University of North Florida Student Senate
Senate Meeting Minutes – September 13th 2013 – 1:00 PM – Senate Chambers
I.
Call to Order
Meeting is called to order at 1:10 pm.
II.
Pledge of Allegiance – Sen. Collin Waychoff
III.
Invocation – Sen. Morgan Wolf
IV.
Roll Call – Senate President Pro-Tempore Kaitlin Ramirez – sgaspt@unf.edu
Quorum is established with 31 voting members.
V.
Approval of Minutes
Motion from Sen. Turner to approve all 5 of last meetings minutes. Second. No objections. Moved.
VI.
Approval of Agenda
Motion from Sen. Turner to add JR-13F-2714 second read. Second.
Objection from Sen. Caudio – So many things pass straight to second read and I believe a first read is there for a
reason. I think it’s important for this to go through the proper channels first read before going to second read.
Rebuttal from Sen. Turner – This JR is about the board of meeting yesterday. It’s basically stating our endorsement
towards the BOG wanting to bond the CITF fee. We want it to go through quickly since the meeting happened
yesterday, there’s no purpose in waiting 2 weeks to pass it.
Sen. President Brady – This does require a 2/3 vote to go straight to second read.
Electronic vote. Passes 21-0-10
Motion from Sen. Estrada to add SB-13F- 2713 UNF Sigma Alpha Pi Travel Request; this was a request that came up
in B&A that did not pass. It died; there was no motion on it; but we found them a more economical route to get to
their conference and so we want to gibe them the opportunity to be heard.
Sen. President Brady- Do they have the require 8 senator signatures?
Sen. Estrada – Yes, for the record I do have the 8 required signatures.
Second. No Objections.
Electronic vote.
Title VIII require 8 senators and right here we have the proper form with the 8 signatures so the request will be heard.
Motion Estrada to add Guest Speaker, Ruben Pressman from Check I’m here. Second. No objections. Moved
Motion from Sen. Turner change under fiscal request 2717 to 2712 – friendly.
Motion from Sen. Garrity to approve the agenda as amended. Second. No objections. Moved.
VII.
Student Appointments
Orly Tavers, I am a graduate student seeking a general seat.
Elizabeth Shushman, junior, and I am seeking a general seat.
VIII.
Student Remarks
Ben Gerstein, junior, representing the Jewish Student Union – I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk
to all of you, considering you are leaders of this school, about a program through the Jewish National Fund. This
fund has primarily been funding programs throughout the world for Jewish life. It recently came into a new sector
for all faiths, and right now they’re starting a program, that’s only 2 years old, for student leaders, especially in this
country, to go to Israel free for 10. This program, especially in Jacksonville, is a very promising program because 9
out of the 30 people going on this program actually have to be from Jacksonville for reasons I can’t disclose; but
this program is for December 29 – January 9. It is meeting with Israeli leadership of culture leaders as well as
political leaders of all different faiths. The application is due within 10 days, but it is an application that can be
done with a 10-day period. I will have these fliers out on the table in the back and try to get these approved in the
rotunda as well. There is a website on the card about the program.
Sen. Caudio – When is the deadline to apply?
Ben Gerstein – The deadline to apply is September 23.
Sen. Mack – Would that pay for the flight and room and board?
Ben Gerstein – The only thing that is required for any payment is your flight to JFK and back. Once you reach
JFK, in any way you can, everything from then on out is a free trip to Israel.
Thomas Dobrowolski, Lend-a-Wing Pantry Coordinator – I wanted to come out today to thank you for your help
and support this summer. I know senators are looking to get involved and we love it. Thanks to John Chwalisz
we’ll actually be doing a co-agency event with the movie This is the End. We will be doing a donation drive for
Stock Up for the End, so if you come out to the movie, bring a canned item and donate it. We’re going to have
volunteer information out there. If you are unable to come to the movie, we do have donation sites across campus.
Hailey Guerra, sophomore, double major in political science and criminal justice, Director of Governmental
Affairs – Monday we are having an event called constitution jeopardy; we are fundamentally mandated to have an
event dedicated to Constitution Day; every university foes it. We wanted to have a fun way to have our students
come out for it. We’re trying to get senators involved, so if you want to get involved and form a team that’d be
great. It’s like a trivia game show on the constitution and U.S. history. There will be prizes and free food. Maybe
you should have a senate team, so come on out. Thank you.
Aaron Anderson, senior, Senator, Student Advocacy Chair – To follow up on Hailey, the ACLU club of UNF and
the undergrad affairs are celebrating Constitution Day with events. First we’ll be down in in the plaza tabling,
handing out stickers, and reciting the bill of rights from 8-4pm. Ten we’ll be having a panel 5:30-8:30 pm in
building 15 room 1304. Experts will shine a bright light on Florida civil rights violations and local effort to
eliminate them, highlighting violations outlined in the international bill of rights, the treaty that protects and
preserves basic civil rights. We’d love to have all of you out there; we have several speakers and there will be a
discussion after the speakers. Again that’s from 5:30-8:30pm, building 15 room 1304. Thank you.
IX.
Guest Speakers
Ruben Pressman, Check I’m Here - I was an SG president, Vice President, and everything about 2 years ago when
I graduated from USF. Since I’ve graduated I’ve been working on a software platform to help student governments
increase engagement to better allocate funding and better solve those problems for you guys. At the basic you can
actually swipe student IDs on your mobile device. You can gain new insights on engagement about clubs and
departments on campus; and you can reach and target potential students on campus. Like I said, I was the vice
president of USF, I graduated with entrepreneurship, and I actually started 4 different clubs on that campus. A few
things we believe: the more knowledge you have, the better decisions you can make; the more you contract the
things that have happened, the better predictions you can make to move forward; the more time you save –
managing events, managing clubs, signing people in to events – the more fun everyone can have and the less stress
you have to worry about; and finally, when you can verify people life at an event, everyone is safer; you know
who’s there if something goes wrong and you can make sure only the right students are getting into the right
events. We also believe that all of these things should be easy as pie. We take a strong passion on easy design, a
clean and very simple-to-use user interface. An example event, like a movie on the lawn: you have a long line,
paper sign in sheet, not sure what happens to the sign in sheet, and you really only know the student’s name and
email.; you’re not sure who the people are that didn’t’ come. But the engagement can always get better, you can
always get more people to come, you can always get more people interested, and get more to attend. There’s a lack
of budget allocation data. You don’t have real numbers, you’re kind of taking the club’s or department’s word for
it, and when it comes to allocating funding it makes that hard. There’re security risks: when something actually
goes wrong, we’re not actually sure who’s there. We can’t stop non students or people that aren’t supposed to be at
an event from not coming in. Finally, there’s somewhat of a slow event registration. People have to sit and wait to
sign in before they even come in; the lines keep getting longer, etc.
Check I’m Here is a cloud platform, that exists on the Internet, on the web, and it can hook up to the university
data. It gives clubs access to see their own data. Again, we let you swipe student IDs live on mobile devices at
events. This way you can go back to your computer and see live who is checking in, why they’re working/not
working, what student are there and all the info about them. You see some knowledge and tracking about it. For
you guys you can see and manage all organizations’ and departments’ events on campus; you can reach out to new
students; figure out what is working and is not working; you can reach out to new students and get better events.
