STUDENT ACTIVITY FEE BOARD MEETING
Friday, November 9, 2012
3:30 p.m. 111 HUB
Minutes
Attendance:
Board Members:
Andrea Dowhower, Asst. VP for Student Affairs
Rebecca Pennington, Director of Student Affairs, Penn State DuBois
Ron McCarty, Faculty Senate Committee on Student Life, Penn State Erie via polycom
Mary Edgington, Senior Director, Union and Student Activities
Tracy Garnick, Director of Student Services and Engagement, Penn State Hazelton via polycom
Ben Clark, CCSG President
Ryan Steele, CCSG Representative, Penn State Abington
Larry Wesner, CSG Representative, Penn State Berks
John Shaffer, CCSG Representative, Penn State Mont Alto
Jesse Scott, UPAC Chair
Courtney Lennartz, UPUA President
Spencer Malloy, UPUA Representative
Wanika Fisher, GSA President
Welcome/Roll Call
Roll call was taken.
Adoption of the Agenda
A motion to accept the agenda was made by Ryan Steele and seconded by Wanika Fisher. All
were in favor.
Adoption of the Minutes
A motion to approve the minutes from October 12, 2012 was made by Ben Clark and seconded
by Mary Edgington. All were in favor.
Announcements by the Chair
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York Appeal - Andrea shared that at the last meeting she mentioned that this board
normally does not have appeals but after the last meeting we received an appeal from the
York Campus. A small committee was created and the appeal was reviewed. Thanks to
those that reviewed this.
Board Member Role – At the last meeting, it was shared that you, as a member of this
board, should take the information from these meetings and discuss with your
constituents. In addition, however, you represent the larger institutional and student
interest. Despite issues that may not impact or pertain directly to your constituency, you
have an obligation to the SAFB to actively participate in the discussion and the vote.
Public Comment (10 – 15 minutes)
There were no comments.
Items to be discussed
There were none at this time.
Items for introduction and initial discussion only
Show Cause Budgets from GSA and UPUA
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Andrea shared that these are normally given to the board and reviewed at the first
meeting of the year, but because we did not have a September meeting this year, this was
backed up for one month. The show cause budgets were attached to the email with the
agenda sent prior to the meeting. The floor was opened for discussion.
Wanika shared that there was very little leftover money in GSA’s budget. This will
greatly reduce the amount of cosponsoring that GSA will be able to do. UPAC will get
more requests because of this.
Mary asked Wanika about the food expenses for GSA. Wanika stated that food is ordered
for their meetings because of the time the meeting is held. It is done to help promote
attendance at the meetings and more participation.
Wanika stated that it is the desire of GSA to hold each of their committees to be more
fiscally responsible.
Jesse asked about the two blood drives listed in the projected budget: the MSU Blood
Drive and the Spring Blood Drive. Both have money designated for the purchase of food.
Wanika shared that these both are tentative, and that they will most likely not be doing
both drives. They have created a THON committee as well.
Wanika shared that there is one event not listed on the budget – a Graduate Student and
Professional Baby Shower. They are looking to get corporate sponsors for this.
Jesse asked for clarification on the THON fundraiser. Wanika shared that GSA was going
to do a bracelet sale and also a male calendar. Mary asked about the male calendar.
Wanika stated that this was to be a funny calendar and will not be subjective. Jesse
reminded the board that SAF funds could not be used for any type of fundraising.
Wanika will go back and make a change to this to guarantee that the funds are not used
for purchasing fundraising items or to do fundraising.
Spencer stated that UPUA creates legislation to spend money. If an amount needs
changed later, they go back and make that change. He asked if they could generalize
their legislation and line item after the fact, and it was decided that yes, this could be
done as long as the money is spent according to SAF guidelines.
COMMITTEES –
CCSG Funding – Ben Clark gave an update that the committee met, and that there was a
great turn out to discuss the CCSG funding topic. CCSG will come up with a couple of
proposals to bring back to this subcommittee. They are discussing three different funding sources
– UP SAF, administrative/general funds, and the Commonwealth Campus contribution. The
problem being discussed is that lump sum funding from the campuses was approved and has
been in the handbook for several years, but the policy hasn’t been followed. This group needs to
recommend that it be removed from the handbook or that the handbook is followed. This group
needs to talk to the campus presidents and let them know that CCSG needs to be funded in some
way. Rebecca asked why this was put in the handbook and not followed. Andrea stated that it
was approved by the board and the DSA’s strongly opposed it and the VP continued to fund
without a manual change.
Appeals Process - Jay will have new documents to the board for approval in January.
The committee is still working on improving this process. The committee has asked for
feedback and to date, only one board member has responded. Thanks, Mary, for your comments.
