Student Government Association

SCSU

Student Government Association

Minutes for Friday, September 11, 2009

1. Meeting called to order at: 2:15 p.m. –Willie Garcia
2. Attendance:

a. Representatives at Large: All present.

b. Members: Maggie Lonczewski, Nicole Cassidy, Nick Guido, Chris Rosa, Jeff Clancy, Hoorain Khan, John Eno, Duaah Galal, Faiza Labar, Mary Higgins

1. President’s Report: Willie Garcia

1. Introductions: Officers, board chairs, representatives and advisors were introduced.
2. New member Induction: Brianna Weller will be inducted today, as she was unable to run with the party last year, but has been with SGA throughout the summer.
3. SMART Initiative: Planning for this program began last year; it is collaboration with IT and the Foundations Board, to give recycled computers from the campus to students who show some financial need. On Wednesday, September 16^th, we will be distributing 86 computers to students whose applications were approved.
4. Committee Representatives: UCF committee still needs a representative.

1. Board Reports:

1. BCR: Sharise- The committee is continuing their work to revise the SGA constitution. The board is putting together a packet of information for clubs and organizations. Meetings are Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m.
2. BOF: Mo- An additional line item was added to the budget. $4000 to cover the cost of a sponsoring the annual Hazing Workshop that is mandated for some organizations.
3. BEIM: Katie P. - The board has been working in the new office to establish organization.  Soon each rep will have a binder. There are also binders for email and club minutes. All reps need to ensure that they are helping to keep the office neat and organized. DO NOT at the new computers. Emails should be sent to Katie listing office hours; instructions can be found in the office. The board will be meeting in the small meeting rooms by the resource room, not in the SGA office.
4. BSI: Chuck- Very excited for this year. The first official meeting of the board will be right after this meeting. An immediate issue they are looking into is getting lockers for students in Morrill. The meeting will take place in the SGA office.
5. BPR: Tom- Had a quick meeting today to recap from retreat. Looking into working with the newspaper, as well as branding and putting a face to SGA. The committee is looking to expand its membership. SGA now has facebook fan page and a twitter account, so sign on and follow us!
6. BOCOM: Stefan- Leadership retreat went very well, there will be a survey sent out to students who participated to get some feedback. The club fair also went very well, special thanks to Felicia for helping us put on such a successful event! Clubs seem to have gotten great interest after it. Each member of SGA will be assigned to a cluster which is clubs and organizations broken down by interest. Clusters will meet at least twice a semester. Clusters: Bethany – Media, Leilannie and Brianna – Service with Sal or Anthony, Mo and Matt Earl – Greek Life, Willie, Brian, Phil and Dan – Academic, Jen and Rick – Religious, Sharise and Heather- International, Tom and Ben – Political and advocacy, Chuck and Pat – Performing and Creative arts, Katie and Quinton- club sports. The committee is working with Dawn to makeover the resource room into a space where clubs can gather and do attend to club business. The plan is that hoot loot cards will have to be utilized so that only members of clubs can enter. Other plans include the removal of some computers and comfortable seating and work tables being utilized to create a different atmosphere that is more welcoming. BOCOM meets Tuesdays at 12:30 p.m.
7. Treasures Report: Quinton- SGA continues to sponsor and contribute to many events. Copies of the budget will be available next week. Many things will be changed this year because of the SAFAC.

1. New Business:

1. Retreat Recap: Leila- The summer retreat went very well, it was held in Mystic, CT and really allowed us to sit down together, get on the same page and get ready for the school year.
2. Homecoming: Leila- This week Homecoming will take place from October 12^th to October 17^th. Monday will be a Sleep out for the homeless, Tuesday is the Fairy Tale ball, Wednesday will be a BBQ Feast, Thursday is a Drive in movie- The Hangover, Friday will be the Pep Rally, and Saturday will be the parade, a family brunch and the football game. We need one more SGA representative to serve on the committee, see Leilannie if you are interested.
3. College Night: Ben- The original date was October 2^nd but it has been moved to the 17^th . It is in downtown New Haven on Broadway, there will be two shuttles running.
4. SAFAC: Ben- Student activity fee allocation committee, is new this year, Ben is the chair for this committee, with representatives from IRC, ProCon and SGA. In the past, if students wanted money they would have to go to each organization and ask separately for funds. The first meeting was this week, two things were discussed one was tabled.
5. Friday Night Free For All: Brian- This semester FFFA will be held the first Friday of every month. The first one was last week, Southern Splash and Karaoke in Conn Hall. Next will be Southern Slumber, a party in the student center, after this will be ice skating in Shelton, and in December we will be going to a professional Nets basketball game in New Jersey vs. the Charlotte Bobcats. The meetings for FFFA are Mondays at 2:30 p.m. in the SGA or Procon office.
6. Shuttles: Ben- Willie and Ben and IRC representatives were able to sit down with Chief Pessina, there have been shuttles set up to bring students off campus as freshman do not have cars this year. During the first weekend The Hamden/New Haven route had 23 passengers on Saturday and 13 on Sunday, and the Milford mall route had 58 passengers on Saturday and 23 on Sunday.

1. Announcements and Concerns:

1. Brad Crerar – There is an empty space on the street level of the student center. A student has proposed the idea of having a computer support area for students. Brad would like SGA’s feedback as well as any other ideas that we have for the space. The old ProCon room still also needs a new function, there is consideration of expanding room 326 and making it one big meeting room for students to have a larger meeting space in the student center, other than 201.
2. Denise: September 18^th, Southern will host 180 high school students from Bridgeport and New Haven who are involved in the Gear Up program. We need help from student leaders from 11am- 1pm to lead students tours and eat lunch with them. Please sign up with Willie if you are interested.
3. Willie: The Smart Initiative will take place from 9am-5pm and we also need support and volunteers for this. Sign up with Willie if you can help out.
4. Movie Series: UP! Will be held on September 16^th at 8 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m.
5. Anthony: September 17^th is Constitution Day, it is mandatory from the state that we recognize this as a state university. Need people to help plan an event and get something together for this day! Email ayalaa2@southernct.edu if you are interested.
6. Brianna: There have been parking issues in the Farnham lot; a lot of commuters did not realize that this was a residential parking lot only.
7. Dan: Needs help from BPR to let people know about the handicap resources available. There was an issue in Conn Hall that Dan had difficulty with and spoke to the director of Chartwells to let them know about the issue of not anticipating enough food for students.
8. Mo: The Day of Service will be September 26^th as members we are all expected to be there, we would love everyone to join us! There is a comedy show series this semester, there is a show next Wednesday night, see Mo if you would like to get a free ticket.
9. Board chairs will be meeting next week and then every other week after that.
10. If you are working on something, please let Willie know before hand, so that he can help support you and know about what is going on and speak on behalf of the body.

1. Please attend as many events that you can that are sponsored by SGA! It is important that as SGA reps we are present and check our emails daily!
2. Adjourn: Mo moves to adjourn, Sharise 2^nd.
3. Meeting adjourned 3:16 p.m.