MEETING MINUTES – APRIL 4TH, 2014 – UALBANY GSA ASSEMBLY
AGENDA APPROVAL
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MOTION: Include Judicial Board Report, after President.
APPROVED.
MOTION: University Council Report Removed, no meeting has happened.
APPROVED.
AGENDA APPROVED
MINUTES APPROVAL
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MINUTES APPROVED
OFFICER REPORTS
TREASURER
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Thanking everyone for being patient with the unintended backwards motion
with the online system requiring, outside of original plans, different
procedure.
Need payee certificates for all reimbursements.
Jess is willing to meet with anyone needing help, contact her by e-mail.
This reverting to requiring more effects all non-payed out reimbursements.
List is provided in agenda to show the previously requested ‘old charges’ that
have carried over for previous years.
MBA inquired about what their line represented – bill was sent to the GSA
office but was from the MBA RGSO. Further inquiry has been directed to
happen privately.
Question: Why did we end up indebted due to previously poorly handled
paperwork and unpaid bills.
Answer: Due to how it was poorly handled and submitted, no one was given
time to correct mistakes to actually fix things. E-board decided it was best to
proceed with handing and wiping the debts.
These roll over’s may effect summer funding for RGSOs, a sit down will
happen to further handle this. No Spring funds were effected. Details are still
in the works to see how this will effect Summer RGSO funds.
PROGRAMMING
MCAA
Appreciation Reception for Sneators – April 7th, 5-7pm in the Assembly Hall
at Uptown
Community
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April 1st Film Screening: apologies for lack of communication about the event.
Decent turn out and a good show of interest in the theme of the film as far as
further action and involvement goes. School of Social Welfare, Criminal
Justice, and Education Dept. were well represented.
Working on new guidelines for the MCAA position, including changing forms
revolving having events.
Talked to Mary Ellen about Diversity Initiative with Sustainability. Moving
forward with this attempt for a grant initiative.
Attempting to do one more event if a location can be found.
MOTION: To not accept report due to it not being online.
AMMENDMENT: Accept it conditional on it being posted online.
APPROVED.
GRANTS
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Spring grants are being finished now. Looking to get paperwork from people
to finish reimbursements.
Summer applications are now online as of April 1st. Close as of June 1st.
VICE PRESIDENT
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Additional and Summer funding (5 or 6 requested), committee to get back to
the VP by Monday. Should hear back from VP hopefully at the end of next
week for what is funded.
Make sure when submitting vouchers to include a payee certificate signature
and a cover sheet.
Please remember to get a receipt from the OM in the office at the time as
proof you have dropped things off.
If you have not heard back about vouchers in a week please contact the Vice
President.
Ensure that all requirements are met and turned in by the end of the
semester.
PRESIDENT
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Freedom of Expression Committee: CAFECOR Restructuring Amendment is
going to the Senate.
President is going to SUNY SA tonight (April 4th), is sure that Contingent
Faculty Resolution will go to the floor at 9pm. Will update assembly on the
outcome. Has been passed at Binghmaton, in process at Stony Brook, Buffalo
President Elect is co-sponsoring and pushing it once she is officially in office.
Presidents Forum: 4:00 – 5:30pm on April 23rd.
Went to NE Regional Conference for the NAGPS. One of the best take-away
points was to put on an orientation ourselves as a one-off thing rather than
several events. Elected the Chair of Employment Concerns Committee.
Apologies for the payee certification issue. Jessica and Caitlin have a plan to
talk to Steve Perse about all of these lack of correspondence and consistency
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issues and to not treat the GSA as a blip and to be more conscious of our
importance to Student Success. Although nothing can be done to the
unfairness of needing things in physical form we didn’t think we did, but it
will not stop a complaint and follow-up being made about the issue.
Elections on April 16th from 12:00am to April 17th at 11:59pm. Has gone out
on the listserv, will be going out on the notices board ASAP. All candidates
and their bios are available on the GSA website.
Those running were announced, only Vice President is running unopposed.
OTHER REPORTS
JUDICIAL BOARD
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A ruling was made this morning. On the 29th of March an investigation was
begun at request of the E-board to look into --------- for his behaviour in Fall
due to misconduct and misuse of information.
