University of North Florida Student Senate
Senate Meeting Minutes – September 28th, 2015 – 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM – Senate Chambers
I.
Call to Order
 Meeting called to order at 6:34PM.
II.
Invocation – Senate Chaplain Clare Stern
III.
Pledge of Allegiance – Sergeant-at-Arms
IV.
Roll Call – Senate President Pro-Tempore Caleb Grantham
 Quorum has been established with 17 voting members.
V.
Approval of Agenda
 Senator Jordan: Motion to approve tonight’s agenda. Second. All in favor. Motion dies.
 Senator Ascanio: Motion to remove Patrick Saathoff from Legislative Appointments. Second. All in
favor. Moved.
 Senator Grantham: Motion to add Nina Lee to Legislative Appointments. Second. All in favor.
Moved.
 Senator Ascanio: Motion to approve tonight’s agenda as amended. Second. All in favor. Moved.
VI.
Approval of Minutes – September 14th, 2015
 Senator Thames: Motion to change Senator Bottom to Senator Thames in section XVIII Legislative
Appointments, subsection D Farouk Smith. Second. All in favor. Moved
 Senator Lipsky: Motion to approve the minutes from September 14th, 2015 as amended. Second. All
in favor. Moved.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
Recognition of Students Seeking Appointment
 Nicholas Wong: Junior, Political Science major, General Senate Seat
Student Remarks (3 minutes each)
Advisor Shore Advice (3 minutes)
 Viewpoint neutrality states that you cannot be biased when approving or denying the funding of a
club, organization, or student. You must only view the process. The criteria that are neutral are the
only criteria that must be acknowledged. Criteria has to be consistently applied and it must be
transparent. You must remember it’s about the process, not the outcome. It is important to ask
questions whether you are in the committee or in Senate.
Guest Speakers
 Christopher Nowak: Community First Credit Union (10 minutes)
 I know some of you may need help with events and that’s what I’m here for. This
Wednesday I am doing a Welcome video so if you are willing to participate, please let me
know and come to Market Day. We are partnering with a local company called GAM
(Games, Arts, and Music). We are holding our first event on the 29th and will have a
Nintendo out there. We are funding this company to create levels for us in Mario Maker
through Community First. If you want helps with any events, let me know as well.
 Senator Cajuste: Will you open for the entire market day? –Yes, we are out there the
whole time, every Wednesday.
 Reservations and Events Coordinator- Lauren Hodge (5 minutes)
 I wanted to talk about the Student Union and what it offers. It is a $45 million building. We
have 52 student employees. We are open most days with sufficient hours. We have contracted
vendors within our facility, most believe we control them, but we do not. Chartwells approves
of them. We are home to many student affairs offices. We have five core functions: UNF
Market Days, the Gameroom, marketing, reservations and events services, and facility
management. We have filled thousands of requests. Students get priority in reservations. We
work with a lot of groups closely so we are always available to assist you. The Gameroom had
166,000 visitors last year. They are also now open to partnering with students or organizations
to do different programs. There are a lot of social media initiatives with marketing; there will
be a UNF Monopoly game available in the Gameroom. We also have photographers now.
 Senator Jordan: With regards to the photographer, does the event have to be in the
Student Union? –Yes, it does.
XI.
Office of Elections Report
 Elections Commissioner Brad Johnson (3 minutes)
 I placed a bunch of elections koozies in the back, please take one. No campaigning is
permitted in Residence Halls. No candidates can operate under implied Student
Government endorsement. Next week I will be making a signup sheet available to those
senators who are not running to work the voting booth. Tomorrow is the deadline for
candidate declarations.
XII.
Judicial Branch Report
 Chief Justice Ben Jaeger (5 minutes)
 We have two judicial candidates coming up tonight. They have been interviewed thoroughly
through Dana and I and the GO committee. The Judicial Branch interview process is the
hardest in Student Government.
 Senator Burke: How long will they serve for? –I am not sure of one but the other
will serve until graduation in December.
XIII.
Executive Branch Reports
 Osprey Productions – Director Katie Jackson (3 minutes)
 We have Laser Tag tomorrow in SU ballrooms at 7PM. Wednesday there is a screening of
Magic Mike at 7PM and 9:45PM. October 8th is the Big Sean concert with Asher Roth.
Please invite your friends on Facebook to the concert event. Please volunteer for shifts. We
are a finalist for NACA as being best in the Southeast. If you have any free time and want to
help out, please stop by. If you want a shirt, also please stop by. If you do volunteer, you
have to get a badge and please be professional. If anyone has a clothing rack, please let me
know.
