S.G.A. SENATE MEETING
March 30, 2015
The meeting was called to order in the Leaders Suite of the Donald G.
Bollinger Student Union at 4:00 p.m.
Presiding officer was Vice President
Mary Sauce. The Recording Secretary was Dolly McGeever.
The pledge was led by Senator Lawrence Arceneaux, III and the prayer was
given by Senator Emily Sauce.
The Nicholls Student Government Association Mission Statement was read by
Senator Markos Picou and Senator Peyton Chiasson read the first value of the
Nicholls Creed.
The following Executive Board members were present:
President Adam Lefort,
Vice President Mary Sauce, Treasurer Bobby Dufrene, Director of Student
Rights and Grievances Carolanne Moore, Director of Public Relations Lillie
Bourgeois and Secretary Dolly McGeever.
The following Senators were present:
Lawrence Arceneaux, III, Les Theriot,
Grant Ordoyne, Markos Picou, Trey Clark, Peyton Chiasson, Emily Sauce, Austin
Wendt, Tommy Thibodeaux, Jessica Fradella, Tiffany Durocher, Katelyn Cortez,
Abigail Ledet, Charles Johns, Micah Hebert, Darian Graivshark and Kaitlyn
Mistretta.
The following Senators were absent:
Yaye Ba, Meah Johnson and Taylor Bruce.
Web Tech was represented by Trey Clark.
Student Supreme Court was represented by Justice Celia Ordoyne.
Election Commission was not represented.
The following guests were present:
Dr. Eugene A. Dial, Jr., Vice President
of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services and SGA Advisor and Vincent Sbisa,
staff writer for The Nicholls Worth.
No Minutes were presented.
GUEST SPEAKER:
None.
OFFICER REPORTS
PRESIDENT’S REPORT – ADAM LEFORT
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We’re going to have a Blood Drive from April 21 st to the 22nd. We have
flyers so please put them around campus bulletin boards.
Registration is April 15th.
As an SGA officer, you get to register
early.
So when scheduling your classes, make sure
you’re free on
Mondays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. to serve on SGA.
Orientation starts when we get back from Spring Break April 13th to 16th.
Congratulations to Vice President Mary S. and Director Lillie B. for
winning the elections.
Be safe for Spring Break.
We only have a few weeks left to present motions so if you’re working
on something, try to get it done.
April 15th is the Rally from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Make sure you encourage
students to attend.
I Spoke to Brigett Scott who is in charge of
Faculty Senate. She said the Senate will encourage students to attend.
Last week we held our “Gathering”. We had a good turnout.
We filled
out the “What’s Your Frustration” cards. Good job for going out to the
students.
DIRECTOR OF STUDENT RIGHTS & GRIEVANCES’ REPORT – CAROLANNE MOORE
Thank you for turning in your WID/WIH info this past Friday.
You have one
due when you return from Spring Break. For those of you who are going out of
town for Spring Break, talk to other students you meet who are attending
other universities to get ideas.
OFFICER REPORTS CONTINUED:
TREASURER’S REPORT – BOBBY DUFRENE
I distributed an Expense Report today.
So far, we’ve spent $20,000.
Pending, we have about $19,000. We now have $7,500 left in Senator Projects
and are presenting a motion today to increase that.
If you have any
questions about the budget or need any ideas, come by and talk to me.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS’ REPORT – LILLIE BOURGEOIS
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The week we get back from Spring Break, we’ll have Orientation which
will last four days, Monday through Thursday.
It’ll probably be 1:00
to 4:00 p.m. It’ll be mandatory to attend each one of these days but
we need every time filled. We’re going to serve punch and possibly
cookies.
We’ll have slogans like “SGA will punch out your problems”.
Hopefully, we’ll have new Senators that come to us for next year so
please sign up for this.
We’re ordering more ink pens but if you
have other ideas on what to
order, please let me know.
We have about $2,000 in the SGA budget
remaining to spend on this.
VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT – MARY SAUCE
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I attended a Budget Meeting last week as well as the Scantron
Giveaways. I want to thank you for the attention you gave the Scantron
Giveaways. It’s important that we reach out to students and not just
stand around the table. You should stand in front of the table.
I’ll attend a Tech Fee Committee Meeting soon.
