University of North Florida Student Senate
Senate Meeting Minutes – July 27th, 2015 – 7:00 PM – 7:45 PM – Senate Chambers
I.
II.
Call to Order
 Meeting called to order at 7:00PM.
Roll Call – Senate President Pro-Tempore Caleb Grantham
 Quorum has been established with 13 voting members.
III.
Pledge of Allegiance – Sergeant-at-Arms Sean O’Linn
IV.
Approval of Agenda
 Senator Ascanio: Motion to add SB-15SA-2875 to 2nd read under New Business. Second. All in
favor. Moved.
 Senator Grantham: Motion to approve tonight’s agenda as amended. Second. All in favor. Moved.
V.
VI.
Student Remarks (3 minutes each)
 None.
New Business
a. Simple and Joint Resolutions on 1st Read
b. Legislation on 1st Read
c. Simple and Joint Resolution on 2nd Read
d. Legislation considered for 2nd Read
i. SB-15SA-2875 Office of Governmental Affairs – Senator Villavicencio
 This bill has already been seen in Budget and Allocations Committee and Senate.
Due to a judicial review, this bill was found to be in non-compliance of a procedural
error. The bill was introduced by another senator, not I, who was not the sponsor.
Nothing on this bill has changed and I fully support this bill to be passed as it was
previously.
 Chief of Staff Wilson: As Senator Villavicencio stated previously, this bill has not
changed whatsoever. This is the bill that related to Southern Strategy group for a
contract of $50,000 with programming lines equivalent to $10,000. This is essential
for our presence in Tallahassee. We have a personal contact, previous Student
Government President Matt Brockelman. As are one of the top lobbying industries
in the nation, they have contracts with Apple and Disney and we lucky to have them.
We have been able to get a deal through our personal connection. UF had a request
for a downtown campus that was approved in the House and Senate but not
approved in the capital because of lack of efficient representation. This initiative
could have potentially been passed with a more experienced and guided lobbying
firm. They are here to guide us though the capital to push our initiatives. They are
also here to help us in OG programming. I want to double, if not triple, student
turnout for these programs, such as Rally for Tally, so students can see what is going
on within our state government. We want to potentially bring governmental figures
to our campus through their connections with Southern Strategy. This contract was
supposed to begin in August 1st but has to go through approval again due a
procedural error. The process must be approved as soon as positive because the
legislative agenda in Tallahassee has moved up because of elections next year.
 Senator Bottom: If we were to fund you only for OG travel and
programming, have you talked to the lobbyists we have on campus to utilize
as our lobbyist in Tallahassee? –They are there for President Delaney and his
administration. They are there to ensure UNF is thriving as a business. If we
utilize them our voice will be heard but only if it is in support of President
Delaney’s opinion. If he has an opposing opinion on something we want,
they would represent him and not the Student Body.
 Senator Daniels: How do we plan to track our progress with the lobbyist? –I
plan to come to you all as frequently as possible with our plans, initiatives,
and platforms. I will be constantly updating you all on our progress and
meetings. I hope that data given to you throughout the year will be utilized
and questions will be asked to make sure I am also doing as the Student Body
wishes.
 Senator Grantham: With this delay, what is the plan currently to use the time
most efficiently? –I have already started working and contacting other
presidents of state universities to see how they are in progress. We are also
working with Matt to create a timeline. It is my ability to only adjust to what
is happening, tomorrow starts Day 1 of strategizing and working, utilizing
every hour and day we can to have as much strength going in as possible.
 Senator Grantham: Do you have any statistics on any other Student
Governments? –UF pays $140,000 for their lobbyist which isn’t ranked high.
UCF pays $45,000 for someone ranked 12th. USF pays $55,000 for theirs and
it doesn’t break Top 20. Most state universities have one; even the FSU
campus, located in Tallahassee, has one to make sure the student body is
heard.
 Senator Daniels: Will we be able to hear about the initiatives you send to
Matt before he goes off to the next meeting? –I will be constantly updating
you all on every step of the process. If something happens that is an issue
please come to us so we can research the situation and make sure we are
representing each demographic on campus properly. It is a priority to make
sure the legislative body knows what’s going on.
 Senator Thames: Will we be informed on what is being pushed? –Hopefully
you will be informed and being involved in deciding the initiatives. We have
to focus on 2/3 big initiatives so we can pull statistical data, compare results,
and study the politics of our state government to make those happen.
 President Gloster: Explain contract versus proposal. –We have a contract
that goes through numerous agencies on campus that review it and are
tediously in approving it. A lot of reviewing goes into the contracts, we just
send out a proposal that gets reviewed, edited, and proofread. The contract
can take up to six weeks so that will push us very behind but Southern
Strategy is willing to work with us outside of the contract before official
signing.
 Senator Ascanio: We can opt out of the contract if we feel it is not bringing
the results we want, correct? –Yes, in our letter of intent we have stated that
our President can opt out at any time if we feel we are not making progress
and the Board can opt out of any contract so we have two checks on the
contract.
 Senator Daniels: Will the legislative branch have any role in the contract, like
making it? –No it will not just as the legislative branch doesn’t have any in
involvement in contracts with artists for concerts.
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VII.
VIII.
IX.
Senator Thames: Is there any chance that Southern Strategy will come back
and ask for more money? –No.
Senator Butler: Does Southern Strategy group have any past experience in
representing higher education centers and what is the tract record if they do?
–The FSU President is founder of Southern Strategy; he was in congress and
was Speaker of the House. I’m not sure how many have worked in higher
education centers but they are here to represent us.
President Gloster: Matt Brockelman was the Student Government President
here and acted as the lobbyist with Carlo Fassi as President. In that year, they
pushed in state tuition for veterans and $9 million in campus facilities. With a
firm behind him, there is a lot more than can be done.
Senator Villavicencio: Motion to approve SB-15SA-2875. Second.
Discussion. Roll call vote passes 12-0-1.
Announcements
 Osprey Voice starts tomorrow and continues through the week; please meet with our USA Chair if
you haven’t already discussed working that. Wear your polo’s.
Final Roll Call – Senate President Pro-Tempore Caleb Grantham
 Quorum has been reestablished with 13 voting members.
Adjournment
 Meeting adjourned at 7:33PM.
Minutes taken by Farah Azzouz, Senate Secretary