campus Signage (Aditi, Whitney, Jen, Toby)

Aditi: tomorrow I have a meeting with Dr. Hrabowsk about funding. I haven’t gotten a chance to meet regarding designs yet, but I can email them out. I would like to see them up for welcome week.

Rahilla: how much do you need?

Aditi: $3,500

David: so what’s going to happen now with the submissions?

Aditi: we were going to look throw them and see which ones would fit the size requirement and the ones that appealed the most.

Yasmin: would it be possible to do a revolving thing? So as we get more money, we can put up more banners.

Aditi: we could try to do that.

D. Follow-up on Transit Tracker (Simmi, Matt, Amber, Rahilla)

Rahilla: we didn’t have a chance to meet last week. Most of our questions have been answered. Right now we are just looking at marketing.

Rahilla: I wanted to talk about project wrap-ups and ensuring that we will get transition materials. Due before May the 15th. Do you all feel that these projects will be done, or will they be ongoing?

Aditi: mine should be done by the summer.

Chidi: I think this will be more of a pilot program. I want to leave enough materials for someone to follow.

Sunaina: What we are doing now will be done by the end of the semester. After that it will just be following up with Larry Wilt and seeing where we can go from there.

Rahilla: There well be some following up over the summer for the transit tracker. Just make sure that people later don’t go back to ask the same questions.

VI. New Business
A. SR11-0809 – Resolution to Recognize the Great Job done by the Election Board for year 2009 elections.

Toby: This is pretty self-explanatory. This is to recognize how hard the election board members have worked.

Whitney: I noted a grammar thing on the first line.

Toby: I was hoping of passing this and framing it to give to Katie.

Aditi moves to approve, Whitney seconds.

Members for: 10, Opposed: 0, Abstaining: 1, Absent: 0

VII. Executive/ Ex-officio Reports
Michael: Did a lot of election stuff

Gabe: I’m fighting a cold right now. The cabinet was preoccupied with the election last week.

Yasmin: We have 600 left this year for finance board. We will be allocating that tomorrow. We have been dealing with Greek life and how we will be funding them.

Paula: I had two meetings this week. I met with Lynne Shafer about the smoking policy and transit concerns. With respect to the smoking policy: she did say that upper admin is intending to move the entire campus to smoke free. She is under the impression that the majority of the campus is for this. She has no input form students yet. Looking into getting data about this. We talked about transit and the downtown line. She did say they are looking to space out the lines so that the busses can run later. I suggested changing the downtown line to include the inner harbor. I also met with Nancy Young to discus the changes in housing policy. She called walker herself to confirm that they are no longer accepting fall aid to cover summer housing. They are not telling students this verbally; there is a line on the form. I’m going to continue to work with her about this issue. I’m meting with Katie Boon this week to go over everything before I make public media statements about it.

Amber: there was an issue with the downtown line. They cut it because it had the least attendance.

Michael: In regard to smoking policy: you might want to look into the large subset of students who some hookah.

Paula: my suspicion is that many students who don’t smoke would not support a full out ban.

Josh: conversations about this usually involve aesthetics. Addressing that would be the easiest way.

David: We have a couple of traditions at the SGA. One of them is that at the being of the fall semester, SGA members fill out a survey. It will be sent to you to be done online.
The second tradition is the SGA generations tome. This is a book that graduation SGA offices have the chance to leave reflections in when they leave. The contents of which are in the action guide.

VIII. Announcements
Josh: some of you may have seen news about the swine flue. I have been working on getting intuitions moving on there emergency preparedness plans.

David: Black and gold award next week at 6. We could just keep meeting brief.