I put the blank “Vote for Higher Ed” vouchers around campus in
University College as well as the Rec Center. If you know anyone who
would like these cards, let me know. We need to have as many of those
completed before the Rally on April 15th. We have a break this week so
we don’t have much time.
ACTIONS TAKEN ON OLD BILLS
S1415-061
I move that the Senate allocate $1,000 per year for a three year period to
purchase one 3’ x 7’ sign to be placed on the outside fence of all home
softball games and one 3’ x 7’ sign to be placed on the outside fence of all
baseball games. Passed and signed.
S1415-063
I move that the Senate amend the SGA Leadership Graduate Scholarship from
awarding 15 scholarships at #200 each to awarding 8 scholarships at $00 each.
This will increase the total budgeted amount for the scholarship from $3,-000
to $3,200.
The SGA Leadership Graduate Scholarship line item in the budget
will increase by $200 beginning with the Fall 2015 semester.
Passed and
signed.
S1415-064
I move that the Senate purchase an M8 Charging Station that will be placed in
the Union for student use.
The cost for the one Charging Station will be
$899.00. This will come from the Senator Projects line item of the budget.
Passed and signed.
S1415-065
I move that the SGA purchase three microscopes at $199.99 for the Physical
Sciences Department totaling $599.97.
This will come from the Senator
Projects line item of the budget. Passed and signed.
S1415-066
I move to allocate up to $350.00 to purchase a Quartet Porcelain Dry-Erase
Board (48” x 72”) for the Tutorial Academic and Enhancement Center. The cost
of the board is $280.99 and taxes are about $26.00. Shipping will be free.
This will be taken from the Senator Projects line item of the budget. Passed
and signed.
STUDENT SUPREME COURT REPORT – Celia Ordoyne
No report.
ELECTION COMMISSION REPORT – Kristine Normand
In Commissioner
following:
Kristine
N.’s
absence,
Senator
Austin
W.
reported
the
This past election there was an issue that occurred.
They’re in the early
stages of inquiring about the recent election.
It’s possible a malfunction
took place. Some football players complained that they received notifications
that they voted but they had not voted.
This is something they’re looking
into.
WEB TECH REPORT – Trey Clark
Updated the website.
SGA SENATE COMMITTEE REPORTS
Finance Committee – Tiffany Durocher, Chair
Present:
Senators Tiffany Durocher, Lawrence Arceneaux, III, Peyton
Chiasson, Trey Clark, Katelyn Cortez, Charles Johns, Markos
Picou, Emily Sauce, Les Theriot, Tommy Thibodeaux, Jessica
Fradella and Darian Graivshark.
Absent:
Senators Yaye Ba, Micah Hebert and Meah Johnson.
Guest:
Treasurer Bobby Dufrene.
Today we discussed the following:
 Motions to provide a charter bus and a Nicholls bus to bring students
to a Higher Education Rally on April 15, 2015.
 Two motions to purchase protest signs for the Higher Education Rally.
 Motion to purchase a white board for the Tutoring Center.
 A motion to purchase a paper cutter for the Art Department.
 A motion to extend the Senator Projects line item of the Spring 2015
budget from $15,000 to $21,000. The above motions were all found to be
highly favorable.
 A motion to purchase a two-way radio packet for the Mass Comm
Department.
The committee did not vote on the motion because more
research will be done on it for a later meeting.
Judiciary Committee – Lawrence Arceneaux, III, Chair; Austin Wendt, Co-Chair
Present:
Senators Lawrence Arceneaux, III, Austin Wendt, Meah Johnson,
Emily Sauce, Trey Clark, Taylor Bruce, Kaitlyn Mistretta, Tommy
Thibodeaux and Darian Graveshark.
We discussed one motion and one absentee form:
 The motion dealt with amending the SGA Bylaws and removing certain
sections that were felt to be unnecessary. After committee discussion,
the committee found the motion highly favorable.
 Went over one absentee form and excused it.
Meet the SGA/Social Events: Mr/Ms Nicholls/Banquet - Homecoming/Christmas) –
Grant Ordoyne, Chair
Present:
Senators Grant Ordoyne, Peyton Chiasson,
Theriot, Tommy Thibodeaux and Austin Wendt.
Absent:
Senators Emily Sauce and Taylor Bruce.
Guest:
Director Lillie Bourgeois.
Abigail
Ledet,
Les
We discussed the following:
 Ideas for the upcoming Student Government banquet.
