ASNAU SENATE MEETING #21
TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION
OFFICIAL MINUTES
Date: March 28, 2014
Date of Senate Meeting: March 27, 2014
Number on council: 12
Number present: 12
Prepared by Makenzie Mastrud & Shayla Woodhouse
Senate Chairwoman Shayla Woodhouse called the Senate meeting of the 2013-2014
Associated Students of Northern Arizona University Senate to order at 5:02 P.M. in the
Havasupai Room A & B of the University Union.
Roll Call
The following Senators were not present at the meeting:
- All here
Approval of Minutes
Motion: Senator Howard move to approve the minutes from last week’s Senate
meeting
Second: Senator Soto
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, last week’s minutes have now been approved
Call to the Audience
Liberal Studies Committee- A speaker on behalf of Liberal Studies came to the ASNAU
Senate to gain support of a change they are proposing. Liberal Studies is taking these
changes to faculty senate in the next week or two. This change will affect all students.
The current policy is if you change your major and you have taken a liberal studies
course then those liberal studies that are within that major won't count. Nine credits
can be maintained. 57% of NAU students change their major at least once, this greatly
affects how quickly those students can graduate and affects how long they will need to
be at NAU and can affect tuition. Dr. B commented that it is a great founding idea and
anything we can do to help engineer students to the end is great. The speaker continued
that if you switch your major then you still have to meet degree requirements, and
there is no double dipping, you will still need 35 in liberal studies and 120 to graduate.
If students don't change their major then they will still be fine. Dr. B asked the speaker
for a one-page summary of proposal. The speaker gave Dr. B a summary and asked if
this is something that the group wants to support through a resolution? If so, then we
could look at that. Senator Soto asked if this would affect minors, and the speaker
replied that it is already in affect for minors.
Unfinished Business
Motion: Senator Cabral move to remove Item A: IA Hilary Stirlen, $237 from the table
Second: Senator Libby
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, Item A: IA: Hilary Stirlen, $237 removed from the table
Motion: Senator Tillinghast move to vote on Item A: IA Hilary Stirlen
Second: Senator Gorshe
Discussion: Hilary Stirlen is requesting IA for a NAN show that she attended a month ago.
The NAN show is for music education students and she went with Dean of music and a few
other students. At the event, she learned about new music projects. She is requesting
funding for the reimbursement of gas, lodging and registration.
Vote: Unanimous, Item A: IA: Hilary Stirlen, $237 has been approved.
Motion: Senator Cabral move to remove Item B: SB 26-89: Psychology Students, $1720
from the table
Second: Senator Buchta
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, Item B: SB 26-89: Psychology Students, $1720 has been removed from
the table
Motion: Senator Ortega move to vote on Item B: SB 26-89: Psychology Students, $1720
Second: Senator Startt
Discussion: A senior psychology student is here to present on behalf of herself and three
other students. They are requesting funds for travel (flight and transportation), hotel,
registration fee for regional conference. At the conference, they are giving a presentation
on their research. Senator Soto asked what area of psych research they are involved in? The
senior replied happiness. Senator Cabral asked what personal funds would be going toward
this trip, and the senior replied food for three days.
Vote: Unanimous, Item B: SB 26-89: Psychology Students, $1720 has been approved
Motion: Senator Libby move to remove Item C: Constitution, Bylaws and Election Code
Changes from the table
Second: Senator Cook
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, Item C: Constitution, Bylaws and Election Code Changes have been
removed from the table
Senator Cabral states that the Senate would like to vote on each individually listed on the
paper. Senator Tillinghast clarifies that the paper is at the back of each Senate binder.
Motion: Senator Cabral move to vote on By-laws Article X, Section 8
Second: Senator Soto
Discussion: The revision to this bylaw will make it so that before the first Senate meeting of
the semester, the Senate will have a general discussion about how much funds they will
give each club. Then if the Senate has more or less fund throughout the year, the Senate can
make a vote to change it. The Senate did this exact thing this year, but now the Senate will
have to officially note. Senator Tillinghast clarifies that the second item on the paper is the
same as this section, but just for IAs.