This will help increase engagement and help get them more involved. We have the tools for students to get
involved and engaged themselves. Check I’m Here can manage, communicate and upload documents; you can see
all details and members; and officers can reach out, log in and email and text. Clubs are able to manage their
documents, constitutions, etc. Event management – anyone can set up an event, manage details, edit details about
the event, put in cost about the budget, see how affective the events are, if they need a small vs. large budget, etc.
You can tag events with things like food music outdoors so you can learn what works and what does not.
The mobile card scanning devices work for both iOs and Android phones and we will give you as many free card
readers as needed. With smartphones, you can do surveys or waivers at events. When the ID is swiped we can pop
that question at the event, live, and pull up that answer immediately. For waivers, students can sign with their
finger and be done. Attendee trackings allow you to see all the details about who is or is not coming. Literally, you
can sit here as people check in live.
It is a campus branded app. Everyone that signs on gives us their colors, logos, details; and off this platform, we
generate a custom app in the iOs and Andrioid stores so any student can download it. Finally, now that we have all
this data we take privacy and permissions very seriously. You guys can see all the different clubs; as a club, you see
only the attendees and your club’s data. This is what the system looks like: simple, clean, easy to use, a quick
overview of things going on, list of events, all organizations involved and all their details, all members, past &
upcoming events, how many people came, when it did or is going to start, what event is it like, attendance goals,
budgets, cost waivers, tags, and it also instantly generates a list of all the people checked in. Come time for budget
or club requests, you pull this up live, whenever, and you can see every single detail. Just for an overview of data:
total active data, average attendees, student loyalty, repeat or brand new, top active organizations, important tags,
different locales where top-attended events were hosted. And you can filter this information by any day, week,
month, or year. You have the ability to look at only specific categories. Let’s say you click food and outdoors and
hit apply: the app will sort the information to only show events with those tags. You get access to all of this and to
the club’s to own data.
You guys would be on our junior plan, which is based solely on a yearly subscription. We’d give you as many free
card readers as needed. Both mobile apps are for free. For 1 year it’s $12,000; for 2 years it’s $10,800 and for 3
years it’s $9,600 a year. Again, this let’s you verify students live at events; you can do things like surveys, waivers,
track who’s coming; you can gain new insights on which events are working and not working; finally you can target
potential students effectively, and use tools to get students involved.
Sen. Waychoff- Are there any other campuses or organizations that are using this technology already?
Ruben Pressman – Yes. We are a start up but we’ve started working with HGC, USF in Ste. Pete, and we have
about 4-5 other campuses just about to roll it out; and we’re talking to about 60 others around the state right now.
Chief Justice Goetz – How many card readers can you have going for each event? Can you have multiple at one
even?
Ruben Pressman - Absolutely you can have 1000 if you want.
Sen. Estrada – More of a statement: I appreciate you coming out here and showing this new technology. It’s
something that’s very creative and it’d be awesome for our campus if we’d be able to do something like this. And
on behalf of student government I would like to thank you for being to come out and speak to us.
Sen. Corral – Do you have any competitors and how do you compare to them?
Ruben Pressman – Yes so there are other competitors like club and event management but no one is tracking
down to the event level; which, as we know coming from Student Government, is where the real engagement is
happening, it’s where the money is spent. So no one gets down to the event level. Some might post events but no
one’s actually tracking attendance like we are. And they’re definitely not close to doing it anywhere on a mobile
phone. Most of our features are not even close to being done by any of our competitors.
X.
Judicial Branch Report
a. Chief Justice – Alex Goetz (sgajc@unf.edu) (5-minutes)
Chief Justice Goetz – I’m going to defer to Bennett Smith on this one.
Associate Chief Justice, Bennett Smith – Just a couple things: we have 3 interviews on Monday and
Wednesday, split up among the days. We’re going to be filling our last vacant seat so we’ll have 9 active
members hopefully in a week or two. That’s pretty much it.
XIV.
Executive Agency Reports: (3-minutes each)
a. Osprey Productions – John Chwalisz opdir@unf.edu
My report is pretty short today: some of our upcoming events we have are this Wednesday we will be
showing “This is the End” and, as Thomas Dobrowolski already mentioned, we are doing an “End of the
World Food Drive”. Please come out, show your support for our movie and also come meet all the lovely
students. Hopefully we’ll have a full house for both showings again, so make sure you guys come on out early
to grab a seat. Next Thursday is a really big event for us; we are having a drag show featuring Raja Gemini. If
you’re not familiar with drag queens, Raja is the winner from Ru Paul’s Drag Race and he was also the lead
make-up artist for Americas Next Top Model for about 4 seasons. So please come on out, there’s a total of
about 5 performs; we encouraged Chief of Staff Stevens to perform with them but he denied respectfully.
That event does start at 7pm and it’s free for everyone. That following Monday is trivia night, it’s going to be
a great event. I know Carlo likes to come play as well as Fransua. Please come out and play.
b. Club Alliance – John Chwalisz sgacluba@unf.edu
Brett is currently not here right now, he’s doing the talon painting party; it’s going really well right now and he
does apologize, but he will be here for his special request.
XI.
Executive Branch Reports
a. Attorney General – Paige Lehman sgaag@unf.edu (3-minutes)
I am currently revising Title VII and Title X for discrepancies and just making sure the system runs
smoothly. As you see there’s a CR on the second page as well as a JR; I really encourage you to read
through that because they have changed since they were on first read. The JR has only 2 changes in
there instead of a whole document change. Because we have CRs coming up for the next upcoming
general election, tt makes sense to wait until after elections to post any discrepancies.
b. Treasurer – Joseph Turner sgasbt@unf.edu (3-minutes)
Mr. Senate President in light of the today’s schedule I yield my time.
c. Vice President – William Namen sgavpres@unf.edu (3 minutes)
I would like to point out that downstairs there is the talon painting party sponsored by the Club
Alliance Director and his team. It’s an awesome initiative, and it’s great to see Club Alliance getting
things done. I’ve been working very closely with the Treasurer and Dr. Gonzalez on getting the
volunteer center done. We’re very close to finalizing our final metrics. A position will be up pretty
soon; it will be about a 35 hour/week position at minimum wage. It’s a student position in career
services, doing volunteering, and setting up events for campus. We think this is the best route to go
about this and we’re very excited to see it going.
Sen. Caudio – So the volunteer center is coming back, but not as the volunteer center?
Vice President Namen –Yes, essentially.
President Fassi – It’s now going to be just a volunteer coordinate. It’s still the same acronym, the VC;
it’s just now located in career services. We took the model concept from other universities. This is a
proposal that makes recommendations to organizations for policy for universities. Again this is
experimental to see how this works. We’ve set up metrics again that will make sure that they’re
performing at 20% of the original cost that we had for the agency located in SG, that way for the
budget process you’ll be able to see how it’s performing.