 Talked about the Freshman Orientations on April 13 to 16 and the items
that we will hand out to the student. We’ll give out punch and have a
sign saying “Let SGA punch out your problems”.
This will be a
mandatory event so all Senators are encouraged to attend.
SGA SENATE COMMITTEE REPORTS CONTINUED:
Campus Improvements Committee – Peyton Chiasson, Chair; Tommy Thibodeaux, CoChair;
Present:
Senators Peyton Chiasson, Tommy Thibodeaux, Katelyn Cortez,
Tiffany Durocher, Charles Johns, Abigail Ledet, Grant Ordoyne,
Austin Wendt and Kaitlyn Mistretta.
Absent:
Senators Jessica Fradella and Taylor Bruce.
We discussed the following:
 Drainage issues in the front of Talbot Hall and Stopher Gym.
 Possible improvement to the Free Speech Podium in front of the Union.
 Issues and confusion with the housing lottery.
 Discussed the possibility of getting signs made to advertise the CStore in Brady.
 Campus Improvements committee attending the RHA meeting on Tuesday
after Spring break.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
S1415-067
I move to allocate up to $350.00 to purchase a Quartet Porcelain Dry-Erase
Board (48” x 72”) for the Tutorial Academic and Enhancement Center. The cost
of the board is $280.99 and taxes are about $26.00. Shipping will be free.
This will be taken from the Senator Projects line item of the budget.
1.
2.
Les Theriot
Katelyn Cortez
Discussion: Senator Les T. said it’s the same motion that Senator Katelyn C.
wrote because we have two boards in the Tutoring Center which are bad and we
have money to replace these. They’re porcelain boards so they’ll be used for
a long time.
Question: Move into vote
Passed For-17
Against-0
Abstained-0
S1415-068a
I move to suspend the Rules of Procedure to allow the motion to be heard.
The reason for the suspension is the motion is in violation of Article VIII,
Letter B., Number 6 of the Rules of Procedures (The motion is over $500.00).
1.
2.
Move into vote:
Passed For-17
Against-0
Tiffany Durocher
Lawrence Arceneaux, III
Abstained-0
S1415-068
I move that Senate allocate up to $1,500 to provide a charter bus for 55
students to attend a Higher Education Rally at the State Capitol in Baton
Rouge on April 15, 2015. The costs are broken down as follows:
Quote for Charter Bus
Travel Insurance ($.15/student)
TOTAL
= $1,205.00
= ____$8.25
= $1,213.25
This will be taken from the Professional Services line item of the budget.
1.
2.
Tiffany Durocher
Lawrence Arceneaux, III
Discussion: Senator Tiffany D. said this is one of the buses we plan to use
for the Rally at the State Capitol.
This is for a charter bus because the
Nicholls large bus is not operable at this time. We’ll also have to purchase
travel insurance.
NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED:
COMMENT:
Senator Austin W. asked if we already have students that
are attending. Senator Tiffany D. said no. Hopefully, the
advertising will get students involved. They’ll be a signup in the Union.
Question: Move into vote
Passed For-17
Against-0
Abstained-0
S1415-069
I move that Senate allocate up to $150 to purchase protest signs for the
Higher Education Rally on April 15, 2015. The signs will say “No Funds, No
Future”. The price breakdown is as follows:
50 Signs
= $100
Shipping
= $30
TOTAL = $130
This will come from the Senator Projects line item of the budget.
1.
2.
Discussion:
Rally.
COMMENT:
Abigail Ledet
Katelyn Cortez
Senator Abigail L. said we’re ordering these signs for the
Senator Austin W. said his only objection is that the signs
will be used only one time. No objection to the price, but
it’s used only once.
Question: Move into vote
Passed For-16
Against-1
Abstained-0
S1415-070
I move that Senate allocate up to $150 to purchase protest signs for the
Higher Education Rally on April 15, 2015.
The signs will say “Enough is
Enough”. The price breakdown is as follows:
50 Signs
= $100
Shipping
= $30
TOTAL = $130
This will come from the Senator Projects line item of the budget.
1.
2.
Grant Ordoyne
Les Theriot
Discussion: Senator Grant O. said these will also be used for the Rally and
are a result of the “Gathering” we held recently.
COMMENT:
Senator Tommy T. commented on the need for two different
signs.
