University of North Florida Student Senate
Senate Meeting Minutes – October 13th 2014 – 6:30 to 9:00 PM – Senate Chambers
I.
Call to Order
- Meeting is called to order at 6:30PM
II.
Invocation – Senate Chaplain Julia Talley
III.
Pledge of Allegiance- Senate President Ramirez
IV.
Roll Call – Senate President Pro-Tempore Shomari Gloster– sgaspt@unf.edu
-
Quorum is established with 29 voting members
V.
Approval of Minutes – September 29th 2014
- Senator Ceopi: Motion to approve last meetings minutes. Second. All in favor. Moved
VI.
Approval of Agenda
- Senator Gomez: I move to approve the agenda for October 13th, 2014. Second. All in favor. Moved.
VII.
Recognition of Students Seeking Appointment
- None
VIII.
Student Remarks (3 minutes per Student)
- None
IX.
Guest Speakers
- None
X.
Office of Elections
a. Elections Commissioner – True Rains sgaelections@unf.edu (5 minutes)
- Commissioner Rains emailed his report: “I am excited to announce we will have competitive elections this fall.
After disqualifications we have 28 candidates who are eligible to run for the 20 available senate seats. I will
need help in order to make this a successful election. We will be offering three voting stations. I will need all
senators in spring seats to sign up for a shift on Tuesday and Wednesday. The shifts are only 2 hours long, so
you will be able to sign up for times that are convenient for you. I will be sending out an email tomorrow with
the link to a sign-up sheet. This will be a team effort. Thank you in advance.”
XI.
Judicial Branch Report
a. Chief Justice – Daniel Powers sgajc@unf.edu (5 minutes)
- I would like to preface this report by stating that no action was ever pending on the senate as a whole. The
pending action was taken against an individual charged with overseeing the completion of a task. So please
disregard the rumors that have been circulating. I would also like to address the constitutional authority of the
court. We settle disputes that involved student government and representatives of student government. As a
student government judiciary, the judicial council shall serve as the final deciding body with all disputes. Our
decision to find the senate president in violation of chapter 408.4 is the final decision and an accurate decision.
Our decision is based off of facts and their presentation given to us. At about 6:25 today we released our
written decision. We made our ruling based off of the constitution. Now with the decision having been made,
it is imperative that our recommendations are seen through to the finish. The C&S committee should revise
statutes containing the word passage to reflect the interpretation as well as the language in the constitution
within 30 days.
o Senate Pro-Tempore Gloster: As C&S chair when will I be able to get a copy of the report? - It was
emailed out today.
XII.
Executive Branch Reports
a. Osprey Productions – Andrew Coconato opdir@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- Last Wednesday we went to Myrtle Beach for the NACA conference. OP really made a huge impact in
presence. We are ahead of the game; we are among the few schools that are student ran. Our lack of football
team creates more space for our events. The whole conference went really well. We have our movie night this
Wednesday, 22 Jump Street. We have thrilling dead practice tonight. One thing I really took away from our
conference is to lead with love.
b. Club Alliance – Katie Jackson sgacluba@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- I just wanted to say thank you for all of those who helped with club fest. We have a meeting this Friday in the
Student Union Auditorium. We still have specialized board fairs going on. We had a sports one last week. For
our philanthropic special board meeting we had the chance to get some things for Lend-A-Wing. There are
still three more fairs, so come by the green from 10:00-3:00 on October 21st for the Academic clubs,
November 4th for Special Interests, and November 14th for Religion and Faith.
o Senator Rader: What time is the meeting Friday?- 11:00AM
o Senator Brown: I know for clubs they have to sign in for these meetings, how does it work for student
government? - You don’t have to sign in, just say that you are here.
c. Attorney General – Matthew Harris sgaag@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- In light of the events of the past week and the report that the Chief Justice gave, I have nothing else to add to
the subject. But I am going to give you the opportunity to ask me questions you might have on the subject or
about my role in the proceedings.
o Senator Rotella: What is your role in the judicial process? - My role is to serve as the chief executive
prosecutor. So in this capacity I served at the prosecutor.
d. Treasurer – Morgan Wolf sgasbt@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- Chairman Kennedy, Business Manager Knipe, and I have been working on updating the current travel and
purchase request forms as well as the special request forms found online. The old ones will still be accepted
until the end of the semester. Today I had my first meeting with a budget director for the new budget process.
