Campus Center Room 204
Thursday, November 9, 2006 7:00pm
Members Present: Meg Ambrus, Jillian Flynn, Kamille King, Molly McCadden, Jan Arbaugh,
Adrienne Lee, Margaret MacRae, Ayesha Siddiqui, Michele Chapdelaine, Devin Burke, RaeAnne Butera, Mary Opler, Ali Woodruff, Aliza Leventhal, Shadavia Jones
Members Absent: McKay LeBlanc
I.
II.
Call to Order: Meg
A. Meg called the meeting to order at 7:02pm
Georgia Yuan – General Counsel to the College
A. Judicial Board Procedure
1. Details in JB bylaws that can trip you in making decisions, not entirely clear or
too prescribed
2. Bylaws – need to bring them to a full vote, which takes a very long time
B. Constitutional Review
1. What to think about when reviewing the constitution?
2. How do you define ”undergraduate students”? 15% of students in enrolled in
good standing in which the vote is taken, students on campus, etc.
3. How much of the language is open to interpretation and specific? In this case,
it should be specific
4. Bylaws are uneven – if say that it’s rules and procedures for the SGA, then
how important is it for it to be voted on by the full membership?
5. Maybe the big amendment we make this year is that bylaws don’t have to be
voted on to be changed
a. Maybe have discussions/forums, people can tell you what they think
and not think
b. Would you not trust future cabinets to abuse it?
c. Makes it a little harder – have to be more organized and prepared far
more in advance
d. Bylaws is something where there is no abuse by the cabinet?
e. Vote on constitution but not bylaws?
6. Constitution – good, general
7. Problem is with the bylaws
8. Allow people to petition?
9. Can we trust future members?
10. Clubs don’t have to go through such a process to change bylaws
11. Trustees amend bylaws by a vote among the trustees
a. Bylaws establish that there shall be a committee, must have a certain
number of trustees
b. JB – composition, duties and powers, and then details of how a hearing
is conducted, procedures that the committee has to follow
12. Faculty Grievance Committee
a. What are the rights of the grievant that you want to set in stone and
blessed in a large way so agree on the rights that they have
b. How they communicate, what order things happen in
c. Separated policies – specified that there’s notice, that documents will
be shared, nature of the committee, basis of the grievance
c. Try to keep them broad enough so that the committee can do its work
13. To keep JB in bylaws, outline students’ rights, and put sanctions out there
14. Should put sanctions for AHB as well?
15. Suspending and dismissing a student is a very serious responsibility
16. Grant of power of the SGA
a. Given to us, and can be taken away if it proves unsatisfactory or
impracticable
b. 1981 – historical document when college was young, generalized
discussion that it was a good thing for women to have a government,
didn’t think it would be as set in stone as it has been
17. When does college’s opinion supersede student’s opinion?
a. Trust has to come from SGA that college is not taking something from
you; thinking as an educational matter
18. Self-governance is about the educational experience
19. Review bylaws with an eye to unusual circumstances, what could go wrong,
is there something that we might want to change under certain circumstances and
we don’t have the freedom to do that, catch-all clause that
20. Bylaws give authority to the committees
21. Catch-all that says the board/committee has the power to make decision by
majority or 2/3 vote if they need to
C. House constitutions
1. Template – is it sufficient? Are there some things you want every house to
have, restrictions on what things houses can’t have in their constitutions?
2. Mediation and House judicial boards don’t exist anymore
3. Something you want to say that house constitutions have to be reviewed
periodically? In SGA or HPA bylaws? Standardize.
4. You don’t have a lot of consistency in the whole system
5. Fine line between flexibility and abuse of power
D. JB
1. Georgia is a proponent of taking a lot of the procedures out of the bylaws
can react to changes in a quickly moving world
2. Committee on Bias Complaints
a. Meeting with faculty later this month on what procedure they want to
follow
3. Fear that Ad hoc committee on party policy’s work would turn into a speech
code
4. Faculty committee – have different people month to month, so lose some of
the productivity at each meeting
E. SGA
1. Too general v. too specific
a. Bylaws in general don’t need to be voted on?