Vote: Unanimous, By-laws Article X, Section 8 have been amended
Motion: Senator Cabal move to vote on Article XI, Section 6
Second: Senator Tillinghast
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, By-laws Article XI, Section 6 have been amended
Motion: Senator Tillinghast move to vote on Constitution Article XI, Section 1
Second: Senator Lulay
Discussion: Dr. B would like to speak upon this issue. He explains that he and Art have been
the advisors for the last 29 years and the issue right now with the Tobacco issue is the first
that has ever come up. 15% of the student body is a higher number than the votes we have
in the ASNAU general election. Dr. B is trying to understand why make it more difficult for a
student organization to bring a petition forward. This is similar to how our State Legislative
does it as well as other states. Never in general elections have we had more than 12% of the
student body vote in an election. He told the Senate he wanted them to think about that in
their consideration and remember this is once out of three decades. Senator Tillinghast
explained that one reason that Legislative decided that 34% was a good number and 15%
was too low because you wouldn’t need many students for a decision to be made and they
didn’t think that would be an accurate representation of the student body. Senator Howard
said that he did some number crunching and in 2013-2014 school year we have about
18,700 students and 15% of that is 2,815 students. That would leave out a large number of
students of about 16,000. We want to give the students the opportunity to legislate on their
own and elections are one day while initiatives are many days. Senator Lulay responds,
speaking to Dr. B’s point, he things that it would look bad upon ASNAU and it would reflect
badly with timing. Dr B agrees and thinks that it is hypocritical. Let’s think of another
implication, if you do 35% and someone send that to ABOR, then any other message we will
need 35% to make is a valid vote. Senator Simon is not disagreeing, but we have been
trying to vote on it for over a month, so the implications have been slightly different.
Senator Startt said that SHAC came in over 5 weeks ago. Sammy Smart stated that once you
obtain 15% of the student body in signatures, then it would go directly to a student body
vote. Dr. B. stated that the constitution indicates that the signatures would go to the
President and then to the Elections Commission. Sammy Smart stated that students would
still need to vote on it if the President it to a student body votes. For example, UofA
guaranteed tuition. They have 40,000 students and they were only able to get 1,500 votes.
Senator Simon would like to quote Makenzie in what she said at the tuition hearing that
each school in Arizona has very different demographics.
Daniel, the President from SHAC, asked if this were to get approved, then when would it be
put into action? Senator Tillinghast replied that it would still need to be approved by the
students. Senator Gorshe said that the students will need to approve and hopefully the
executive committee will act immediately and send out a survey. Supreme Justice Monkia
stated that more advertising should be done than just an e-mail. Senator Gorshe agrees.
Senator Soto suggested setting a certain date so no one would get run out of their hard
work. Senator Howard replied that the section of the constitution looked vague and they
wanted to make it more concrete. Due to the student population growth, we could even
increase the percentage to 2% and that would be 6,000 more students that would have a
say. Senator Libby replied to Senator Howard in that if the proper percentage from
students were collected, it would still need to go out to a student body vote in which
everyone’s voice can still be heard.
Senator Lulay agreed with Senator Libby and he doesn’t see a point in changing the number
because it is going to a student vote. It will still go out to the student body and they can
voice their opinion then anyways. There is no need to increase the number from 15%
because it accounts for the total number of students. Senator Startt expressed that it would
stay at 15% because we are here as the voice of the students and increasing the number
would make it more difficult to those students trying to pass an initiative. Increasing it
would make it more difficult for the student body to be heard. Senator Ortega stated that
she didn’t see a need to increase the percentage. Senator Cabral stated that he has been
talking a lot about initiatives this whole time and we are voting on amendments to the
constitution. NSG Advisor, Annsley, wanted to make a clarification- that the change to the
constitution you want to make is get 35% of the students to vote on the change to the
constitution. Senator Gorshe replied that if this were to pass, then the student would still
have to vote. The majority would make the decision on the changes but 35% of students
would be need to sign a piece of paper to make an initiative. Annsley clarified that there is
no percent change to the constitution, but then for students to make a change they need
35%. Dr. B stated that from his own standpoint and personal opinion, the President would
get the signatures and then turn that into the elections commission. His overall point is that
5,490 signatures would be needed. In past elections, we have had 2,000-3,000 students
vote, and in some past votes we have had 300-400 signatures for students and those votes
make a stance. He doesn’t think that we would ever see a successful performance if it was
changed. He is about fairness and he doesn’t want this to seem hypocritical. The highest
effort we have ever had was about 3,000 votes and if we look at what enrollment was a few
years ago, it wouldn’t be that high even if it was 35% of votes. Senator Buchta does not
necessarily have a problem with increasing the number. 20-25% would be more
reasonable, but she believes that we are misrepresenting the students at only 15%. Senator
Cook wants to make sure that he understands that 35% would be needed to sign the
petition, which then goes to the student body.