Within the next weeks I will be meeting with the different budget directors in their departments, and then I
will start preparing the budget.
e. Vice President – Anthony Stevens sgavpres@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- The lounge is officially in, about two weeks ago. I have seen non-stop traffic in that area. I am also currently
working on having a boathouse committee. Right now I will have a committee where students will come in
and say what they would like done. So if you have any recommendations, come see me. Lastly the plot in the
Ogier garden, we won plot of the month.
o Senator Rader: For the boathouse committee can any of us assist you in that? - Just come talk to me.
o Senator Cepoi: Can students from outside be on the committee? - Yes.
o Chairman Baker: Is this for renovations or events? - Renovations.
f. President – Joseph Turner sgapres@unf.edu (5 minutes)
- In light of the recent circumstances, I think it’s important they don’t lose sight of what we are here for and the
great work that we do. I think what happened in the last senate meeting was great; we passed a joint resolution
together that encouraged the university to adopt a policy allowing students to trade in their blue lot passes for
a refund. 46 students took advantage of that all through out last week. Along those same lines, senate president
pro-tempore Gloster and I and he let me know about his concerns about the projects and their process. In
light of that conversation chief of staff Waychoff is preparing a lengthy report about the projects we are
working on. I think you play an important role in those projects. We will be scheduling meetings with anyone
who is interested in sharing their ideas with us, those include site tours. I would like to talk about the free print
lab. We do about 1,200 prints a day. This is getting to be a bit much for the location and the machine. We will
move it to commissioner Rains office. We will be putting a glass door on that door. We will have two
machines and 4 computers.
o Senator Pino: With the amount of printing , is that still cheaper than what we had before?- we are still
doing at 15% of the cost
o Senator Gomez: Why were the hours cut? - We saw some misuse. One person printed off 1,000 pages.
We closed it earlier for security issues. I still think it is important to keep it open. It will cut down on
abuse of the system.
o Senator Brown: Are we still doing advertisements? - We certainly are. We have signs around campus.
XIII.
Legislative Cabinet Reports
a. Constitution and Statutes Committee – Chairman Shomari Gloster sgaspt@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- In the C&S committee we had 4 appeal hearings. One of the senators resigned before. One senator got it
appealed before. The other two senators got their seats revoked. We also had a bill workshop during our
committee. Due to the elections I am going to hold off on the dispersal of the constitutions.
o Chairman Baker: Does that mean we won’t get our constitutions until spring? – No, you will get them
after the elections.
b. Budget and Allocations Committee – Chairman Blake Kennedy sgabac@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- We are getting all of our fiscal request forms a makeover. This is just so we don’t have to deal with all the
technical issues we are dealing with currently. I will update you on the account totals: Special Request budget is
sitting at $312,690 and we will be hearing two special requests tonight so if those pass it will be at $291,402.81,
Travel Request budget is currently sitting at $21,154.96, and our Salary Reserves budget is sitting at $57,978.8.
In our committee we had 6 requests. The travel requests included: Cody Quattlebaum which passed 8-0-0,
Jordan Farrell which passed 8-0-0, Marykate Swenarton which passed 8-0-0, and the Pre-Law Organization
which passed 8-0-0. As for the special requests, the first one is for the judicial branch, they are requesting
$1,287.19. Secondly we will see the executive request; there is a friendly on line 14 that we will fix.
c. Government Oversight Committee – Chairwoman Amanda Wollam (3 minutes)
- My committee finalized the appointee application and it is now in the Rotunda. Although there aren’t any
open seats right now, still encourage people to fill them out, there is a waiting list. In our upcoming meetings
we will be working on revising title 13.
o Senator Cepoi: What sections of title 13 are you looking to revise? - We have not yet discussed in my
committee, it is just going to be under revision.
d. University and Student Affairs Committee – Chairman Chase Baker sgausac@unf.edu (3 minutes)
- In our last committee we talked about the new osprey voice questions and town hall. For town hall we are
thinking about doing the Boathouse. We want to work with the boat house to get discounts for the students to
encourage people to come out. I was hoping to get someone from the parking advisory board to come out to
talk to them. Osprey Voice is tomorrow on the Green. I will pass around the sheet now so you know when
you signed up for. The questions for this Osprey Voice include: 1) What your n-number. 2) What way do you
prefer taking your survey? 3) What parking lot do you normally park in? 4) What events would you like to see
on campus? 5) Food service in the library. 6) What can SG do to make your school experience a better one?
o Senator Rader: Where would the town hall meeting be? - Boathouse.
o Senator Cepoi: If 80% say yes to these questions, how do we proceed? - We would write a JR. We
would move forward once we have the data.
o Chairman Kennedy: We wear our senator shirt for Osprey Voice? - Yes.
e. Senate President Kaitlin Ramirez sgasp@unf.edu (5 minutes)
- Tonight we have two special requests and bill writing workshop. Our senate Parliamentarian was no longer
able to fulfill the duties of a senator and his position is now open. If you are interested in becoming the next
Parliamentarian please see me after the meeting. I would like to thank you all for your support and for being a
part of the system that works for our fellow students. The eventual decision that was reached was that I was
found in violation. This statute has been in effect in 2010 and was deemed now to be amended for
clarification. Though I was not keen in the way the matter was handled it has not taken away my faith in the
system, because the system is not only one individual but all of us. I have confidence in all of us.