Use of SAF funds by students who do not contribute to SAF – The committee needs
to determine some basic information from all the campuses. They are looking to create a list of
questions to be sent to each of the campuses to answer and send back. This will help give the
committee a better understanding of which campuses have this issue and which do not. Most of
the requests seem to be linked to travel requests. A question was raised if someone is checking
the students’ status and whether they are paying the feet. Recently, UPAC began to check
student status.
SAF Membership – Spencer Malloy shared his concern regarding the SAF Board
membership. He has shared the concern with Andrea and Mary about the voting status of the
UPAC chair on the SAF Board. Spencer felt this conversation should go to a subcommittee
discussion. He shared some historical data with the group. He stated that this is not a personal
issue but has to do with philosophical issues. Ryan asked if he felt that the UPAC member’s
decisions adversely affected the board. Spencer stated that he felt there was a lack of separation
between the two organizations and that there is the potential for a conflict of interest. Ben stated
that this is a whole membership issue and not just with the UPAC chair. This is a student board
not an administrative board.
Jesse stated that he makes well informed decisions. The UPAC chair is the only allocator from
UP on the board. He provides a neutral opinion and that his position is very valuable.
Extensive discussion ensued.
Andrea stated that the projects we have in front of us are extensive. She also stated that the board
has many conflicts of interest. She reminded the board that it reviewed lump sum funding for
two organizations, and many who reviewed this are members of the groups who received lump
sum funding.
A motion was made by Spencer Malloy to create a subcommittee to review the membership of
the SAF board representatives. A second was made by Courtney Lennartz.
Ben asked if this board needed another subcommittee right now with the others that are ongoing.
Ryan asked for a call of abstention.
Spencer stated that at the CCSG subcommittee meeting that the groups’ discussion went in
circles. He questioned whether the board is putting their time in the right place.
Jesse stated that from the onset of the first board meeting, he had a concern that this board had
too much to do this year. He is uncomfortable with their ability to get everything accomplished
this year, and adding another subcommittee adds more work.
Vote called.
Courtney
Jesse
Tracy
Rebecca
Mary
Ron
Ben
Ryan
John
Larry
Wanika
Spencer
Y
N
abstain
N
Y
N
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
6 Y 5 N 1 abstention
Ryan recommended that the chair of this board hold off on scheduling a meeting at this point.
A motion was made by Jesse to have this subcommittee not meet until after the SAF level has
been voted on for 2013/2014. A second was made by Larry.
More discussion ensued after Courtney asked why this subcommittee should wait.
John made a friendly amendment to the motion on the table. The amendment was that the
committee should hold off on meeting until the fee level is set AND the work of one current
subcommittee is complete. A second was made by Larry.
A roll call vote was taken.
Ben
Ron
John
Tracy
Rebecca
Wanika
Jesse
Mary
Larry
Ryan
Courtney
Spencer
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
N
3N
9Y
Initial Discussion on Fee Level –
The current fee levels are $85 (14 at this level), $82 (5 campuses at this level), $78
(Worthington/Scranton). UP campus, $3 is for Legal Services.
Andrea shared that Jesse has embarked on a confusing endeavor to graph the SAF from its
inception to now to show the increase levels. He has shared this spreadsheet with all members of
the board. Jesse stated that the handbook states that the board is to approve only an increase over
the inflationary increase. While there have been large jumps at times, the board has kept with
the CPI since 2010. An increase of $2 per level will keep with the current CPI projection for this
year. One jump in SAF was during the building of the new health center.
Andrea stated that the conversation of increasing the fee level, collapsing the levels and CCSG
funding are all interrelated.
Mary asked for a projection of what will be used for the SAF funds for this year. Jesse will
gather the information and provide it to the board. Wanika asked for the same from the
campuses. It was shared that many of the campuses use all the money very quickly. Rebecca
shared that Dubios is over allocated by $10,000. It is tough to project what allocations will be
used and which won’t be.
Andrea asked to gather information on how many clubs by year to compare each year’s fees
based on clubs.
Andrea asked the board what information they would like to make an informed decision.
Spencer asked for a date when campuses feel they will run out of SAF. Ryan stated that students
don’t want to pay more but they want awesome stuff on campus. This involves a cost and most
students don’t understand the cost involved in having awesome stuff on campus that is either
very reduced or free. Ben stated that CCSG will be discussing the lump sum funding and that
they highly recommend that the DSA’s talk to their campuses about this and the impact.
Andrea told everyone that they will vote on a fee for 2013/2014 in January.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jesse and a second by Ryan.
Next meeting will be held December 7th at 3:30 p.m. in 111 HUB.
A motion was made by Wanika Fisher to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Jesse Scott.