Question: Move into vote
Passed For-17
Against-0
Abstained-0
S1415-071
I move that the Senate allocate funds from the Professional Services line
item of the budget to cover the cost of fuel to use the small, 32-passenger
Nicholls bus to take students to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge on April
15, 2015. Also, the travel insurance cost will be $0.15/student at $4.80.
1.
2.
Tiffany Durocher
Lawrence Arceneaux, III
Discussion:
Senator Tiffany D. said this bus is smaller and even though
there will be a larger bus, this bus can be used for more students. We also
have to cover the fuel cost to Baton Rouge. We’ll find out the cost of fuel
used after the trip.
Question: Move into vote
Passed For-17
Against-0
Abstained-0
NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED:
S1415-072
I move to increase the budgeted amount of the Spring 2015 Senator Projects
line item of the budget from $15,000 to $21,000.
The money will come from
unallocated funds.
1. Tiffany Durocher
2. Austin Wendt
Discussion:
Senator Tiffany D. said we have only two weeks left and we’re
talking about possibly having more motions. We want to increase the budgeted
amount to have enough funds for the motions.
Vice President Mary S. said
amendment to the budget.
this
motion
will
be
tabled
because
it’s
an
S1415-073
I move that the Senate purchase one Guillotine Paper Cutter for the Art
Department, which will cost $424.19.
This will come from the Senator
Projects line item of the budget.
1. Darian Graivshark
2. Emily Sauce
Discussion:
replaced.
Senator
COMMENT:
Darian
G.
said
the
one
they
now
have
needs
to
be
Senator Austin W. asked what purpose did the Art Department
use the cutting board. Senator Darian G. said for cutting
mats, etc.
Question: Move into vote
Passed For-16
Against-0
Abstained-1
UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE REPORTS
Vice President for Academic Affairs Search Committee – Adam Lefort
We narrowed the pool down to ten applicants, thirty plus applied.
start the interviews for that.
We’ll
Alumni Director Search Committee – Adam Lefort
We narrowed it down to the final three applicants.
week.
We’ll decide that this
Budget Committee – Adam Lefort
There are sub-committees for each person presented.
and degrees.
I’m on the Enrollment Sub-Committee.
suggestions to the General Budget Committee.
They analyze programs
Each of these submits
University Council – Adam Lefort
Dr. Murphy’s cleared his calendar for the fiscal year 2016 so if you have
anything you’ll have to reapply to get it back on the calendar.
Dr. Dial
said he thinks it’s something specific to the students.
So if your student
organization has something for next year, talk to your Advisor for more
information.
General Education and Assessment – Les Theriot
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Last week we didn’t have quorum so we didn’t vote on anything.
We discussed the CLR for Computer Science.
The chair also answered members’ questions.
DISCUSSION PERIOD:
SGA Banquet:
Vice President Mary S. said the Banquet is scheduled for Wednesday, April
29th. (A sign-up sheet for officers and guests was distributed to compile an
invitation list.) Director Lillie B. said the meal for SGA officers is free
but if you bring a guest, there is a fee for their meal. Vice President Mary
S. said every year we invite faculty members and administrators. If there is
anyone influential to you that you’d like SGA to invite, please let us know
to be included.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Adam L.
Suggested that the SGA officers read the motions more
carefully so we’re not asking questions during the meeting
that are unnecessary.
I’m going to share on our SGA page, the “No Funds – No
Future” for the Rally event. Go to it and ask everyone on
campus to do so.
Lawrence A.
Tomorrow is the Faculty Political Forum.
We’re talking
about free speech and radical Islamism that is currently
going on.
It’s from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in Peltier
Auditorium. There’s also a Student Forum that going on in
the Ballroom of the Student Union.
Carolanne M.
Delta Zeta is having a “Give Back Night” in Thibodaux on
April 13th from 5:00 until closing.
Dolly M.
Thank you everyone for the Get Well Card, Flowers and
Prayers.
I know that’s why I had such a speedy recovery.
I want you to know how proud I am of all of you. You had a
Rally on top of all sorts of other things going on at this
time. I want you to know I’m really proud of you. I know
there are so many of us in Student Affairs, like Dr. Dial,
who really appreciate all the work you do.
You did great
work at a really crucial time with a lot going on.
Congratulations! Job well done!
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.