Vice President Namen – The reason we’re doing this is because it gives them the ability to work with
some professional staff that constantly are working with students and trying to get them involved,
not only in their degrees but around the community. So, what better place than to put them in Career
Services, and they’re very excited to have them.
d. President – Carlo Fassi sgapres@unf.edu (5-minutes)
On Tuesday of this week, the University Board of Trustees met and the 2 important agenda items
that you all should know about: we approved a land acquisition on the north side of campus, as soon
as you exit lot 18 and immediately to the right; there is a warehouse there that the university is
planning on purchasing and the Board of Trustees voted on it unanimously, and the funding will
come from various auxiliaries on campus the Vice President of Administration and Finance has
authority over. We also heard a presentation from the Dean of the Graduates School on partnerships
between academic affairs & independent organizations about providing online opportunities for
distance learning. We’re potentially going to pilot 3 programs: Doctoral and Bachelors degree in
nursing, Exceptional Student Education Masters degree, and Master’s degree in nutrition. These
programs will be available online and they’ll be marketed across the country, considering the highquality program UNF has in those specific fields. Students will be able to take those programs
completely online, virtually. We didn’t necessarily vote on anything, as it was a retreat, and with the
exception of the land acquisition, this was very much just a discussion. One thing you all need to be
aware that came up in the meeting was President Delaney and his administration are considering
purchasing The Flatts, which is the apartment complex right outside campus on Kernan. It has the
ability to occupy 480 beds, so that would add about 500 students who would technically live on
campus. The reason President Delaney brought it up was because the owner of The Flatts is a
member of the Board of Governors and if this needs to happen we need to ensure that no conflict of
interests are occurring, considering the owner is on the board for higher education in the state of
Florida is selling property to a university. Wednesday and Thursday, myself and the Director of the
Office of Governmental Affairs traveled to Sarasota for the BOT meeting and 3 essential
components to that meeting occurred: $20 million was set aside for performance-based funding, and
those metric the governor recommended. There were 3 metrics on how to divvy up that $20 million:
the first was on how bachelors & graduates were going to be employed or continuing their education,
the second was the median average full time wages for the undergraduates employed in Florida, and
the third was the average cost per undergraduate degree. After they took into account all those
metrics and found out who performed better than others, the 11 institutions were given a portion of
it and UNF was given $2.2 million. The 2 schools that received the most money were University of
South Florida and the University of Central Florida with $2.6 million, and the university that received
the least amount of money was New College of Florida with $435,000. If anybody is interested in
those exact numbers I’d be willing to share the press release that the governor released this morning.
On top of that Chancellor Frank Rogan, the former president of the Florida Atlantic University, is
the Chancellor until the end of October. He is going to be resigning and going to be the
Pennsylvania Chancellor of their system. We have appointed, or confirmed, an interim chancellor,
the Vice Chancellor of the Florida State University System; she is mostly in charge of the academic
side of all of governing the institutions. Her name is Dr. Janet Nesh and she came highly
recommended and she will serve until the end of the legislative session as of now. I will be next
officio member on the search committee for the incoming chancellor. Going off of the Resolution
that Sen. Turner recommended on second read, the CITF fee spoken in volumes about: $30 million
are going to be available in cash from the students and put into the CITF system. You pay the fee
and the money comes right back to us and we all could receive portions of it. We have an available
additional $120 million and obviously the bill of that portion would be put into the availability of the
university system. In the legislative budget request, which is, the formal request that the institution
sends to Tallahassee on an annual basis, we requested unanimously from the BOT that bonding be
included in our allocation from the 2014 legislative session. Interim committee starts in 2 weeks in
Tallahassee and that’s when a lot of major discussions start happening and where money is going to
go considering we will have a surplus in this year’s budget; we need to be able to make it very clear
that the states university students want our fee bonded. Because it does not make sense for a student
to be paying the system and not seeing the results of that money until years down the road until
President Delaney has enough money to use that money. It’s important that we stay on top of the
issue and considering that all the senators in this room will be going to committee and coming back
to here is I think it’s important to take up that issue today. I’m proud that we were able to get that on
the agenda. The last thing, the convention 2 weeks ago received about 660 students returning back
and gave us their opinions on the initiatives we proposed that’s about 4-5% of the student body, a
statistically relevant sample size. Our Attorney General Lehman is going to share the results in a
PowerPoint.
Attorney General Lehman – It was really successful, like Carlo said, we had a significant number,
about 693 people answered the surveys. After accounting for, those who did not submit the survey
or those who submitted the survey more than once, we had 660 results. The first question asked
students to rank the pillars of student of government: 40.8% placed academics as their first choice,
and 86.2% placed academics in the top 3; 28% placed education policy as their number one choice,
and 79.2% placed it in their top 3. Academics listed as the first priority in the survey, which means
we should give more weight to the education policy. Parking and transportation came in 3rd with 15%
vote; but it should be noted that more than 50% of students placed this in bottom 2. This is huge
because this means in spite of the complaints we receive about parking, students believe that
academics and education policy are more important. Fourth place was student life with 9.7% vote.
Lastly athletics scored fifth with an overwhelming 65.9% of students placing it in the bottom 2.
Athletics was originally placed in second so more weight should be placed on this; it moved more
than 2 places on the list. In terms of students’ priorities on campus, we know that academics and
education policy are their priority and other activities such as student life and sports are relatively low
in comparison to the other choices.
We asked the students: do non-academic buildings contribute to the quality of the overall educational
experience; 93.6% yes. Going through the results, the number 1 reason for why students voted no on
this question was that they are commuter students who don’t take advantage of these buildings on a
normal day-to-day basis.
President Fassi – This question was added specifically because the Joint Resolution you have in front
of you; the Capital Improvement Trust Fund Fee pays for these types of building. This shows that
this is a high priority and that these building do add to overall educational experience. CITF is
bonded, meaning the state takes out debt so you can see the amount of money put into the system
immediately. The total debt incurred by Florida because of the CITF fee is less than 1% of the
overall state’s debt. It’s secure revenue; demand for higher education isn’t going anywhere. Students
are going to continue to show up to state education systems so that debt will be paid down. This
question is really important and we’re excited to show these results to our legislatures in Tallahassee.
Attorney General Lehman – Lastly we had the students order the initiatives that they would like to
see first. So the top 10 are: free printing, parking monitors, hydration stations, class registration
enhancements, universal scantrons, Jaguars tickets, Eco-Adventure, scantrons vending machines,
bike sharing, and a small amphitheater.
XII.
Legislative Cabinet Reports
a. Constitution and Statutes Committee – Chairwoman Kaitlin Ramirez (sgacsc@unf.edu)
Just to recap what Attorney General Lehman said: we have the CR & JR from my committee, and
there are slight differences so please give them quick lookover. To ech0 Hailey and Aaron,
constitution day is coming up and I highly encourage every to make it out there for constitution
trivia.
b. Budget and Allocations Committee – Chairman Fransua Estrada (sgabac@unf.edu)
We have 5 requests for you guys today. Hopefully those go smoothly. We actually had 8 presented
last week for the B&A Committee. Once this is all approved, we would have $177,106.17; that would
be coming from the sweep-up funds not Special Request balance. We currently do not have any
funds in the special request balance. Personally I do not want the funds to be transferred into the
Special Request. The sweep-up funds requires 2/3 vote, as opposed to the Special Request fund
balance, which requires majority vote. I think it needs more than a majority to pass a request this
large. I want to note that the office build out and the MVRC will be coming from the Student Union
fund balance. That does not reflect previous number stated.
Sen. Ramirez – Can you explain what sweep-up fund are?
Sen. Estrada – Those are the funds that we get extra; there’s $350,000 in that, $150,000 start as
special request, so that’s $150,000 with a simple majority. We have exhausted that already. $200,000 is
on sweep-up funds which is basically what we’re using now.