XIV.
New Business
a. Legislation considered for 1st Reading
b. Senate and Joint Resolutions on 1st Reading
c. Legislation considered for 2nd Reading
i. SB-14F-2806 Judicial Branch Senior Associate Justice – Sen. Rotella: I fully support this; it was
passed unanimously in the B&A committee.
- Powers: This will create continuity within the court. We would create a success order. The Senior Associate
Justice will follow after the associate Chief Justice. This will help with the clerical work. We could be using our
time for other things. 10 hours a week fall and spring. This will allow us to implement this in the spring.
o Senator Guerra: Would the senior associate chief justice be replacing the associate chief justice? - No,
it will be working in conjunction with.
o Senator Guerra: Would they be a voting member?- Yes
o Chairman Kennedy: You want to pull this out of the existing justices? - We are hoping to get some
appointees, one candidate who graduates in 2017 and would be perfect for it.
Senator Grantham: What would the tasks include for this position? - Mainly clerical, keeping up with
the parking complaint emails and keeping minutes. It gives us a free hand.
o Senator Guerra: We never needed one before, so how do you justify it now? – I wouldn’t say that we
never needed one. Clarified through the succession order, they can help out with basic organization. It
can go in a more positive direction.
o Senator Guerra: How do you justify those 10 hours? –With the work they would be doing.
o Chairman Baker: Why couldn’t a current justice do that? – They are working for free. This would be
an incentive for them to move up in leadership.
o Senator Kennedy: Have you spoken with the professional staff? - Yes.
o Senator Brown: The positions now, how many hours a week do they work? - I have to send Ben most
days, we can’t work for free.
o Senator Grantham: Current associate justices are voluntary? - Yes.
 Senator Talley: motion to approve SB-14F-2806. Second. Discussion. Senator Gloster:
motion to close the floor for discussion. Second. Moved. Roll call vote: 19-0-10. Motion passes.
ii. SB-14F-2807 UNF Outdoor Amphitheater – Sen. Cepoi: This was passed unanimously in the
B&A committee.
- President Turner: The main reason behind this is due to the costs OP incurs from past concerts. This is due to
the current infrastructure of the amphitheater. There will be a point in time where this will be avoided. This
will allow us to allocate for more artists themselves. Before we do anything, it has to go through campus
planning. They ask how much money we have set aside. I reached out to the director, and said it would cost
anywhere between $10,000-$20,000. That is why we are requesting $20,000. 80% of our students would like to
see this done.
o Senator Grantham: You went over previous costs that were incurred, will this renovation negate those
costs?- Not all of it
o Chairman Baker: When will this be built? – This doesn’t build anything; it is only getting us
information. I anticipate getting this study back in a month.
o Senator Brown: They suggested $10,000-$20,000, did they actually break down what all is required? They need to bring in an engineer first and also an architect. They said something about bringing in a
sound expert as well.
o Senator Gomez: Have there been feasibilities study before? – When they built this money, they had
money left over in the end. The amphitheater was thrown in and wasn’t done in the capacity it should
have.
o Senator Rader: If we pass this feasibility study and find out the cost of it all, is that going to save a lot
of money? - If the project comes back and its 2 million dollars, then it is probably not worth it. It
makes long term fiscal sense to do this.
 Senator Rader: I move to approve SB-14F-2807. Second. Discussion. Senator Brown: motion
for unanimous consent. Second. All in favor. Moved. Motion passes.
d. Senate and Joint Resolutions on 2nd Reading
o
XV.
Legislative Appointment
a. Jonathan Rader for Senate Sergeant at Arms
- Being sergeant at arms is very important to me. It is my job for the safety of the students. I was the acting
sergeant at arms at my previous school. It was my job to maintain order at the meetings.
 Senator Baker: Motion to approve Jonathan Rader as Sergeant at Arms. Second. No
discussion. Roll call vote: 27-1-0 approved.
*Chief Justice Powers swears in Jonathan Rader as Sergeant at Arms*
XVI.
Bill Writing Workshop (30 minutes)
- Let by Senate President Ramirez: *Shows bill template* Overview of the 5 types of bills: Senate Bill (SB),
Simple Resolution (SR), Omnibus Bill (OB), Joint Resolution (JR), and Constitutional Referendum (CR). Any
student can write a bill. If more than one senator would like to write a bill they need to notify for a meeting
and the meeting must take place on this floor. Only senators can sponsor a bill, senate sponsor. If there is no
executive action taken on a bill after 5 days it is called a pocket pass, it automatically passes.
XVII. Announcements
- none
XVIII. Final Roll Call - Senate President Pro-Tempore Shomari Gloster
- Quorum is reestablished with 29 voting members.
XIX.
Adjournment
- Meeting is adjourned at 8:19PM
Minutes prepared by: Leah Tolisano, Senate Secretary.