Student Activity Fee Board Meeting
Friday, January 23, 2015
3:30 pm 111 HUB
Minutes
Attendance
Present
Justin Molitoris, UPAC Chair
John Wortman, UPUA Representative (via phone)
Danielle Rhubart, GPSA President
Andrea Dowhower, Asst. VP for Student Affairs
Anand Ganjam, UPUA President
John Shaffer, CCSG President
Devin Heckman, CCSG Representative, SGA President, Penn State Berks
Stacy Wanerman, CCSG Representative, SGA President, Penn State Abington
Patrick Tanner, Director of Student and Enrollment Services, York
Theresa Bonk, Director of Student Affairs, New Kensington
Mary Edgington, Senior Director, Union and Student Activities
Ryan McDermott, CCSG Representative (via phone)
Absent
Rosemarie Owoc, Student Life Committee, Faculty Senate Representative
Welcome/Roll Call
Roll call was taken.
Adoption of the agenda
A motion to accept the agenda was made by John Shaffer and seconded by Justin Molitoris. All
were in favor.
Adoption of the minutes (October 10, 2014)
A motion to accept the October 2014 minutes was made by Mary Edgington and seconded by
Danielle Rhubart. All were in favor.
Adoption of the minutes (November 7, 2014)
A motion to accept the November 2014 minutes was made by Justin Molitoris and seconded by
Anand Ganjam. All were in favor.
Announcements by the Chair
None at this time.
Public comment
None at this time.
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Items to be discussed/voted on
Mid Year Audits –
Melanie Bernier and Jill Leidy stated that everything looked good on the audits. They had good
cooperation from UPUA and GPSA. They had a few questions, but they were addressed and
resolved.
Manual Change Proposal – voting status for student members only
Anand Ganjam stated that a subcommittee met and proposes that this board become a student
voting only board. The staff members would become ex-officio members. The subcommittee
believes that this is a philosophical change that makes sense. John Wortman stated that this is a
step in the right direction for student rights on campus. He thanked the staff members for their
important roles on the board. The proposed verbiage (see attached) was reviewed, and
discussion ensued. Andrea stated that she wants to keep consistency in the manual and so the
proposal also suggests changes to the language regarding the DSA representation on the
committee. Patrick Tanner discussed the proposal of a student voting board with his colleagues,
and there was not a consensus. There were seven that said yes, three that said it is not a good
idea, and two were on the fence. There is a concern that a vote could impact the student activity
administration on the campuses.
Andrea reminded everyone that this board makes recommendations only to the Vice President of
Student Affairs and that he ultimately makes the final decision. Andrea stated that students
should continue to get input from the staff at the campuses. Some suggested that there are some
folks who will question the validity of serving on a board without a vote. Danielle stated that a
group of students would be willing to meet with the staff to discuss their roles with this new
concept. Anand stated that this change could also be reversed if it does not work. Historically
the students who sit on this board are mature and responsible. John Shaffer stated that students
actively seek consultation with Student Affairs staff.
A motion to end the discussion was made by Justin Molitoris and was seconded by Patrick
Tanner. All were in favor.
A motion to vote on this proposal was made by Anand Ganjam and was seconded by Justin
Molitoris.
A note was requested to be added. “This will not take effect until next year if approved by the
VP.”
Roll Call Vote
Patrick
Y
Theresa
N
Mary
Y
John S.
Y
Ryan
lost connection
Devin
Y
Stacy
Y
Anand
Y
2
John W.
Danielle
Justin
Rosemarie
Y
Y
Y
absent
The vote passed with 9 yes votes and 1 no vote.
Andrea thanked the subcommittee for their work.
Fee levels
This is the first time that a decision will be made utilizing the concept of splitting the campuses’
fees from University Park. We will start with a recommendation for University Park.
Anand stated that UPAC, GPSA and UPUA all have compromised and propose an increase of $2
to make the University Park fee $95. UPUA passed a resolution accepting this increased fee
recommendation. John Wortman stated that he is glad that these three groups were able to come
to a unified decision, but he does not support the increase. Patrick asked why the proposal also
stated a $3 increase. Justin stated that UPAC asked for $3 but, after further discussion with
GPSA and UPUA, $2 was agreed upon by all parties.
A motion was made to vote on the $2 increase--making the SAF $95 at University Park--and that
any campus could choose this fee for their campus if they so desire. The motion was made by
Anand Ganjam and was seconded by Danielle Rhubart.
Roll Call Vote
Patrick
Theresa
Mary
Ryan
Daneille
John W.
John S.
Anand
Justin
Stacy
Devin
Rosemarie
Y
Y
Y
lost connection
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
abstention
abstention
absent
The vote passed with 7 yes votes, 1 no vote, and 2 abstentions.
John Shaffer stated that he has collected data from the campuses about the student activity fee.
He recommends a $100 tier level for the campuses to select. He is aware that this may cause
some concern, but 15 campuses are currently fully utilizing their funds, 3 are not, and 4
campuses are running out of funds. Behrend has only $1 for every $3 that are requested.
The data collected are as follows:
$2 - $5 increases had 6 responses
3
$7 - $10 increases had 7 responses
4 want no increase
1 is unsure
The consensus was to create a $100 fee. There were no disagreements about this level. Devin
stated that Berks is already out of funds this year. Presently, Beaver, Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill,
and Shenango are the only campuses at the 2nd tier.