 Club Alliance – Director Zachary Mease (3 minutes)
 We had registration deadline last week. We had exactly 200 clubs sign up. Compared to
UCF, who has 345 clubs, our numbers are great. If you need volunteer hours, please help
out. The General Body meeting is this Friday at 11AM, probably an hour or so. We also
have a talon panting party right after that. We will have pizza. Club Fest will be on the
October 29th. If you could help setup or breakdown, that would be great.
 Treasurer Cameron Duffy (3 minutes)
 In B&A last week we went over provisionary language and did the creation of a line item in
the budget for apparel. We ran into some confusion in that with Title VIII but it was very
broad so we will fix that. If anyone has any questions about Title VIII please see me. Dawn
and I worked last week in audits. The last time it was done was 2011. They are extremely
important to understand A&S Fees. Next week I am starting my preliminary budget
discussions.
 Senator Ascanio: Are there any specific changes you want to make in Title VIII you
know so far? –A lot of grammar issues and clarifications.
 Attorney General Dana Baker (3 minutes)
 Filling the Judicial Branch is very exciting. Thank you to President Guerra who has seen this
as a priority compared to previous administrations.
 Vice President Jordan Wilson (3 minutes)
 I had my first meeting with Brockelman this past week for two and a half hours. We started
looking into a few initiatives that President Guerra and myself have. One is guns on campus.
We are also looking into the extra credit hour surcharge. We talked a lot about facility
funding. We have gone through two tiers of the three tiers of funding for buildings 3 and 4.
We also talked a lot about communicating, making sure we have transparency. We are also
working on getting some guest speakers and some downtown initiatives and trips. We also
talked about creating an Ad Hoc committee to update you all on my research and get your
opinions. It would also help us bring in students for Rally and Tally. I have also worked with
Lend-a-Wing, transferring them as an agency. Please volunteer but be professional, treat
people with respect.
 Senator Ascanio: In regards to the Office of Government Affairs, what are you
planning on doing to secure funds? –They take taxes through the budget through a
fund. There is a lot of planning still.
 Senator Jordan: What exactly are they changing about building 3 and 4? –They want
state of the art laboratories.
o President Guerra: They want to build up instead of build out because we
have limited space on this campus as it is a nature preserve.
 Senator Thames: Is there a specific stance that UNF has about guns on campus? –
The twelve state university administrations are against it. Our BOT are against it. We
want to make sure we are supporting the opinion of the students. It will be surveyed
in Osprey Voice and it will be approved through statistical analysis so it is not biased.
We want to also bring this up in the Ad Hoc committee.
 President Hailey Guerra (5 minutes)
 We have hired a project manager, Glehn Von Loh. We are working with a company that
creates policy. FSA brought them to help us make legislative policy. In regards to On
Campus Carry, there will be an event hosted by President Delaney that speaks on that topic,
if you want to attend please see me. October 5th is the Field House opening at 2PM. Take
Back the Night is October 6th. If anyone is passionate about that please see me so you can
attend. The concert is October 8th. The Judicial Branch has done their diligence in assuring
they have a full branch, I appreciate that. We are also holding a town hall event and will
personally be giving out invitations to students. We have a UNF themed Minute to Win It
game show for Parent’s Weekend.
 Senator Villavicencio: Where will the Town Hall be? –the SU auditorium.
XIV.
Legislative Branch Reports
 Constitution and Statutes Committee – Chairman Caleb Grantham (3 minutes)
 I know voice vote is a little uncomfortable but please vote based on your personal opinion.
Last Monday we met and had discussion on parliamentary procedure and senator absences. I
will do a presentation on parliamentary procedure. If you are confused, raise a point of
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XV.
XVI.
information. If you want your voice heard, make an amendment. If you are unsure what is
being talked about, raise a point of order. Parliamentary procedure is a predetermined set of
rules to ensure efficiency. Subsidiary motions affect how the main motion is being handled,
examples are amendments. Privilege motions are mainly used for safety concerns, the
microphone isn’t working, etc. Overriding a veto must be passed by 2/3 vote. This is all
important because we have the ability to make an impact on the university so we must
follow all rules and regulations.
Budget and Allocation Committee – Chairman Chase Baker (3 minutes)
 I need two travel requests sponsored.
Government Oversight – Chairman Gustavo Ascanio (3 minutes)
 We have a few appointments coming up tonight for both the Legislative Branch and Judicial
Branch.
University and Student Affairs – Chairwoman Cassidy Keefe (3 minutes)
 October Osprey Voice is the 12th, 13th, and 14th of October. From last month’s Osprey Voice
results, most students had already heard of the Lend-a-Wing Pantry. Majority of students
said “yes” to it being beneficial to also have clothing at Lend-a-Wing Pantry. If they
answered “yes” to that question, they were asked what kind of clothing would you take, and
most said “shirts”. We asked how safe do you feel walking alone on campus at night, and
most students said “very safe”. We also asked if electronic device chargers were provided for
checkout in the library, would students utilize it and was unanimously responded with a
“yes”. We also asked what kind of electronic device students had and most replied “an
iPhone”.