The Judicial Board shall conduct an investigation into RGSO Accounting and
shall receive from the Executive Board all documentation of RGSO allocation
of funds and disbursements awarded in the Fall semester, 2013. The
Executive Board shall also provide to the Judicial Board any documents
related to the regulation and awarding of RGSO funding in the Fall semester,
2013. In addition to accounting, the Executive Board shall submit to the
Judicial Board all official Vice President emails corresponding with RGSOs,
the RGSO committee, and the Executive Board concerning RGSO funding in
the Fall semester, 2013. All documentation is to be provided by the Executive
Board by April 18th, 2014. The Judicial Board has ruled for this investigation
due to the lack of clarity of the requested investigation into ---------- Vice
Presidency term and due to the fact that the Executive Board has not
provided the requested documentation for this investigation and is,
therefore, in noncompliance with the Judicial Board.
Nothing malicious was felt, merely that it needed to be more thorough and
there was a lack of such at current.
MOTION: Post report online with the rest of the officer reports.
Approved.
LEAD SENATOR
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Nothing was received and is not present.
WAGES AND BENEFITS COMMITTEE
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Meeting with Dean Williams is still pending posting due to follow-up
questions still being answered.
Survey was supposed to have gone out by now. Relationships with the
university have made it hard to get out, will be out by the end of the
semester.
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Clarification: Governance Survey, Kevin William’s survey, and Wages and
Benefits survey are three separate things – the President urges all to be
taken.
BYLAWS COMMITTEE
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MOTION: to move the report to when bylaws are discussed to discuss it as a
whole.
APPROVED
OLD BUSINESS
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
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Wait until the end of the semester to give her a stipend due to having gotten
credit, dependent upon how the trial period of the position goes.
NEW BUSINESS
PRESIDENT’S FORUM
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Wages and Benefits has done a lot of work thus far as far as research to
propose how important it is for graduate students. Attendance to continue
this as a semestery initiative is very important.
BYLAWS
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REPORT: Pursuant to the assembly last time has met with the E-board.
Further research is being done and waiting on some responses, though
certain sections there will be significant further feedback – but it as a point to
get initial assembly feedback.
BYLAWS
Membership, how appointments are confirmed, assembly roles, and such
things are handled in the initial part.
E-board positions are next, including roles and things to be done by singular
entities and others. Further officer positions such as the J-board are also
explained.
Primarily focused on roles, who handles said roles, and how things are
handled when people do not handled those roles, and thusly the subsequent
punishments.
RGSO rights, expectations, and requirements. Expecting some significant
changes to what is currently available.
MCAA/Grants/Programming Committees are elaborated on.
Special Elections and Elections are greatly clarified and given a clear path of
order.
Fees and Finances are gone into at some length for how funds are managed.
We are expecting significant feedback due to the on-going conversation with
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UAS and how to make this consistent. The goal is to handle flexibility with
UAS.
Bylaws will be available after this meeting to begin getting student/non Eboard feedback on the bylaws.
The document in its current state is up for amendment and opinion from the
graduate student body. The E-board and the Committee members are still
working together on things.
A lot of concerns were lobbied back and forth about the fact that the
document is not perfect and is viewed as so imperfect while being brought to
the assembly, veto powers of the E-board, and fear about rushing into things.
The goal is for things that need more research to be researched and things
that mandatory for us to run to try and get passed (such as E-board positions,
Assembly stuff, and Membership things).
The purpose of today’s vote is only to allow the bylaws in their current draft
state to be released for further graduate student body discussion.
Roberts Rule’s Reinstated (were nulled for discussion purposes) to move
forward.
MOTION: Approve the Bylaws in current draft form will be posted o the
website and sent on the listserv to open for suggestions and comments from
the graduate body for two weeks and to sent up a special assembly meeting.
Special meeting to be “approximately” a week after the comments end.
A lot of back and forth was had on concerns with timing of the meeting with
the fact that it will be finals, as well as how long the meeting will go.
AMENDMENT: All comments and question must be funneled through the
Committee and only that will be addressed.
AMENDMENT APPROVED.
MOTION APPROVED.
- SUNY Albany Life Fee. $60 to increase recreational services. Submmitted by
AGSO representative Mounia El Koti at the end of the meeting for inclusion in the
minutes: “The suny albany administration wants to charge every student
(Graduates included) $60 named "Life Fee" to expand the campus center. If they
charge every student with this fee they will accumulate around $1,050,000 per
semester. Their argument for expanding the campus is because "campus life is
dead" and "other sunys are doing it, so why not us?" Suny Binghamton I think is
charging their students $90-120. Additionally tuition for next semester is going
up by +$300! So my group Students Revolutionary Coalition wants to fight this
along with the student body. I'm sure if you remember last spring on May Day
when we were protesting.”