Business Manager Rivera – It’s the budget authority we get from our left over funds from last fiscal
year. You can put them in the special requests or as a general fund requests. It was discussed in
committee to keep it at a funds requests.
c. Elections and Appointments Committee – Chairwoman Emily Antworth (sgaesac@unf.edu)
So we passed the elections calendar, so all the dates are set. The very first big date is your declaration
of intent due September 25. If you want to run in the next election or you have any friends that want
to run in the next election, let them know packets are available. October 29 and 30 are elections. We
have 1 appointment today, so please be ready to listen to him and ask questions. The online voting
system is almost done; just a few last minute touches that need to be done. It looks really good and
I’m excited to see how it works out this year.
d. Student Advocacy Committee – Chairman Aaron Anderson (sgasac@unf.edu)
Constitution day is this Tuesday, I mislead you in saying that the undergraduate affairs was
sponsoring the event, they said it was ok. For Osprey Voice, thank you to almost half of you for
doing it and no thanks for the rest of you. We got some results I’d like to go over. For the recycling
question, what do you think can be put in recycling bins on UNF campus, 10% said cans and bottles
only. I was expecting more than that. The bins say cans and bottles only; but I’d like to notice that
nobody in almost all of the 450 results said the correct answer. Some were very close. Nobody really
got it correct; we had some results like ammunition shells, food, clothes, cell phones, 10% plus said
paper, 10% plus said glass, <10% said paper and plastic. What it all comes down to is no one really
knew the answer. I’d like to see these results go to head of recycling on campus, such as physical
facilities and to the environmental center.
The second question was what are the processes to get into senate. Again, no one knew the right
answer, but some were close, some were summed. Almost 20% of answers were that they had no
clue or I don’t know. It’s significant in that almost 200 of the people on campus that we surveyed
didn’t know how to get into senate. I’d like to be moving forward with this information to get
campaigns out there to get people involved in senate. We have signs on campus to tell students
where and when senate is. A significant answer to this question was that 26 people said just
paperwork and getting signatures. It’s much more involved than that. Coming up with again, both of
these answers, no one really knew. I’d like to move forward with some aspects about informing
students on these things.
e. University Affairs Committee – Chairman Justin Turner (sgauac@unf.edu)
There’s an opening on a sub-committee within the Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, it’s the
Recruitment and Retention sub-committee. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I have 3
reports from 3 committees that met this past week: for the Student Union Advisory Board, they
elected a new committee vice chair Aaron Anderson, and student government has received priority
registration for our banquet; so for the next 3 years, the second week of April we’ll have our banquet.
For the Commission on Diversity and Inclusion: their budget of $50,000 was approved, $8,000 is
going to academic grants, $5,000 for the president of diversion and inclusion award, and $2,000 is for
the Week of One. They formed a bylaws committee to revise their bylaws and they’re also going to
be making a UNF racial climate survey to go out for faculty, staff, and students just to see what the
situation on diversity and how diverse our community is.
For the GenEd council: they’re going through a new proposal. Now there is a state mandated 15
credit hours that are supposed to be for specific classes. They’re looking into taking the 21 other
credit hours to make it into competency-based program. From my understanding, eventually it would
be to a point not like ABCD, but based on what your understanding of the course is. They believe
it’s a great marketing tool is for the university and for other companies. It’s a self-adapting program
based on the courses. Everybody from the committee approved on it, they liked the idea and the
provost also liked the idea. The good thing about going with a system like this is that it’s not going to
have changed any prices or costs or anything.
Sen. Caudio – Could you please tell the senators when that committee meets?
Sen. Turner – That committee meets on opposite months of the committee of diversity and
inclusion. Since the CODI met this month it wouldn’t be meeting until next month; they don’t have
a date yet, they’re going to make it based on the availability of all the students who are sitting on it.
We can end up working it out with the chair of that committee.
f.
Senate President Christopher Brady (sgasp@unf.edu)
You all have a very important duty; you are the safeguard for the students’ fee money. We have a lot
of requests coming in today, so make sure you’re asking questions and make sure you’re doing what’s
fiscally responsible for the students. Remember how important your duty is. Additionally, I’m
looking into start setting up one-on-one touch points with as many of you as I can. Part of my job is
working with you individually and helping you write bills and learn about anything in senate you want
to learn about. After senate today or next week please come by and see me. I had one, Senator Baker,
sign up last week. If you guys don’t come see me, I’m going to pass around a sheet and make you
sign up, so please come see me because I really want to meet with you guys.
XIII.
Judicial Appointments
XIV.
Senate Appointments
a. Raymond Bachmann
Sen. Antworth - This is Raymond, he came in front of my committee and was very impressive. Please
ask him any questions you guys want. I’ll let him talk about himself.
Raymond Bachmann – Thank you for having me here today. I am majoring in athletic training, and I
am sophomore, and I am looking to seek appointment today. When I first came to UNF I felt like I
came during a really good time; it was really growing. We had the new addition of wellness center and
dining hall, as well as the Student Union was growing. My friends who were here 4-5 years ago didn’t
get to enjoy all those amenities. I feel we got all of these through the advancement of Student
Government. I’m here because I want to help make UNF a top-tier college in Florida, and advance it
as much as I can to help out the student body. I am the philanthropy chair for my fraternity for my
chapter of 60 men. I attended the devout 4-leadership summit, which took place at Purdue
University. There were 2,200 of us from all over the U.S. and Canada. This leadership conference is
to help us better organizations that we are already members in. I worked with peers to better my
communication skills and solve problems. I have been looking into obtaining a position on the
student philanthropy council here at UNF. I am young, ambitious, as well as outspoken, so you will
hear me speak a lot. I have read the constitution and statues; I know that senate is broken up into 5
committees, B&A, CSC, SA –which is the one I am very much interested in as it’s very hands on and
very out there, and it really shows the face of senators to the university and students – and also the
UA committee.
Sen. Caudio – With your little bit of time to get to know the senators, what would you like to see
happen?
Raymond Bachmann – A lot of people asked me what do I have to offer to Student Government,
and what do I want to change. The main concern people talk about is parking. I think the best thing I
have to offer is an additional voice, an additional point of view. I am able to express it with everyone
here.
Motion from Sen. Jones to approve the senate appointee for a general senate seat. Second, No
objections.
Sen. Caudio – This candidate is inspiring and I see enthusiasm with this new senator; I cant wait to
see what you bring.
Sen. Abreu – I’m on the E&A committee and he did answer each question and he does have
sponsors.
Sen. Moore – I was very impressed. He is the first ever applicant that I didn’t have to ask him what
are the 5 committees.
Electronic vote. Passes 31-0-0.
Appointee is sworn in.
XV.
Fiscal Requests
a. SB-13F-2706: Osprey Productions Special Request – Sen. Chris Brady
Senate President Brady – First of all we fund a lot of things around campus. And there are very few things
you hear students talk about all the time. One of those things you do hear are OP concerts. Concerts are in
everybody’s top list. It’s one of the ways we directly get students involved on campus on the regular basis.
This request is the most direct way to.