John Wortman discussed having all campuses at the $95 tier. John Shaffer stated that this would
not work for all the campuses. Danielle asked, of the campuses running out of money, are any
using funds for administrative costs. John Shaffer stated that there are 2 campuses that do use
money for administrative costs, but they are not the campuses running out of money.
Discussion ensued.
Andrea reminded the group that this is a proposal that will go to the VP. It is not a decision until
he approves it. She also reminded the group that there will be a 0% tuition increase this year at
some of the campuses.
Additional discussion ensued.
John Shaffer asked Theresa Bonk about her campus, and she stated that they would be
comfortable at either $95 or $100.
Jay Arcuri stated that the campus identities are unique. They vary in their populations, socioeconomic identities, etc. Not all will be happy with whatever decision is reached. John
Wortman stated that this is a huge increase. Justin asked who is currently at the $87 fee level.
Those campuses are Schuylkill, Shenango, and York.
Ryan McDermott stated that the enrollment at his campus is dropping below 500, and they are
supporting the $100 fee level. Anand reminded the group that everyone is to vote in the best
interest of the campuses.
A motion was made by John Shaffer to adopt the $100 fee level and seconded by Devin
Heckman.
Roll Call Vote
Ryan
Y
Danielle
Y
John W.
N
Anand
Y
Justin
Y
Stacy
Y
Devin
Y
John S.
Y
Mary
Y
4
Theresa
Patrick
Rosemarie
Y
Y
Absent
The vote passed with 10 yes votes and 1 no vote.
The recommendation to the VP will be to adopt a $95 fee level for University Park and any other
campus that would like to join this level, and a $100 fee level for the Commonwealth Campuses.
Items to be discussed for future action
Student Legal Services Student Legal Services has provided an annual report for the group to review. Andrea stated that
if we have questions we can invite Kelly Mroz to come to the March meeting to answer. Let
Andrea know.
Manual Issues An annual report is referenced in several places in the SAFB manual. An annual report has not
been completed for many years. It was last done before any of this group was a member of the
board. No one asks for it or seems to miss it. It is an inconsistency in the manual that needs to
be addressed. The report gives a summary of how the money was spent at each campus based on
categories.
Theresa stated that she thought the purpose of the report was to make sure the fee was living up
to its intended purpose. Early on it was beneficial to verify that the money was being spent
appropriately. Jay’s predecessors used to create this report. Jay has not done this since he came
to Student Affairs.
It was decided that a subcommittee was not necessary to discuss this. Andrea and Jay will work
on cleaning up the verbiage and will bring it back to the board for review.
Use of Fee – Co-Curricular. Jay stated that it has come to light that this is implicit in the manual
but not stated clearly. The fee is to be used for co-curricular activities and not academic courses.
Should the fee be used for credit courses? An example of this would be if a group asks for
money specifically for a trip embedded in a class only for credit experiences.
Justin asked how this would work with a learning center that is supported by the fee. That is
different because it is open to everyone.
Jay recommended sending this to a subcommittee for further discussion. It was decided not to
send this to a subcommittee but to create stronger language for clarification to be approved at the
next meeting.
There are some language changes that need to be made around the addition of the audit process.
Other processes were not changed on pages 8 and 9. Andrea will discuss with Jill Leidy and
Melanie Bernier with assistance from Danielle.
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CCSG Funding – This needs to be cleaned up and corrected but continues to be problematic.
UPAC Policies - Anand discussed UPAC polices and the need to review how funds are allocated.
He would like to create a subcommittee to look at ways to tighten up the UPAC policies to seek
different resolutions - specifically travel requirements and placing more responsibility on the
students. Danielle feels this is a bigger topic that will involve more than the SAFB. Theresa
stated that she admires the fact that this group wants to look at UPAC, but it is not the role of this
board to do so. This board does not have the authority to review and change UPAC policies.
New Kensington admires the policies that UPAC has created and uses many of them in their
processes.
Jay shared that last year they eliminated and changed a few things that could be reimbursed;
parking, taxis, and lodging reimbursement was changed from $200 per night to $50 per person.
Jay stated he is willing to discuss this further with Anand and Danielle. UPAC held sessions in
the past for students to come and learn about UPAC, and no students showed for these
informative sessions. They have since stopped hosting these events.
Jesse Scott, previous UPAC Chair, was in attendance at the meeting and shared that there are two
aspects of the funding that need to be reviewed: an increase in the expense of a program and an
increase in the number of programs.
There will be no subcommittee formed for this discussion.
A motion was made by Justin Molitoris to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Devin
Heckman. All were in favor.
Proposed Changes to the Board Membership
The Student Activity Fee Board shall be comprised of:
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









The Vice President for Student Affairs who will serve as chair (or his/her
designee),
The Senior Director of Union and Student Activities, with non-voting status
A Director of Student Affairs/Director of Student and Enrollment Services A Chief
Student Affairs Officer from the Eastern campuses, with non-voting status
A Director of Student Affairs/Director of Student and Enrollment Services A Chief
Student Affairs Officer from the Western campuses, with non-voting status
The University Park Undergraduate Association President (UPUA),
The Council of Commonwealth Student Governments President (CCSG),
The Graduate and Professional Student Association President (GPSA),
The CCSG Campus Chair,
Two elected representatives from CCSG,
The Chair of the University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC),
A University Park student representative appointed by the UPUA President, and
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
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A member of the Faculty Senate Committee on Student Life, with non-voting
status
The Assistant Director of Union and Student Activities for the Commonwealth
Campuses, with non-voting status
The Administrative Assistant for the Senior Director of Union and Student
Activities, with non-voting status
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