Senator Howard stated that he is amendable to the number. If someone were going to
legislate this way, then he would like to see more than 200 students vote on the matter.
Senator Cabral said he doesn’t support 35% and things that it is a little high, but he thinks
that 15% is too low. If there is a major change to the constitution and only 300 students
have voted on it we need to get more students than that. Senator Startt said we have only
had this happen once out of 29 years and we are preventing students from having a voice. If
we increase that number it is limiting. Senator Simon said it would take a year, and these
things should not happen in a month. Senator Lulay expressed that there should be more
vote participation. And that is our job to get voters. He suggested that in order for
something to pass, we should set a certain number of students to vote. Sammy Smart
agreed and that there should be something about education students before the vote. This
allows us to do a better job and educate them to have a proper vote and educator
awareness. Senator Lulay said that we should a percent on the student body vote and we
need to start requiring putting something in place requiring a percentage of the student
body to vote. Sammy asked should that be for everything then. Senator Libby responded
and said it needs to be on voting and the percentage. Senator Simon asks the Senate if their
opinion would be different if it was 35%. Even in our Legislative meeting it has been going
back and forth. Would less than 35% be more reasonable or does 15% fine? Senator Gorshe
wanted to clarify that we are discussing the amount of people that are need to sign a
petition, then it would be taken to the President. He addressed Sammy and told that her
point is completely valid about educating students about any issues that arises. The
President does have that power to suggest that students should be educated. Chairperson
Woodhouse asked the Senate if everyone felt comfortable voting.
Motion: Senator Gorshe move to amend the section to read 20% instead of 35%
Second: Senator Howard
Discussion: Senator Tillinghast thought that it should be 25% or 35% and that we are not
trying to prevent students rather we are trying to represent students. He further explained
that we can’t control how many students vote and it wouldn’t be a bad thing for us to try
because we can’t make the students vote. The increase is to better represent the student
body, at least a quarter of the population. Senator Cabral said that any student can come to
the Legislative body and have a member of Leg represent that member in three different
options. Dr. B commented once again, why do you want to create a petition that is more
difficult.
Vote: 8 in favor, 3 opposed, 1 abstain. Amendment passed and it now reads 20%.
Vote: 7 in favor, 5 opposed, 1 abstain. Constitution changes to Article XI, Section 1 did not
pass
Motion: Senator Gorshe move to vote on Constitution changes to Article XII, Section 12
Second: Senator Tillinghast
Discussion: Senator Cabral expressed to vote on each subsection individually. Senator
Gorshe explained the changes. Section one- will probably be voted no considering the
results from the previous vote. Section two- added that the initiative board must be
confirmed by a 2/3 vote and it would just follow suite that the President would appoint the
board. Senator Tillinghast said that these changes were largely discussed because it
seemed very vague and they wanted more structure. Senator Gorshe agreed with Senator
Tillinghast in that it was very vague and the inherent nature of the initiative is for the
population to vote, the board will be given discretion. Senator Gorshe further explains that
the President could appoint any number to the board, as long as it is a sufficient number.
Senator Cabral said that the board would consist of people who are unbiased and from both
sides. Supreme Justice Monika asked if the board would be reviewing the initiative and
then the students would vote, yes. Senator Gorshe clarified that the board is already there
in the constitution and we would not be creating any new positions. Rather, the board has a
purpose so if the President is biased then the board can suggest what to do. Senator Soto
added that the Senate would still confirm to make sure the board is unbiased. Senator
Howard said that appointing a board every year would seem unrealistic considering that
this is something that happens once every 29 years. Senator Tillinghast added that with the
Initiative Board, the purpose is not to decide if the initiative is right or not, but if it will be
sent out to the students or not and there could be room for bias. Dr. B expressed that again,
he is going to give his advisory opinion. He continues that he concerned about the
imbalance of power between the Senate and Executive. You may all agree and be fair but
you never know what future groups are going to be like and you should be careful about an
interpretation. Senator Lulay clarified that Dr. B is not supporting the board. Dr. B replied
and said that he is giving advisory about balance of power, you want to think about the big
picture so if students are upset about legislature, they can express that and you want to
make sure that there are not too many check points. Senator Gorshe agreed with
everything that Dr. B said, and that the changes are to assure that things go properly. He
said in a perfect world he would like no executive or no Senator to choose who is on the
board, and with this, we would like the Senate to have a voice. Dr. B said let’s take a bigger
picture of balancing powers many of you are moving on to be on the Executive team, and
then sometimes people get frustrated. This organization does a lot of great things for
students and we want to make sure we have a balance of powers. He posed the question
why would we want to set ourselves up in the first place to have to go there and have
Supreme Court check. We should minimize the oversight. Chairperson Woodhouse stated
the Senate needed t o wrap things up. Senator Ortega expressed that the Appropriations
committee doesn’t hear anything before we get to this meeting. Chairperson Woodhouse
suggested that the Senate needs to get back to what we are voting on and not to get into
that discussion.
