University Student Affairs Committee Meeting Minutes
February 1st, 2016
Senate Chambers 5:30 PM
Chairwoman: Cassidy Keefe
I.
Call to Order
 Meeting called to order at 5:38PM.
II.
Roll Call
 Quorum has been established with 5 voting members; Mims, Brown, Burton,
Chance, Peele
III.
Approval of Minutes
 Senator Chance: Motion to approve the minutes from last meeting. Second. All in
favor. Moved.
IV.
Approval of Agenda
 Senator Burton: Motion to approve tonight’s agenda. Second. All in favor.
Moved.
V.
Chairman Report and Remarks- sgausa@unf.edu
 I have recently reached out to several food vendors for this semesters
Round Table. Mop’s is looking like the cheaper and better option.
 I have also talked to Ms. Vicky about securing that N number question.
You will see an example of this as I go through the Osprey Voice
Question.
 Also, I will be giving you some questions requested by some senators and
then going into detail, as to why they asked that question.
 Also, if you have any more questions for Round Table please get to me
ASAP. We are looking for some more open ended questions.
VI.
Student Advocate’s Report – Conner Klein
 None
Guest Speakers
 None
VII.
VIII.
Student Remarks
 None
IX.
Old Business
 None
X.
New Business
 JR-16S-2927: HRO
 Senator Jordan:
 JR-16S-2927
 LGBT youth are twice as likely to commit suicide as their peers. Half of
the transgender youth have considered suicide.
 This bill means that Student Government would be endorsing a bill in the
Jacksonville City Council that outlaws discrimination against people that
are LGBT.
 They currently can be evicted from their homes just because of their
LGBT status.
 An eviction or termination of employment could seriously impact a
student’s academic success. This could hurt the statistics of the University
as well.
 Senator Burton:
 Does the Fair Housing Act cover the eviction?
 Senator Jordan:
 Is that at the State level or the federal level?
 Senator Burton:
 I believe it is at the federal level. I don’t see anyone know-a-days denying
someone of living there just because they are gay.
 Senator Jordan:
 The Fair Housing Act does not protect sexual orientation. It might seem
like someone might not evict someone from their home but it does happen.
I do not have any statistics currently with me.
 Senator Burton
 Can you provide some documentation for that because I feel like if they
really do get discriminated against they should take that to the court? Has
anything like this happened at the University before?
 Senator Jordan:
 Fortunately at UNF we have a non-discrimination housing policy.
However the vast majority of UNF students do commute.
 Chairwoman Keefe:
 I will now hear a motion on JR-16S-2627. Is there a motion?
 Senator Mims:
 I motion to approve JR-16S-2627
 Chairwoman Keefe:
 Is there a second?
o Second
 Discussion?
 Senator Mims:
 Regardless of our personal beliefs I think we should take into account that
this does affect students. It might not affect us personally but it does affect
our student body. Like Senator Jordan said, if someone does get evicted or
loses their job that could seriously impact their academic performance. If
someone loses their job that makes it hard to pay for school and tuition. If
someone were to lose their job, where would they live while taking classes
at UNF? I think we should take that into consideration should this pass
committee.
 Senator Brown:
 As a member of the LGBT community, I think this is important. The
situation for lack of a better word is sucky that we are not covered under
any kind of discriminatory policy. I hear people calling for statistics and
that shouldn’t matter. Whether it has happened to just 10 people in the last
10 years, why should it matter that it was only happening to those 10
people? The fact that it has happened and continues to happen makes it a
worthy cause for our University to show support for.
 Senator Beaucham:
 The reason why statistics are important is because it’s not prove that it is
happening, but I want to hear about these antidotes you mentioned.
Without that we have nothing. And before we show the whole world the
University’s stance on this issue I think that we need statistics.
 JR-16S-2927 passes 5-1-0
Osprey Voice:
A. January Questions
 Chairwoman Keefe:
 We will just be reviewing questions from last Osprey Voice. Did anyone
have any problems with the survey?
 Senator Chance:
 I had a lot of students not wanting to take the survey because they had to
put down their N number. They felt as if it wasn’t anonymous.
 Chairwoman Keefe:
 We currently are working on fixing the N number situation. We use that N
number just as a point of reference. We are also looking to implement an
online survey in which a student has to fill out an N number. The only
reason we ask for an N number is to verify that they are a student. We do
not actually look up specifically who took the survey. We will be
reintroducing a question from last Osprey Voice to fix a wording error.
B. February Questions
 Chairwoman Keefe:
 For the February questions, and we talked about ways to make that N
number more secure. For the first question its asks, “With which do you
affiliate with?” The choices are alumni, students, and faculty. If something
other than student is chosen they will not be allowed to participate. I also
made it more secure so someone has to enter an N. We are hoping to put
Osprey Voice back online so more students are able to take it. The next
question is simply fixing the wording of a question from last Osprey
Voice, “Do you believe there should be a designated smoking area?”
Another question is, “Are you aware that Student Government Elections
are coming up?” Also I think we should ask the question, “What would
entice you to come out to vote?” “If there was another stop were to be
added, would you be willing to wait longer? Where would you want it to
be?” If there are any questions comments or concerns about this survey
please feel free to contact me.
XI.
Announcements
 Chairwoman Keefe
XII.
Final Roll Call
 Quorum has been reestablished with 6 voting members; Mims, Baptiste, Brown,
Burton, Peele, Chase.
XIII.
Adjournment
 Meeting adjourned at 6:17PM.
Minutes taken by Sami Mims, USA Vice-Chair