IX. Roll Call
All members present

X. Adjournment
6: 15pm

XI. Pass the Gavel

Call To Order: everyone here

Roll Call

Approval of minutes

Pre-Meeting Discussion

New Business

Written Descriptions

Delta Sigma Alpha Culture Happy Hour

. The event will be on Mainstreet from 4:00-8:00 PM
. Food will be catered from Indian Delight restaurant and Caribbean Restaurant
. We will order the food then pick it up
. other half of the food will be home made
. Expecting 40-50 people to be there
. goal this year is to make the event at a greater scale
. 4 tables and 8 chairs will be needed at the event
. music will be playing in the background
. open floor to more food, talent of the audience, socializing and then cleaning up
. open it up to other greek organizations
. Harsh: When is the event?
. The event will be on May 8th
. Yasmin: How will you be advertising?
. word of mouth, Common-vision ( posters, and flyers), different organizations have been promoting this event
. Yasmin: So is this your greek week?
. It is more community based week which we would called May week
. Emily: How many people will come?
. 40-50 people will come
. Discussion:
. James: we are not intending to go over $600
. Yasmin: we could take it out from the GL expenditure
. cost for the event is $450 and advertising for others
. The club is paying for more than expected to
. James: what would you do, if the event was partially funded?
. the event will happen but on a smaller scale
. Silva: I put this before the Poli Sci, I do not think it is necessary to put food in the discussion
. Catherine: I agree with silva, but it is a restricted funded organization
. Yasmin: it is not necessary that we cover their whole may week and also keep it in mind that this is a restricted funded organization
. Emily: we already funded a lot of Poli Sci events
. Yasmin: we do not have to spend the whole money tonight, it is good to compare the events
. Harsh: we could potentially get some more requests for this semester
. Emily: can we cut down on food
. Harsh: how much would we want to cut down?
. James: Does the Poli Sci event happen without the food, because this event needs money to be successful
. Harsh: What happen If other organizations begin to come to us for their greek week
. James: but this event is open to everyone
. Silva: but it is on Mainstreet
. it event is open to everyone
. it is not advertised as a greek week
. Yasmin: I do not think we could afford this kind of greek events
. James: the policy doesn’t say that we can’t fund this because it is a Greek organization
. Yasmin: this is restricted funded organization
. James: the event is open to everyone, I am doing it based on the benefit that brings to the campus, its a fair game
. Yasmin: I understand what you are saying about the policy, but you also have to look deeper
. Emily: I think it will be a great event since it is on Mainstreet
. James: Who are you targeting through your advertisement?
. everyone because the event is open to everyone, it is kinda like at the end of the year thing
. James: $250 for culture hour
. Vote: 3 rep, 1 oppose, 1 abstaining, none absent

Poli Sci COM’s United States of Africa
. educate students about the ongoing problems in Africa.
. Yasmin: these two are the only ones for this semester
. James: are they still in the negatives
. Yasmin: the account it self is not in debt
. they are fine on our records
. Stephanie: how many people are going to this event?
. There will be about 30-40 people
. Yasmin: would you mind cutting down the food cost
. Emily: Is the food really necessary for this event
. Poli Sci withdraws

Bartleby’s Publications
. Money will go towards the publication fee
. Total amount requested is $350
. Silva: what happen if we do not fund this
. Yasmin: they would not be able to have the event
. James: I would put Bartleby on top, if i had to prioritize
. vote: 4 rep, none oppose, 1 abstaining, none absent

Campus Crusade for Christ’s Family for Freshmen
. laundry bags
. inspirational cook on values and principles
. Total amount requested is $400
. making freshmen feel welcome and connected
. we do not fund gifts
. Emily: I do not think we should fund it
. Stefan: I think they can definitely bring in a lot of people, and I can see it working for them. This semester they have 70 active members, and they have done a lot of fundraising for themselves, I think we should consider it still.
. Silva: I do not think it is necessary
. Yasmin: I think its creative
. Catherine: I think the idea behind is similar to the funding of food
. Stephanie: to me it is like advertisement, it is not open to entire campus
. Harsh: how is it different then funding t-shirts?
. vote: 4 oppose, none rep, 1 abstaining, none absent

Personal and Business Finance Club’s Cashflow 101
. Money will be needed for Cashflow 101 game, shipping of the game, and office supplies
. Total amount requested is $225
. Yasmin: We probably have to ask them about how are they going to be keeping it, have somewhere to store it
. Vote: 4 rep, none absent, 1 abstaining, none absent

Post meeting Discussion
. 2 meetings left for this semester

Roll Call: everyone is here

I. Call to order

5:33pm

II. Roll Call
Chidi and Aditi absent, Simmi late @ 5: 37pm

III. Approval of Minutes

Minutes will be approved next week.

IV. Special Guest – Dr. Larry Wilt, Director of the Library

Larry Wilt: There are four things I would like to go other with you.

First, the issues of quite in the library. There was a lot of about this on the UMBC underground. There is a need for quite study and group study in the library. We try to accommodate both by designating different floors. We have developed a signage program to help students become more aware of quite areas.