Osprey Productions Director, John Chwalisz – Let me give a quick disclaimer, if you don’t understand me, I
will not be offended to repeat myself or slow down. Just to get started this is the OP request for funding for
our mainstage. OP has set some goals for ourselves. One of the goals with my staff and administration is to
have more concerts on campus, bring bigger artists, better mainstages, and increase campus life. OP’s events
have grown dramatically. We’ve had an increase in attendance; for movies we’ve had to do 2 showings.
Popularity has increased, and students are choosing our events over other departments’ events. Because of
this there is an increased need for safety control; a need for a safe and controlled atmosphere for students.
There’s an increased demand for higher bracket artists. Students want higher artists, bigger names, people you
hear from the radio. We have a reputation as being one of the best colleges for professionalism and industry.
Corey Smith thanked us for being hospitable and professional.
What is being requested are contractual services and contractual artists and food. The mainstage is what we in
OP call a concert or a comedy show. Big names that we’ve brought are Ludacris, 3oh!3, MTV Campus
Invasion Tour, Billy Joel, Cobra Starship, Rodney Atkins, Ben Folds, etc. and that average cost breakdown is
roughly 30% contractual services, weather, portable toilets, etc.; contractual artists are openers like DJs; food
and contract obligations – in our contracts that we make we have to provide food for artists and the students
helping out.
$23,500, the biggest we’re requesting goes to event production services. As you can see in pictures, this is
what we’re told we have to perform. For the artists to perform they need specific materials. Lighting is what
makes students enjoy the show; it’s a big deal. A controlled atmosphere is important. We also sell alcohol to
those of age; this gives them an off-campus feel of concerts but on campus. Students want more concerts.
They want bigger artists. This can only be done with a bigger bracket system. Osprey Productions is currently
residing within the $35,000-55,000 bracket. B.o.B is closer to about the $75,000 bracket; luckily we got him
earlier when he wasn’t as big and within the smaller bracket range. The box in red is where we want to be; we
want the artists in the red bracket. They want to see them come to campus. This can only be done with more
funding. With that happening, we’re not having money. We don’t want to spend money on a youtube hit
wonder. The biggest one to ever hit UNF was Ludacris. It was a huge show. The Director of OP at the time
went before you guys to request money for Ludacris. This kind of request has been seen before, and it’s not a
new occurrence. Food: our food line accounts for meetings, movies, open mic nights, etc. This doesn’t solely
fund mainstages; but a big cost of mainstages is food. This covers everything from dressing rooms, to lunches
and productions. ON the day of the show we get here around 8:00am and don’t leave until about 1:00am. I
need to feed my student volunteers who have dedicated their whole day to helping out with the mainstage.
Students requested more concerts. When we conducted a survey, we got a little over 250 responses. They
want bigger concerts, bigger names. We implemented Saturday movies and now its time to implement bigger
concerts and bigger names. We moved the Osprey Tailgate Classic to the spring for JU game. This left a void
in Week of Welcome, so we had Ozzie’s Weekend featuring Corey Smith. Students and alumni came out and
enjoyed themselves. Students want higher bracketed artists that they can hear on the radio right now. More
students attend the fall mainstage over the spring one. Honestly, we have no idea why, that’s just what our
statistic show. So we need to have a bigger fall show. More students come to the fall and this gives UNF that
recognition. You want this fall main stage. Campus life overall will decrease if we can’t do this. We won’t get
that branding that UNF has obtained as a whole. These shows benefit 7,000 students who are attending OP
events and it benefits all of us; you help take part of making that concert happen. The people who brought
Ludacris here, they have that namesake. This benefits the entire UNF community. We’ve had popular movies
like Acceptance, Old School, and Animal Housel we’re here for our degrees but we’re here also for a good
time and to have fun. This benefits all of us in the room as well as every student on campus.
Sen. Pino – Just to be clear, the money to be requested, is it for a specific unnamed person?
Director Chwalisz – This request goes to general expenses for the spring mainstage.
Sen. Waychoff- For ticket sales, where does that money go?
Director Chwalisz – It goes to the OP budget and it goes to the weekly programming line. Our goal is not to
sell to students; we sell to off-campus students
Sen. Caudio – How much is going towards the fall mainstage?
Director Chwalisz – That number is to be determined. No contracts have been signed so nothing has been
fully agreed upon.
Sen. Waychoff – Do you see it as a possibility to open it to more of the Jacksonville area to make money?
Director Chwalisz – The big thing with contracts is that the artists don’t want their show open to the public.
They’re agreeing to market only to our students. Sometimes we can market off campus just to get a little
bonus. Sometimes contracts are terrible things sometimes
Treasurer Turner – This request is not unprecedented, the year we brought Ludacris to campus OP at the
time did a request for a similar amount of money. This type of request is not unprecedented and the results
are definitely there.
Business Manager Rivera – Last year’s fall mainstage was $115,000, which is higher than this one.
Director Chwalisz – That was a 35,000-55,000 range.
Motion from Sen. Turner to approve SB-13F-2706. Second. No objections. Discussion.
Sen. Caudio – I said this in B&A and I’ll say it again: I missed the Ludacris concert, and I’d like to see
something like that while I am here because I think UNF is great and we deserve great concerts.
Electronic vote. 30-0-2.
b. SB-13F-2707: Executive Branch – Office Buildout – Sen. Emily Antworth
Antworth – This is a bill that the executive branch brought up. This is to work on that closet room, mailroom
space that Ms. Vicki lives in right now. We want to change that into an office for an SG advisor so we have an
officer closer with us so we have someone working with us hands on.
Business Manager Rivera – Part of the A&S fee is $4.24 for each credit hour. $10.23 is what we allocate. The
majority of that money is for the bond on that building, basically the mortgage. Money is allowed to fund
utilities, planned operations, and maintenance; the build out is a renovation. Back in the spring you approved a
fund balance request for doors, furniture. Right now it’s about 3$00,000 that is leftover.
President Fassi – Last year the executive branch requested a build out for Papa Johns downstairs. Those who
were involved in constructing the design of this building had that mailroom so senators & justices and
members of the branches could use that space to collect mail. In the 4 years I’ve been here it’s been rarely used
for that purpose. Currently, our advisor is located in that mailroom; it’s her “office”. It’s been a priority to
build out that space so it can be used. The staff structure in SG currently has our advisor overseeing the
student assistants working in the rotunda lobby area. It would be heavily convenient to have the advisor
located in the rotunda to oversee the student assistants as well as the students working right across from her,
the legislative and judicial branch as well as some of the executive branch. This is logistically appealing and the
money is there. Every year we get a significant amount of money swept up and students pay x, and if they
don’t receive x in return why are they paying that much money? This makes complete sense to members of the
administration.
Sen. Waychoff – We’re talking about the room right off rotunda? Why does it have blinds on here? There are
no windows.
President Fassi – When the built out is complete it will have blinds. Our previous advisor was previously
located down the hall. We’ve changed that space: the room for the director is now a conference room, the
room next door will be a work room for the judicial branch to interpret statutes and bills, and the room next
to that will be a senate workroom where 1 or 2 computers, with approval of the advisor or Sen. President, will
approve that work in there. We will consider it SG related considering it’s SG property.
Vice President Namen – We want to bring the advisor into that room to give her and the students better
access. With that window there, she will have that ability to better assist the rotunda area.
President Fassi – It needs to be aesthetically pleasing too; it’s a full-time position.