 Senator Butler: Could you please explain each stat in the type of clothing? –Yes, it
does not equal 100 because students could pick more than one choice.
 Senator Jordan: Could you explain what the colors mean in the safety question? –
Yes, purple means safe.
Senate President Chase Baker (5 minutes)
 We had Chick-fil-A before Senate. Please be attending outside events. Be prepared. Make
sure you know everything about everything you vote on so you can back up your argument
and explain how it benefits the students. You represent the students. Ask questions. Listen
with action. You are all leaders so be the best person you can be. If you miss an entire Senate
meeting or committee meeting, that is two absence points.
 How do you know what events cause absence points? –Every event usually.
Unfinished Business
 Legislations considered for 1st Reading
 Simple and Joint Resolutions on 1st Reading
 Legislations considered for 2nd Reading
 Simple and Joint Resolutions on 2nd Reading
New Business
 Simple and Joint Resolutions on 1st Read
 Legislation on 1st Read
 Simple and Joint Resolution on 2nd Read
 Legislation considered for 2nd Read
 SB-15F-2893 Amendments to Fiscal Year 2015-16 A&S Fee Budget Provisionary Language
– Senator Villavicencio and Treasurer Duffy
 We no longer fund the Arena because of the new Field House. These are provisions
to the budget to reflect that. It changes a lot of provisionary language to remove all
mentions of funding the Arena and to include mentions of funding the Field House.
o Senator Thames: On the second page there is something that refers to
advanced deposits for damage, does that mean if student organizations
damage the facilities, they don’t have to pay for it? –No, they are responsible.
The line you are referring to is for advanced deposit only.
o Vice President Wilson: Does this change negatively impact future
reservations and such for Student Government or OP? –There is nothing we
can do about it now but we are planning on figuring that out this January.
o Senator Jordan: Motion to approve SB-15F-2893. Second. Motion rescinded.
o Senator Jordan: Motion to amend SB-15F-2893 under Sponsor reads Janrei
Villavicencio instead of Troy Bottom. Second. Motion resent.
o Senator Jordan: Motion to amend SB-15F-2893 under Sponsor so it reads
Troy Bottom and Janrei Villavicencio. Second. All in favor. Moved.
o Senator Thames: Motion to approve SB-15F-2893 as amended. Second.
Discussion.
o Senator Jordan: Motion to approve through unanimous consent. Second. All
in favor. Moved.
XVII.
Legislative Appointments
 Kristoff Nicholson – General Senate Seat
 I am an Accounting major. I want to be a Senator because I think there are several changes
we can make together. Wi-Fi, parking, and 24/5 library hours are a few. I spoke with Senator
Keefe about Osprey Voice and participation. I want to add transparency in regards to
Osprey Productions and their homecoming funding. They also just said they had to turn
some students away from the Movie Nights, what happened since then to ensure that
students who pay their fees can attend movies.
 Senator Jordan: You stated you want to bring 24/5 hours to the library, have you
spoke to any library staff about how you would accomplish this? –I spoke with Vice
President Wilson who directed me to Senator Keefe. I want to move forward with
this and speak to the library staff once I have more information.
 Senator Grantham: Could you elaborate more on the concern you express with
Osprey Productions? –The Director came up and said that Osprey Productions was
not the same as Homecoming. No one questioned that. They were then funded extra
wages for a new Assistant director position to deal with Homecoming, which is not
in the Constitution to have two. I was assured that it was being worked on.
 Senator Butler: You said you wanted to fix the Wi-Fi and parking, with only a year
left how would you do that? –Parking must be a mandated fix, I cannot fix it but I
can patch it up but having the signs outside reflect student parking only.
 Senator Thames: You said you wanted the library to be 24/5, what is it now? –No, it
now closes at 3:30AM Monday-Friday.
 Senator Rosen: You seem extremely passionate about UNF, in your past three years
what have you been involved in? –I have been here for one year so far, I am an
international transfer student. I work in Campus Life.
 Senator Burke: Will you be running in the upcoming election? –If I get a seat tonight,
I will not.
 Senator Burke: Since we only have four meetings left in this term, will you have the
time to accomplish those? –I would not consider coming here if I did not feel I
could accomplish something.
 Senator Villavicencio: Have you thought about how to implement them? –I cannot
speak to Wi-Fi yet unless I have a Student Government title. With parking, I did a
speech to the BOT and was asked what I would fix. I want to put a mandate on
parking. For the library, I want to do an Osprey Voice to see what students want.

Senator Burke: What is your suggestion for the parking mandate? –Change the signs
and ensure that when students buy a pass they have a spot.