Secondly, the extended hours have gotten good publicity. I am impressed with the way you brought that forward to the campus. Today is the first day we are going to have extended hours. We will have data gathered from that to evaluate the success of this is.

We have been working on a project to repurpose space in the front of the library to a student-learning center with computer equipment and flexible furniture. We engaged an architectural firm to create a concept study. We are finalizing our plans. We will have to get funding support for this. It would take at least a half a million dollars to do this well.

We are having budget pressures on the library. We have had to cancel some subscriptions but I can say we do have some services in place that will make up for the loss of some subscriptions. We can assure you that we will continue to meet undergraduate needs.

I wanted to see if there were other issues I hadn’t covered that you all thought were important.

Amber: I was sitting on the information technology steering comities and I have seen the plans for the changes to the library. I was wondering what source of funding are you looking at for that. Students do want study space available so you will get student support. I was wondering if it would be possible for us to develop a pilot program for this project.

Larry Wilt: We talked about putting in a demonstration space. I had identified money to put to that, we were hoping to do it this spring, but with the uncertainty of the budget it was held off.

Josh Michael: have you thought of putting descriptions for the floor on the elevators.

One of the concerns for that is getting clearance. We have been looking into that.

Josh: just remind them that the commons had some in their elevator.

Michael: There is an issue differentiating between the language on the different floors. For example the difference between “Quite” and “Absolutely Quiet”.

There’s a program to change that. The new sign will be a stop sign: red for total quiet, caution for relatively quiet.

Larry Wilt: we discovered through the UMBC underground that we had some signs taped to tables that were not current, so we took them down.

Amber: I really appreciate you guys checking sources like UMBC underground

V. Open Discussion

A. Review of past week
Sunaina: we went to the library policy committee.

Rahilla: I was at RSA’s last meeting. We voted on resident ids for Walker residence.

Josh: I've been working on some textbook issues that will be important in the next coming year. The administration is looking for some new options. They are exploring a textbook rental program and doing some exploring into open source textbooks.

Gabe: the lowered the number of transcripts to get the discount from 8 to 10

Toby: We had the fee forum

Yasmin: I think we need to start exploring new ways to go about that. There might have been there or four students were there who weren’t in the SGA. Most of our questions were dodged. I know we’ve done it or a couple years, but I think we need to try something new. IT was an awkward setting.

Amber: I think this speaks to a larger issue about SGA visibility. We need students with us supporting us.

Josh: We are locked out of shared governance in this process. Collage Park has a student fee review board which we’ve talked about.
There a couple other things that came out of this. We talked about athletics projects. We should be able to look at priorities on this list. FY 2010 there is a pot of money that will not be used for what it was supposed to be used because the state is not allowing for merit pay that we can tap into.

Amber: Maybe instead of projects we could form comities. The executive board can do projects, but the Senate had a different weight between being elected.

Rahall: Dr. Diane Lee got back to me and said the undergraduate program meeting will be June the 5 this is open to anyone. I have a more detailed version of the minutes that will be sent out.

VI. Project Updates
A. Increased Library Hours (Matt, Simmi, Sunaina, Toby)
B. Reaching out to International Students (Chidi, Rahilla)

Rahilla: Having a meeting may 12 with an official form admission to start forum with international students. The mosaic center will have a forum to inform students.
C. Black and Gold Campus Signage (Aditi, Whitney, Jen, Toby)
Whitney: I think she’s still trying to work out the financial situation.
D. Follow-up on Transit Tracker (Simmi, Matt, Amber, Rahilla)

Amber: We are keeping conversations open and building partnerships with the surrounding community. People want to see more of a collage town. More of a UMBC presence outside the loop and more support form outside business

VII. New Business
VIII. Executive/ Ex-officio Reports
Gabe: The lacrosse game was last Wednesday. There was little SGA support there. Joe is doing the dogs on wheels thing at stress free zone. This group is bringing dogs to campus.

Yasmin: we are having treasurer training this week at wed at noon ad Thursday at 7pm. Check out the website for the new arts and humanities building. It’s worth looking into.

Gabe: there was a big debate on the cabinet meeting about the CPS system in labs (the clickers). They are either doing away with the program or moving to a new company that’s better.

IX. Announcements
Transition materials due. Next week I sour last meeting. The new senate will come in and finish the meeting. Our terms end on the 15th.

X. Roll Call
All members are present except for Chidi and Aditi.
XI. Adjournment
6:18 pm
XII. Pass the Gavel