Sen. Ramirez – What would be the timeline for construction? It seems like a major event, $15,000 for a build
out. Would it put the rest of the office out of commission?
President Fassi - Curtains could be drawn. Once the funding is approved by this board and President, it would
be down over October – November.
Sen. Ramirez – What are the plans for the empty rooms?
President Fassi – The 3rd room is now a conference room, the other 2 are senate and judicial workrooms. It
provides the same space as is similar to the executive room.
Sen. Ramirez – Where is the other conference room?
President Fassi – The other conference room is right next-door; it’s Director McGuire’s old office, which is
next to Celeste’s old office.
Motion from Sen. Turner to approve SB-13F-2707.
Objection from Sen. Ramirez – I think with it’s unnecessary with $15,000, even though this money is here to
be used. Maybe as an example, it could be used for the furniture. I would want our advisor to be more
acceptable. I’m with the support of the cabinet, and I believe we’re more than happy to move our branch to
the other rooms, or however the rearranging occurs. I feel the $15,000 instead of going for specifically to SG
could go to the students.
President Fassi – Two years ago the advisor was located in the rotunda and the senate branch was in the
hallway. The relationship is much stronger when they’re located so close together. I believe this is the best
move. It provides a cohesive relationship and really insists that the senate president and committee chairs and
branches are communicating.
Sen. Caudio – I agree with Sen. Ramirez; I feel that we have that cohesiveness and closeness and working
together. It helps that it’s close but its not completely severed.
Sen. Waychoff – I completely support this office build out and I see it’s essential that we do this so the advisor
is much closer to us. Moving is utterly absurd to put the legislative cabinets down the hall. I support the plan
for a senate work area and I don’t see anything wrong with it.
Sen. Estrada – Personally I work with the B&A office, and they have an open office right next to the business
manager, but I’m not going to move because she is my main advisor. Being closer to an advisor will be more
beneficial to us.
Sen. Caudio – The build out is for the office manager? It may sound good but is it worth $15,000. It’s nice to
be close to the advisor but is it worth $15,000
President Fassi – For the services our advisors are providing, absolutely. Any student who meets with Ms.
Shore values the work ethic she puts in. Being close really helps that relationship between students and those
advising them.
Senate President Brady – I agree the advisor is close. We have the Student lobbyist for this one year, so why
should we do this build out for this new office when you have an extra office right next to you?
President Fassi – I made an agreement when next year that lobbyist is no longer there, the Chief of Staff and
the Senate President and Pro-Tempore would have their own offices.
Sen. Reich – I don’t spend as much time up in the rotunda as you do; I think in a perfect world where we have
unlimited space and unlimited money it would be great to have everyone’s offices next to each other. But that
can’t happen. Consider those things; $15,000-$16,000 is a lot of money to what collects as a few steps away.
Sen. Antworth – I think it’s a good idea to have the build out considering it would help the senators and
legislatures and judicial members to get more involved. I think you all would really benefit from that. You’ll get
a better idea and it will give you guys an area to work on things.
Sen. Turner – It really is an invaluable asset to be able to step out of my door and have everyone I need to talk
to right there. This discussion should be about money itself; but moving around just takes that extra time; it
allows the branches to work more efficiently. Regardless of the OGA office, we can still have those offices for
the senators and the judicial branch to use.
Sen. Caudio – I think segregated is a strong word; we are not that far away from each other. I make it my duty
to come up here and do what I need to do. We can all get our work done effectively, because we want to get
our work done.
Sen. Ramirez – I know change can be a difficult thing and we all want efficiency. But I think efficiency can be
done not with musical chairs but with what we have. We have 3 rooms available. And we can move in there.
It’d be of fantastic use there. There are many possibilities.
Sen. Moore – It’s more of a multipurpose room, it could be an extra office in the future for that. Senators
would be more inclined to get involved with the committee chairs.
Sen. Caudio – Wouldn’t it make more sense to have 1 workroom with several different stations whether
they’re writing a bill or fixing things that need to be fixed? It’s better to have 1 big workroom instead of 2.
President Fassi – I fundamentally disagree that playing musical chairs will change anything. When we made the
switch, I think it was a waste of time. President Brockelman and I worked very hard to get that
accomplishment done. If you’re not willing to spend that money, realize moving the legislative back is also
going to cost money. Provides resources you need.
Sen. Anderson – This is combining two offices yes?
President Fassi – The space that our advisor is currently located in; she’s located there and doesn’t have a door
and she’s going to oversee students and she needs to be working in that space.
Sen. Anderson – We’re saving money by combining 2 positions into one?
Sen. Mack – We’re fortunate enough to have the money to do this. This is something we need to invest into
our campus to make it that much better.
Sen. Higden – I think we’re underestimating the importance of the advisor being in that location. It’s
important for her to be there for the students. I think this funding will pay for itself.
Electronic vote. Passes 22-0-9.
c. SB-13F-2708: Executive Branch – MVRC Memorial – Sen. Collin Waychoff
Sen. Waychoff – This request is for the UNF Military Veterans memorial. America’s veterans and troops are
all across the world to preserve the red, white, and blue. This memorial is a very long overdue appreciation of
the military services and personal sacrifices taken by our nation and our community’s loyalties. Military
services are a campus division to the early years of this university. We need to bring these men and women in
to the spotlight. We need to do more for the men and women so we can pursue happiness and go to this
great school so we can do all we need to do.
President Fassi – Towards the midpoint of my first term, I went to Florida Golf Coast University where the
university just approved a pavilion. We’re requesting money from the same fund balance. It’s a start up
budget for that memorial for all UNF affiliates who were veterans or are currently serving. We are the 2nd
largest veteran-friendly university in the Florida system. We don’t currently have those resources for this
project. We don’t’ have space on campus that is programmable for weekly events that the MVRC needs to
do. Two days ago we were recognized by the state of Florida as a military-friendly campus. This objective was
completely spearheaded by my administration. We approached MVRC and then Dr. Gonzalez; we have
architects and contractors already on this project. It’s pending a start up project and once we have designs, we
are going to work with institutional advances and the Arts Department to make it the student philanthropy
project so it’s not completely A&S fees. Student Government is hopefully going to work with OP to make
this a component to homecoming. Organizations will receive x amounts of points and it will go to the
graduating seniors; money will be donated and it will be recognized by the highest of administrations.
Contractors and architects, Dasher & Hirscht, are sending preliminary sketches. The project will be located
here; and this is a rough conceptual understanding of what it will look like. There’s a grassy area right next to
the road where students are constantly walking back and forth between lot 14.
Sen. Mack – I think it’s cool we got construction companies to donate this. Do you think we can get other
organizations on campus to donate more?
President Fassi – I think it’s unlikely to get auxiliaries to donate money to something on campus that doesn’t
necessarily concern them. This project can’t move forward if we don’t have a start up budget. We need to do
this so we can start contacting CEOs in Jacksonville who would love nothing more than to help out.
Sen. Mack - Could we potentially put money back into the fund if we got people to donate?
President Fassi – I would be reluctant to do so; it’s very ceremonial to endorse this project. We unanimously
passed it. Now we just need to get it moving.
Chief Justice Goetz – Is there any estimate of how much this will cost in total?
President Fassi – It depends on how much we really get donated. Our original prognosis was roughly in the
$150,000 range. It would look like a reclining wall with different the branches and flags of the military. Lets
say March roles around and we have an unexpected rush of donations, we can make the project as large as we
want it to be.