Vote: 6 in favor, 6 opposed. Article XII, Section 2 did not pass.
Motion: Senator Gorshe move to table the remaining of the governing document changes
agenda for Item C
Second: Senator Startt
Discussion: None
Vote: 9 in favor, 3 opposed, the remaining agenda for Item C has been tabled
New Action Business
Motion: Senator Simon move to vote on Item A and B: IA, $400 and SB 26-89 $1785.23 for
Brandon Watkins.
Second: Senator Cook
Discussion: Brandon Watkins is requesting funds to attend a TV Show conference. At the
conference he learned things beyond NAU such as advance camera technology and other
advanced technologies. After the conference he plants to host actual workshop next Fall for
a three-hour course. In this course, he plans to teach peers what he learned beyond what is
normally taught at NAU. The funding will go towards registration cost, hotel, and
transportation.
Vote: Unanimous, Item A and B: IA: $400 and SB 26-89: $1785.23 for Brandon Watkins has
been approved
Motion: Senator Soto move to vote on Item C: IA: Jared Gorshe, $234
Second: Senator Lulay
Discussion: Jared Gorshe attended a leadership conference that was hosted by leadership
institute held in Boulder CO. The registration and hotel were sponsored and he is asking
funding for the rental car. At the conference, he learned a lot of PR and media as well as
crisis intervention techniques. Dr. B asked is this conference was solely for student leaders,
no. Jared said there were students from various clubs, they could use these skills towards
student organizations an din careers post-grad.
Vote: 11 in favor, 1 abstain. Item C: IA: Jared Gorshe, $234 has been approved.
Motion: Senator Libby move to vote on Item D: OA: American Society of Interior Design,
$350
Second: Senator Soto
Discussion: ASID explained that in their club, they like to take trips to different areas in
Arizona to learn more about interior design. They are requesting reimbursement for 16
students and their transportation costs. At Arcesonie, they are going to have various cool
designs that they want to study. They will also be taking a tour that is related to their
courses.
Vote: Unanimous, Item D: OA: American Society of Interior Design, $350 has been approved
Motion: Senator Ortega move to vote on Item E and F: OA: $500 and SB 26-93, $3500 for
NAU Quidditch.
Second: Senator Gorshe
Discussion: NAU Quidditch is requesting funding for travel costs to World Cup in South
Carolina. Last year when they attended the World Cup, they became a Cinderella story by
winning their pool to advance to the elite 8.They also won the #swag award at last year’s
World Cup. NAU is printed proudly on their jerseys and they represent sportsmanship and
the school. They have developed into a very competitive team, and they could win the
world championship this year. They are taking their full roster of 21 members and they are
asking for an OA and Senate Bill. Approximately $2,000 has been fundraised through efforts
such as t-shirt sells, letter writing campaign, and knitted hats. They are willing to pay the
rest out of pocket. Senator Tillinghast thanks NAU Quidditch for coming in and being ready
and representing.
Vote: Unanimous, Item E and F: OA: $500 and SB 26-93, $3500 for NAU Quidditch has been
approved
Motion: Senator Gorshe move to vote on Item G: SB 26-94: Sierra Jones, $685
Second: Senator Lulay
Discussion: Sierra Jones was approved for funding to go to a conference in Colorado last
month through her club Public Achievement. However, their club does not have a bank
account so she is here today get receive the funding under her name. Therefore, the
reimbursement would be coming back to her. She is the only one who attended the
conference from her club.
Vote: Unanimous, Item G: SB 26-94: Sierra Jones, $685 has been approved
Executive Reports
a. President- Makenzie Mastrud
-President Mastrud took minutes for today’s meeting so she will send her report
via e-mail
b. Vice President of Student Affairs- CJ Cooper
- He said he will e-mail out
c. Vice President of Academic Affairs- Shayla Woodhouse
-Hours are due today so please turn those in. She then reminded all of the
Senators to please follow cleaning schedule. She then gave a shout out to Art, Dr.
