Student Activity Fee Board Meeting
Friday, November 8, 2013
3:30 pm 111 HUB
Minutes
Attendance
Board Members @ UP
Mary Edgington, Senior Director, Union and Student Activities
Jesse Scott, UPAC Chair
Brian Aynardi, Faculty Senate Committee on Student Life
Rich Byers for Katelyn Mullen, UPUA President
Anthony Panichelli, UPUA Representative
Scott Rager, GSA President
Board Members @ Fayette
Andrea Dowhower, Asst. VP for Student Affairs
Theresa Bonk, Director of Student Affairs, Penn State New Kensington
Jalon Alexander, CCSG President
Stephen Dzambo, CCSG Representative, Campus Chair, Penn State Fayette
Devin Heckman, CCSG Representative, SGA President, Penn State Berks
Steacy Wanerman, CCSG Representative, SGA President, Penn State Abington
Absent
Tracy Garnick, Director of Student Services and Engagement, Penn State Hazelton
Katelyn Mullen, UPUA President
Welcome/Roll Call
Roll call was taken.
Adoption of the agenda
A motion to accept the agenda was made by Jesse Scott and seconded by Anthony Panichelli.
All were in favor.
Adoption of the minutes
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Jesse Scott and seconded by Anthony Panichelli.
All were in favor.
Announcements by the Chair
Andrea welcomed the board to the second meeting of 2013/2014. The group was split between
UP and Fayette and were joined by polycom.
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Philip Burlingame was in attendance of the meeting and shared that they are in the process of
conducting a search for the Director of Legal Services. Dennis Heitzman is chairing the search.
Public comment
None at this time.
Items to be discussed/voted on
UPAC Composition – proposed manual change
The verbiage will be added to adjust the minimum number of students needed to meet quorum.
A motion was made by Jesse Scott to approve the language change for the UPAC composition
for the SAF Manual. A second was made by Brian Aynardi. All were in favor.
Jesse will provide Heide with the appropriate verbiage to be added to the SAF manual and to the
minutes.
Items to be introduced
Student Legal Services Andrea welcomed Philip Burlingame who presented on behalf of the Legal Services unit. He
provided the group with a summary to be reviewed by the board. It provided a breakdown of
various increases for the upcoming year. It is attached to the minutes.
Philip shared some background information on Legal Services to the board. He stated that each
year the number of students using the services provided by LS has been increasing. They do not
advertise for this service and they don’t need to. It is being fully utilized without.
Legal Services would like to add another attorney to their staff. Philip referred the group to
paragraph 3 for the cost savings to the students by having this office at Penn State.
Most students are very satisfied with the services they are receiving from this office. Those that
are dissatisfied are those that didn’t receive the outcome they wanted or because they weren’t
able to be helped by this office. This office does not help students who have been charged with
felonies. They refer those students to outside law firms.
Philip shared that Aaron from LS has requested additional funds to help support some research
into some housing issues. He has found that some tenants are being charged additional
administrative fees on top of fines and he wants to pursue this.
Brian asked how many of the cases were underage drinking or drug related. Philip did not have
the specific numbers but can gather that information and share.
Anthony stated that from the benchmarking that UPUA has done, that Penn State is under
serviced.
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Philip shared that this office serves as a triage for students. Students come in and get advice for
the next steps they need to take. Many students are referred to outside attorneys. Some local
attorneys are offering discounts for the students referred from Legal Services. Many students
would not pursue issues if this type of service wasn’t provided. It is good counseling for them to
help them decide what to do next.
Scott asked why law students are not utilized from the law school. Philip shared that the law
school will not allow uncertified students to provide service. Uncertified students do help with
research when necessary.
Andrea reminded the board that when this fee increase is implemented, that it will be imbedded
in the tier level and will only affect the UP students.
Brian asked if there were a lot of international students requesting service. Philip stated yes. He
shared a story where 6 different cases were drawn together to solve one problem that may have
never been addressed. If LS wasn’t providing this service, these 6 cases would not have come
together to have a positive outcome. First, the students probably would not have sought legal
counsel and second if they did, it would have been with different attorneys who would have been
working on the same issue and utilizing different resources.
Anthony asked how other schools fund their Legal Services. Do they all use SA Funds? Philip
stated that there are multiple models being used at different schools. Some do use SA Funds and
then others do not.
Viewpoint Neutrality Recommended addition – Section D, item 5
Viewpoint Neutrality – Based on court decisions, allocating boards must make decisions that are
viewpoint neutral, that is decisions that are not based on religious, political, or personal views.
Furthermore, all viewpoints, including those that are controversial, must have an equal chance
of receiving funding. However, it is not required that all groups be funded equally or that
opposite views have to be funded. The same criteria used for other events, such as student
interest and involvement, can be used to determine funding amounts for potentially controversial
programs.
This is a longer and more detailed description than was shared at the last meeting.
Jesse shared that UPUA does neutrality training for all UPUA members and this statement
articulates much better than the first draft.
Brian asked about our minutes from last meeting discussing ceremonies. Andrea stated that this
was discussed in the event it was changed by the courts. At this time it has not. Andrea stated
that this is being provided so the allocating boards are aware and need to keep in consideration
when allocating funds; also, as a measure to seek additional training on the subject.
This will be voted on at the December meeting.
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UPUA and GSA audit process timeline –
A subcommittee meeting is scheduled for Monday. Melanie will attend if her schedule permits.
Fee levels and tiers –
Andrea stated that we need to start the conversations on the fee levels.
Jesse shared that UP has some separate designations for their fee. Some money is taken from the
top for debt repayment and Legal Services.
Theresa stated that at the last CCSG meeting, the student asked if the board was trying to
collapse the tiers to help the Bursar’s office or to create equality.
Andrea asked if we should create a greater variance on the tiers.
Andrea asked how campuses are doing with their allocations. She asked each area to come back
to the next meeting with numbers. Jesse stated that UPAC would be able to provide this in
December. Andrea stated that she would like to have a sampling of how some of the other
campuses are doing as well.
Anthony stated that they need to have a conversation about what direction Penn state is going.
How will the Rec Sports model of a more robust student life affect this? Andrea stated that this
is an important topic but it is not for this group to decide.
Most students do not have a clue as to what they are paying each semester for the Activity Fee.
Many other schools have much higher fees.
Theresa suggested creating a framework for the conversations to be conducted at each campus.
1. How much has been spent?
2. How much has been allocated?
3. Has the demand for the money increased?
4. Do you feel you need more money?
5. If you had more money, what would you do and how would that enhance your
students at your campuses?
Jay asked Theresa to share this with her colleagues at the campuses.
Brian asked if a survey could be sent to students. Andrea stated – no. There are other surveys
out there right now.
Anthony asked if the campuses felt that they were funding ongoing activities that could or should
be covered by administration. Abington shared that this is not an issue at their campus. They
have enough to balance and have leftover money for new clubs. Berks stated that they fund very
few student services activities. They fund mainly club activities.
Discussion ensued about counselling services at the campuses. Andrea stated that it is not
against SAF policy to fund. It is used at some campuses. Andrea stated that this board does not
want to dictate this use.
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Jesse stated that they are reviewing the standing allocations for next year. These funds are used
for programing. Most of the activities at University Park are requested a year in advance. The
UP fee is front loaded. Most of the funding at UP is not service related but programming.
Every campus does things differently. Moving forward, Theresa will gather information from
the DSA’s. Jesse will gather info on UPAC. CCSG member will request what the needs are for
the various campuses.
Other TopicsNone.
A motion was made by Jesse Scott to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Anthony Panichelli
at 4:55 p.m.
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