Sen. Pino – To clarify, after $25,000 the SG money wouldn’t be going to this?
President Fassi – No, just the $25,000.
Motion from Sen. Caudio to approve SB-13F-2708. Second. No objections.
Sen. Caudio – I think this is a worthy and honorable thing for Student Government to do, not to mention it’s
coming out of the Student Union fund. There are available funds. It would be an honor to put our names on
it. If you think about all the things the military and veterans have done for us; this is one of the least things
we can do.
Electronic vote. Passes 29-0-2.
d. SB-13F-2710: Club Alliance – Sen. Aaron Anderson
Sen. Anderson – This is to raise funding for club fest and for club fairs. We can get a certain aspect of the
clubs together at certain areas and at certain times.
Club Alliance Director, Brett Weisman – We had our general meeting today at 11am and immediately
following we had the talon painting party. The event was a hug success. We had every talon painted except
for 3, I think. I suggest you go and check them out; they’re pretty cool.
So, events from the years passed, we’ve had General Meetings every month and our 2 recruiting events: club
fest and spring bash. We have the President’s Lunch and Gala, which are mandatory each semester as a way
to say thank you to the club presidents. One thing we noticed are 2 main complaints; Club Fest is too far
from the beginning of the year to recruit and Greek life takes away that focus. We added to Week of
Welcome the Luau; it was basically a second club fest. We had 2,000 plates of food served, plus all the
students that came out; so we had at least 2,000 people there. It was a big success. It spawned the club fairs;
club fairs are smaller versions of club fests. So clubs can recruit twice a semester. The clubs are broken up
into 5 special boards. Each club fair will be one particular board every Thursday. The reason for this is that
the smaller clubs have a much harder time recruiting members because it’s not a word-of-mouth or a goingin-to-classroom type of thing. Smaller clubs have been excited about this idea; even during Club Fest and
Spring Bash, they’re outshined by other clubs. Club fairs are supposed to be maybe 10-15 clubs. Each
specialized board is given their own day to present, and it costs about $250 per event. Road signs are effective
for advertising. We’re requesting 100; First Coast Printing thinks they won’t last the full year so we’ll do 50
and 50 per semester. They are great marketing and promotional items. Cellphone stands, stress balls and pens
are also great for marketing. You’ll see them around campus with our information on them. We’re requesting
Mike Maize, the main caterer for campus, to bring burgers, nachos, lemonade, water, and all that good stuff.
Here is our logo for club fest. You’ll be seeing these all around campus. We’re requesting A-frames, because
there have been a number of conflicts where even though OP let’s us use theirs sometime, our events are
going on at the same time. We’d like to have our own, that we can use ours every time. A couple of
breakdowns: in the past they requested $14,000 and the next year was $9,000. That’s all for me.
Motion from Sen. Turner to approve SB-13F-2710. Second. No objections.
Sen. Turner – It’s important that Club Alliance is able to hold recruitment events. It’s another way to
augment the university because it offers so many clubs. There are so many different ways for students to get
involved on campus, and having events like this, is very public. More people can get involved in as many
clubs as they want.
Electronic vote. Passes 26-0-4.
e. SB-13F-2717: Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Year-End Encumbrances – Sen. Fransua Estrada
Sen. Estrada – What you have in front of you are the encumbrances from last year’s fiscal year that we have to
pay out. Essentially, what an encumbrance is, is a purchase that was made under last fiscal year’s time line, but
it was not paid until this fiscal year. Under the provisionary language, we do have to pay for this, so it does
need to pass.
Sen. Turner – I thought you said we exhausted all of our Special Requests?
Sen. Estrada – This was included in what I mentioned earlier.
Senate President Brady – The first $150,000 of Special Requests that we allocate, is meant to go towards yearend encumbrances; after that, all Special Requests are funded from the remaining balance.
Sen. Estrada – The math I told you guys was if all fiscal requests were passed. My apologies.
Motion from. Sen. Anderson to approve SB-13F-2712. Second.
Objection from Sen. Dykes.
Sen. Anderson rescinds motion.
Motion from Sen. Dykes to amend the enacting clause to read the amount reflected on the total line as $5,324.
Second. No objections. No discussion.
Electronic vote.
Motion from Sen. Reich for unanimous consent. Second. No objections. Moved.
Motion from Sen. Reich to approve SB-13F-2712 as amended. Second. No objections. No discussion.
Electronic vote. Passes 30-0-0.
f.
SB-13F-2713: Travel Request Sigma Alpha Pi – Sen. Fransua Estrada
Sen. Estrada – This is Sigma Alpha Pi; they came up for a travel request through the regular travel request
process last week in B&A. Because of some unfortunate events, their request did not reflect what the
committees thought would be economically best for the University. We have advised them to come up with a
better more economical solution for their request, and that is what will be presented for today.
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – Hello my name is Luanne and I am a membership outreach coordinator for
Sigma Alpha Pi; we’re also known as the National Society of Leadership and Success. We are a nation society
based out of Hoboken, New Jersey; we were established here on this campus in 2001. We have almost 400
chapters nationwide on many campuses. We are all inclusive, we accept anyone into the society, even though
we are an honors society, we have no GPA requirement, so anyone can join. Our active membership at this
present moment is 2500 UNF students and our registration process is by invitation, application, and word-ofmouth. Our mission comes directly from out national site. We provide scholarships, awards, leadership
training & certification, success networking teams – basically, a group of students, like ourselves, that get
together in small groups and set goals (personal, educational, whatever goals you want to meet in the future),
and you’re held accountable by the people in your team; they help you come up with solutions to the problems
you encounter to help you become successful in your goal. We have speaker events, which I will show you
some of the speakers we have, we have leadership interview series with career experts – people who are
experts and help interview you to help get you a job, write letters of recommendation for job interviews. Our
speaker events is big thing on campus; some of the ones we’ve had in the past are Goldie Haughn, Hilary
Duff, Jack Hansel, Lou Holt. These are the ones coming this semester: Kevin Gracie, Common, Robert
Stevenson, and Jim Kramer. A big thing that UNF students seem to like here is that when they graduate they
get to wear honor cords or honor stoles. The statistics are: 92% of society members transitioning into careers
landed with the job of their choice upon graduating; 86% of those students credited the society with helping
them to achieve their goals; 98% of advisors believe that the society positively impacts grades, and they also
believe that it increases student retention. We have an opportunity to go to Atlanta for a leadership retreat. It’s
going to be September 21st through 22nd; it’s only open to the executive board, and we have 5 members of the
executive board that’s going to be attending. This is a flyer of the retreat itself. We’re basically going to be
stronger; with a stronger chapter we feel we can empower students to become successful in their endeavors as
well as great leaders for society and they give you great skills for life, which is wonderful especially with
speaking in front of people. We’re asking for $477.27; the break down for that is that we’re asking for a
minivan to seat 7 people at $252.27, we asking for rental insurance on that vehicle at $45.00, and we estimated
about 750 miles round trip and we’re asking for $180.00 in gas; all of which totals to $477.27.
Sen. Turner – How do you become a member of this organization?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – There are several ways: at the beginning of every semester, we have a
database of all UNF students, and we send out approximately 200 invitations to different students every
semester. Also by word of mouth, if you tell us that you want to join we can sign you up with membership.