 Senator Villavicencio: Motion to approve Kristoff Nicholson for a General Senate
Seat. Second. Discussion. Roll call vote passes 18-0-0.
 Seth Johnson – General Senate Seat
 I want to be a Senator because I love UNF in the time that I’ve been here. I am in the
honors program. I may not have much previous experience as a leader but I was NHS in
high school and did some volunteer work. I know what it takes to be a leader. I want to take
action on the initiatives in place.
 Senator Jordan: You said you have been here for a short amount of time, can you
give us anything in regards to what you would change? –I love the busses. If
someone wanted to change something and brought something to me I love to bring
it to you all.
 Senator Villavicencio: Is there is anything else you can bring to the table that would
diversify the Senate? – I have the drive to want to help the school. I have ambition
that I want to see the school become better.
 Senator Cajuste: Have you been involved in any other organizations on campus so
far? –I have not.
 Senator Butler: You said you weren’t involved in anything else, then why Student
Government? –I want to help this school.
 Senator Jordan: You said you don’t have a lot of experience with governance, do you
have any volunteer experience? –I volunteered a lot in high school. I did booths,
marathons, and breakfasts.
 Senator Villavicencio: Have you considered running in the election? –With a spring
seat I can be here longer before an election. With appointment I can see how things
are going for the next few weeks and then jump into projects in the Spring.
 Senator Lipsky: What do you hope to take away from this experience? –I want to be
a better leader and develop my social skills.
 Senator Padgett: Would you be able to walk around campus and talk to students? –
Yes I have more confidence than I think.
 Senator Burke: Why do you love UNF? –The campus is awesome. There are a lot of
opportunities.
 Senator Thames: Motion to approve Seth Johnson for a General Senate Seat.
Second. Discussion. Roll call vote passes 18-0-0.
 Nina Lee – General Senate Seat
 I am a freshman. I want to be a Senator because I have the experience to be a good campus
leader. I was President of many clubs in high school. I would want to work on legislation
that enhances the environment. For social environment I want to work on parking. For
political environment, I want to work on transparency, and make sure all records and
legislation is on the website. For educational environment, I want to do that by bringing in
intellectual advocates and guest speakers. For environmental environment, I want to work
on the Smoke-Free Campus initiative so better campus pride. I also want to work on solarenergy aspects added to the campus.
 Senator Jordan: You said you wanted UNF to be looked upon better compared to
other state universities. Do you have any plan as to how you would accomplish this?
–Yes, I would bring in intellectually advanced speakers that will put UNF’s name on
the map.
 Senator Grantham: Motion to approve Nina Lee for a General Senate Seat. Second.
Discussion. Roll call vote passes 18-0-0.
XVIII.
Judicial Appointments
 Trafenia Salzman – Justice
 I am a junior, majoring in International Business with a minor in Informational Science. I
met Dana over the summer and she encouraged me to join Student Government and I
chose the Judicial Branch. I love law.
 Senator Burke: Are you familiar with the Constitution and Statutes? –Yes, I had to
apply them to a scenario when applying for this position
 Senator Jordan: What role do you think law has in our institution? –I think it is here
for conduct and ethical guidelines.
 Senator Jordan: Would you view yourself as looking more towards the text of the law
or toward the spirit of the law in a scenario? –I believe under the Judicial Branch we
should hear out the situation in front of us and apply the law accordingly.
 Senator Thames: Motion to approve Trafenia Salzman as a Justice. Second.
Discussion. Roll call vote passes 18-0-0.
 Joseph Abdel-Malak – Justice
 I am an English major with a minor in Philosophy. I want to be a Justice because I want to
be involved in this campus. I have been involved in many clubs and was told about this
opportunity recently and have already learned so much from this interview experience alone.
 Senator Jordan: What is your philosophical outlook on how you would administer
the law in our institute? –It is up to us to follow the law and if that can only do so
much we must administer with farness.
 Senator Butler: What sets you apart to administer the law? –I want to be able to
agree upon what is right with my colleagues. I want to make consistent decisions
with the Judicial Branch.
 Senator Jordan: Why did you decide to go for the Judicial Branch? –I want to go to
law school. I also heard this was one of the most challenging spots to get so I took
that on as a challenge.
 Senator Villavicencio: Motion to approve Joseph Abdel-Malak as a Justice. Second.
Discussion. Roll call vote passes 18-0-0.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
Swearing-In of Appointments – Chief Justice Jaeger
Announcements
 I want to thank everyone for asking thorough questions.
 Be sure to get in contact with Farah for Senator Bios if you have not submitted one already.
 Sign up for Osprey Voice.
Final Roll Call – Senate President Pro-Tempore Caleb Grantham
 Quorum has been reestablished with 21 voting members.
Adjournment
 Meeting adjourned at 8:49PM.
Minutes taken by Farah Azzouz, Senate Secretary