2. Voting among students would be an uninformed vote
2
IV.
V.
a. Not educational, or mavericks (people who decide to get their name out
their by opposing out)
3. At Georgia’s previous institution, faculty made the bylaws (?), and students sat
on the committees
Nicole Martinez/ New EnA Chair
A. Junior, Wilson House
B. Planning on reviewing and updating the guidelines
1. Need to make procedural changes
Committee Updates – All
A. Margaret
1. Not hell because of midterms
B. Ayesha
1. New treasurer
C. Shadavia
1. Had a class cabinet meeting – got to know each other, set up concrete meeting
dates in her house, talking about events and things they want to do
2. Holidays – gifts: hoodie templates through treasurer’s dad’s connections
D. Michele
1. Social life and thus cases have picked up
E. Devin
1. Spent $4000 of discretionary fund, but don’t know how much
2. World Music Day is this Saturday, 8pm JMG, workshops in the afternoon
F. Molly
1. Quadstock – preliminary planning
2. Green Street – Frat Block Party
3. Quadi-gras
Cars/floats going around the quad, King/Scales or Comstock/Wilder party
4. Tom Logner talked about technology in the houses
G. Kamille
1. Want every house to have a diversity rep
2. Collaborations
3. Met with administration this morning to promote dialog on campus about
provocative things, and trying to hold more faculty panels and open forums,
intergroup dialog session started yesterday (24 people)
H. Jan
1. Money from discretionary fund did not transfer
I. McKay
1. Got a job, and making more money than Jan
2. Scott will talk about outdoors program
3. CAP – free drop: used to be able to drop until last day of classes, grading
options S/U deadline (against this – transcript management)
4. Should there be a sanction for and AHB sanction that would affect Latin
Honors and departmental honors?
5. ASPECTS going up soon, mandatory course critiques soon – comments are
read by the departments
J. Ali
3
1.
2.
3.
4.
Care package letters will go out soon
Alumnae House lunch
Hundred Day party planning (9 February)
Tea at President’s House tomorrow
K. Jill
VI.
VII.
VIII.
1. Wine and Cheese party reschedule for next week because there were a lot of
departmental meetings last night, faculty couldn’t come
2. Potential party
L. Mary
1. Sharon gave her an awesome pair of pants
2. Getting disillusioned with Senate because no initiative, chairs don’t think big
enough
3. Senate Spirit committee and Cabinet liaison committee are doing well
4. Senate weekend thing to do activities together, how to set goals properly,
workshops, help find leadership style
5. Okay to lead them toward projects and facilitating
M. Aliza
1. Met twice during lunches
2. Send out care package things on Wednesday, have stuff in the week after
thanksgiving, and distribute on 11 Dec
3. Study abroad panel discussion with juniors who stayed and seniors who came
back (5 Dec 7pm in Graham Hall)
4. Reading period – hot tubs possibly
College Updates
A. Met with President Christ and with Dean Mahoney
1. Pub idea – experimental one at the beginning of next semester
2. C. Christ liked the fireside chats at Barnard, perhaps starting next semester
3. Vetoed the idea of large scale parties in exchange for the pub, because students
go to hospitals at other schools, but Mt. Holyoke has success in this, so will meet
with their Dean
4. Longer Campus Center hours – maybe next year (1 or 2am)
5. Café is part of Dining Services and thus related to unions
6. Smith uses Campus Center a lot (Wellesley doesn’t so much because it’s only
a couple of years old)
B. Cabinet bonding activity
1. Saturday – Rec Council movie, go downtown or to someone’s room; 18th
Seven Sisters Discussion
A. Food, Invitations/ Contact people, schedule, sleeping arrangements, round table
discussions, gift updates, press, group expectations for conference
1. Recorded separately, sent as e-mail attachment
Motion to Adjourn
A. Meg adjourned the meeting a little before 10:00pm
4