Sen. Turner – Are there any membership dues for the organization?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative –Membership dues go to the national office; they use those for scholarships,
they use those for different things. It’s $85 and it’s one time fee that’s basically given back to the students in
the form of scholarships.
Sen. Turner – Is this a mandatory due that in order to be a part of the organization you have to pay, or is this
something where you can be a part of the local chapter but if you want to be a part of the national chapter you
pay to that?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – The national chapter requires the dues.
Sen. Dykes – You said that there 5 members of executive board who are attending, but did you say you had no
other process for others to attend?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – The leadership retreat is for the people who are leading the different
chapters, so they can take the information that they learn to become a better leader back to their chapter. We
hold meetings to give that information back to them.
Sen. Dykes – When do the current officers end their term?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – This is a new officer board; we just started and it will be ending at the end of
the spring semester in May.
Senate President Brady – Just to clarify, if I wanted to join this club I would have to pay dues to the national
organization or could I be a member here without paying dues to the national organization?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – As far as I understand, for the invitation process you go through the national
site. We hold open orientation, open social events, but to be inducted into the society itself you must pay $85
membership fee.
Sen. Waychoff – Do we normally pay the rental fee insurance on the cars?
Business Manager Rivera – No.
Sen. Estrada – Are all the members that are going, have they paid their dues? Are they recognized by the
national organization?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – Yes they have. In fact, all the members that are going have been inducted
into the society.
Sen. Moore – I can clear it up for you; it’s a one-flat fee for a lifetime membership.
Sen. Dykes – I see in your travel request that you have not done any fundraising activities, is there a reason
you’re not willing to fundraise?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – We just found out about the retreat in the end of August and we had only a
week or two to sign up, so we had no opportunities to do any fundraising for it.
Sen. Estrada – If a member wanted to attend the trip, if he/she had the opportunity and they were not
recognized by the organization, would they still be able to go on the trip?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – On this trip individually? Not if they weren’t a member of the executive
board. This is only open to the executive board of the different chapters of the different societies.
Sen. Estrada – In order to be in the executive you have to had pay your dues.
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – Every member that is in the organization must pay their dues. Every single
member pays. It’s an $85 one-time, lifetime membership to the society. The executive board would just be the
legislative board like in the student government; there’s a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer.
Sen. Caudio – How many people do you have currently in your club right now? About how many would you
be reaching out to, just in your club alone?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – We have an active membership of 2500.
Sen. Brown – Is there another leadership conference later in the year we could possibly fundraise for and be
able to send you?
Sigma Alpha Pi Representative – This is the only one in the southeast region. They do it by region; there is one
coming up in November, but we’d have to go all the way to Texas, I believe.
Motion from Sen. Waychoff to strike $45 from the vehicle line to make to total to $432.27 to reflect the car
insurance. Second. No objections. Discussion.
Sen. Waychoff – I feel that we’re giving them the ability to go and we should not have to pay for the insurance
because we don’t knowhow they’re going to drive.
Business Manager Rivera – When you are a student going on a trip you are under the University’s travel
liability. That’s why we don’t have any insurance; so they’re covered.
Motion from Sen. Caudio for unanimous consent. Second. No objections. Moved.
Motion from Sen. Caudio to approve SB-13F- 2713 for the new amount of $432.27. Second. No objections.
Discussion.
Sen. Dykes – I’m against this request. I believe that the students of Student Government should be funding
events and endeavors that benefit the entire student body in some way, shape, or form. I don’t see how 5
students going from 2500 that were not allowed to apply for such an event would be beneficial.
Sen. Caudio – I’d like to say that this request has jumped through hoops; it didn’t go through B&A for a
reason, and they came back with a much better request. I do see that it benefits the students because this is
what a lot of organizations do; they go to conferences, and they come back, and they bring back the
information for the students. Not to mention, if there are 2500 active members, this would be actively
benefitting 2500 active UNF students. With the statistics shown before you, even if only half of it is true,
you’re still benefiting many students.
Senate President Brady – During this discussion I would like to refer to our student body treasurer or our club
alliance director to confirm that the due structure they have is in appropriate use with Title XIII.
Club Alliance Director, Brett Weisman – It is appropriate.
Electronic vote. Passes 21-0-8.
XVI.
New Business
a. Legislation considered for 1st Reading
b. Senate and Joint Resolutions on 1st Reading
c. Legislation considered for 2nd Reading
i. CR-13SB-2700: Article V Revisions – Sen. Connor Garrity
Sen. Garrity – This has changed quite a bit. How it is now, it will be one thing all together. The
wordage breaks it down sparely. This makes it more precise; it makes the graduate elections, the
college elections, and the general elections all into one big election.
We stroked out section 1, B; part F strikes intercollege election; Part B is the same thing.
In Section 3 it strikes senatorial appointed seats 43-56; part C strikes whole parts about intercollege
elections and lumps it into one general election. Section 4 adds new, once again. Part B raises seats 2040 for spring election; part A is the same thing but for fall elections. Parts E-N are striking
“intercollege” and replacing it with “general”. In Section 7, we’re striking “intercollege” and either
“general” or “special” elections, if this passes.
Motion from Sen. Dykes to approve CR-13SB-2700. Second. No objections. No discussion.
Electronic vote. Passes 29-0-0.
d. Senate and Joint Resolutions on 2nd Reading
i. JR-13F-2705: Constitutional Friendlies – Sen. Connor Garrity
Sen. Garrity – This one went through a bunch of changes as well. Presented today, there are only 2
changes. One occurs on page 2, section 2, letter b. and it strikes “6” and replaces that with “4”. The
old one, section 6, that was the wrong section. We just wanted to clean that up a bit. The same thing
occurs under section 7, letter b.
Motion from Sen. Henning to approve JR-13F-2705. Second. No objections. No discussion.
Requires a yes from every senator in order to pass.
Motion from Sen. Mack for unanimous consent. Second. No objections. Moved. Motion passes.
ii. JR 13F 2714 – Sen. Justin Turner
Sen. Turner – This is formally recognizing the efforts of the office of the OGA. Since they had that
meeting, we wanted to get this done and have this sent to them immediately, so they’re acknowledged
before they meet. I feel it would be respectful to them.
Sen. Caudio – This meeting that’s going to be started, are we the only one that we know of that are
passing this JR?
President Fassi – I believe Florida Gulf Coast is also doing this. I feel we shouldn’t be waiting for
other people.
Sen. Turner – We shouldn’t wait for other universities, we should always take the initiative.
Motion from Sen. Dykes to approve JR-13F-2714. Second. No objections. No discussion.
Motion from Sen. Dykes for unanimous consent. Second. N objection. Moved. Motion passes.
XVII. Announcements
Senate President Brady – Thanks for hanging in there.
Sen. Estrada – If you’re not going to keep the packets, make sure you recycle them. There are blue bins out there;
please recycle them if you don’t want to keep them for personal record.
Senate President Brady- Please remember to come see me afterwards to set up a one-on-one meeting.
XV.
Final Roll Call - Senate President Pro-Tempore Kaitlin Ramirez – sgaspt@unf.edu
Quorum is reestablished with 30 voting members.
XVIII. Adjournment
Meeting is adjourned at 3:33 pm.