B and CJ with the Mia Hamm speech. She asks Zach and Jared if they were both
available for the April 9th parking appeals hearing board.
d. Chief of Staff- Sammy Smart
- Sammy Smart handed out a half sheet of paper for the April ASNAU Events.
The 5K relay event is this Sunday and she said that we need people to sign up
and help out. If you haven't signed up, please do. Relay for Life is next week
and please sign up if you haven’t done so, and you don’t have to stay the whole
time. Relay for Life has raised $48,000 so far. The Ellie Goulding giveaway is
the following day after Relay and if you can't work that event then you have to
work the concert. She reminds everyone that if you go to the concert you go
and be responsible. The Undie Run is also coming up on April 17th. Lastly, the
ASNAU Banquet is on May 3rd.
Staff Reports
A. Student State Affairs- Ben Silva, Dylan Lefler, Oregon McDiarmid
- The SSA Directors give thanks for the tuition talks. The directors will be at
ABOR next week
B. Public Relations- Colleen Flynn, Spencer Carlton
- This week, Public Relations worked on the Ellie Gouling line holders. They also
worked on the Louie awards programs, extended shutte and library hours
poster. Lastly, they are going to create Legal Aid posters.
C. Special Events- Chyna Gade, Jillian Zuniga
- All Sammy's announcements. Chyna passed around the Purple Run 5k sign-up
sheet.
D. ITS- Joey Smoll
- Joey is working with Matt, the new student legal aid, to make changes to the
webpage.
E. NSG- Annsley Niemann, Derek Lopez, Jeremy Chan
- NSG is hosting a Dodgeball tournament on April 12th in the HLC. The event is to
raise money and cans for hunger for Louie’s cupboard. To attend, bring one can
of food.
Committee Reports
A. Appropriations: Senator Ortega: The work we do in our committee is prevalent
at our meetings every Thursday.
B. Legislative: Senator Gorshe: Thank you that after five weeks we have gotten to
some things that my committee wanted to adjust; we will probably be bringing
changes until the end of the year.
Senator Reports
College of Arts and Lettersa. Thomas Lulay- Senator Lulay and Tillinghast have a meeting with
their Dean on Monday.
b. Scott Tillinghast- Thank you for approving the bill that I wrote today.
College of Social and Behavioral Sciencesa. Ernan Cabral- They are scheduling their Deans meeting sometime this
week or the next. There is also a Tobacco Taskforce meeting
tomorrow at 3pm in the HLC, which he will be attending.
b. Brittany Simon- She attended the Tuition Hearings earlier this week.
She went to ABOR yesterday and will be going again next week. She
thanks everyone who stays until the meeting is adjourned.
College of Health and Human Servicesa. Zachary Howard- Senator Startt and Howard have a Deans meeting
scheduled. Legislative was great yesterday and he invites anyone to
stop by.
b. Nicolas Startt- No report.
College of Educationa. Alyssa Soto- No report.
b. Jared Gorshe- They are trying to set up another meeting with our
Dean. Thank everyone for staying past the end,
College of Businessa. Ryan Cook- No report.
b. Alexandria Buchta- Senator Cook and Buchta are trying to set up
another meeting with their Dean.
College of Forestry, Engineering, and Natural Sciencesa. Nicole Ortega- Senator Ortega and Libby have a meeting with their
Dean next Friday. She will be going to strategic budget council
meeting tomorrow.
b. Savannah Libby- She attended the Student Safety Committee, and
there will be a forum on April 24th.
Advisor Reports (Rick Brandel and Art Farmer)
Rick Brandel— Thank you very much for those folks that spoke on Tuesday at the
Tuition Hearing and it definitely made NAU look very good. He wanted to
congratulate those folks who were elected and those who were not elected because
they put themselves out there.
Art Farmer— He agrees with what Dr. B. said. He appreciates everyone dealing and
hanging in there with the issues that were discussed today. These things are not
easy and to appreciate the struggle.
Discussion Items
-None
Announcements
Golden Pine Cone Award: Senator Nicole Ortega. Chairperson Woodhouse thanks her for
taking on the new role this semester as Chair of the Appropriations committee and doing a
wonderful job.
Important Dates

See handout from Sammy
Adjournment
Motion: Senator Gorshe move to adjourn the meeting
Second: Senator Tillinghast
Vote: Unanimous, meeting adjourned at 7:05 P.M.