Eastern Connecticut State University
83 Windham Street, Willimantic, CT 06226 Phone: 860-465-0099
Student Government Association
General Board Meeting
November 4th, 2013
Present:
Executive Board: P. Bjornstad (President), A. Bullard (Vice President), M. Hicks
(BAM), B. Rice (Treasurer), Z. Yeager (Secretary)
Advisors: C. Ambrosio, M. Delaney
Senators: J. Ahern, E. Benoit, A. Burns, K. Chrzanowska, V. Cosma, K. Cusano, A.
DelValle, E. Drouin, D. Dykstra, A. Fiducia, M. Fournier, J. Garzone, C. Gosselin, R.
Labrie, B. Malcolm, E. McDonald, M. McFall-Gorman, E. Pelletier, R. Perry, S. Ramsay,
J. Reid, R. Rivera, M. Styrczula
Meeting called to order at 3:00 PM
1. Acceptance of Minutes for 10/28/13
a. Motion # 22 ( E. Pelletier, A. Bullard ) Motion to accept the minutes from
(25-0-1) Motion Carries.
2. President’s Report:
a. ConnPIRG:
W. Malcolm and E. Pelleiter mentioned that students are pressured to have
to opt in. M. McFall-Gorman believes that few people will give the money
that funds them if everyone who did not support the cause decided to optout. E. Pelletier concurred and added that if it is put to referendum, that SGA
needs to work with ConnPIRG to get students to know exactly what it is
about. Z. Yeager mentioned that students should have to opt-in and choose
to pay instead of billing each student and having an option to opt-out. W.
Malcolm is concerned if they should be a club instead, but they would not get
enough funding that way. M. Hicks mentioned that students would need to
vote in referendum and then 2/3 of at least 15% of the student population
would need to approve it to get it going.
b. Letter to the Students:
P. Bjornstad reviewed the letter that will be sent out to the student body
regarding off-campus partying and our attempts to resolve the issue. E.
Pelletier worries if students are going to read it. She mentioned the subject
of the e-mail is important. E. McDonald mentioned that UCONN students
may be causing some of the problem too and that P. Bjornstad should
contact their Student Government.
3. Vice President’s Report:
a. Committees:
i. Student Issues:
The committee is working on their issues. R. Perry is working on
putting more books on reserve for students that can’t afford them.
Eastern Connecticut State University Student Government Association
“Students Serving Students”
The committee is also working on a “Majors Fair,” to help improve
retention.
ii. Public Relations:
E. Drouin mentioned the club posters at club council and the clubs
are interested! They can also contact her to use our FB/Twitter to
promote their events.
iii. Internal:
The retreat is Friday 5-7 PM. It is deemed a “Black and White Event.”
If you signed up to bring food, remember to do so!
iv. BAM:
1. BAM met with Animal Rights Club of Eastern. (ARC) Their
mission is to inform/educate students about animal cruelty,
environmental issues on animals. Raising awareness about
animal cruelty and alternative lifestyles (pescetarian,
veganism). They also want to have a showing of a
documentary about the cruelty of SeaWorld. The club would
need about $25 for this. In addition they would be
volunteering at local shelters. Members have already been in
contact with Windham Paws and are already looking to help
out. They would take school vans to the location and don’t
require money. They also want to have an alternative
lifestyle Q&A. They have 14 members and meet Wednesdays
from 3-4 PM in Webb 213.
2. Motion # 23 (J. Reid, M. McFall-Gorman) Motion to move
to closed session. (27-0-0) Motion Carries.
3. Motion # 24 (J. Garzone, E. Drouin) Motion to accept the
Animal Rights Club of Eastern as an official club. (26-0-1)
Motion Carries.
a. M. Hicks mentioned that they seem energetic and are
a new club. They are involved with other clubs so
they have experience.
b. E. Pelletier mentioned that we should recommend
they not donate to PETA because of their
controversy.
4. A club forfeited money back to us so we have a little more
money back since they aren’t using it for what they intended
and the reallocation was denied.
5. Club council was held Thursday. It went well. There is a
lantern article with the standings of the Warriors with
Initiative program.
4. Treasurer’s Report:
5. Secretary’s Report:
a. 4 year plan update:
B. Rice mentioned how the program went. They talked about the 4 year plan.
C. Gosselin mentioned a good turnout in Crandall. 15 people showed up but
the RAs are making it more mandatory for students to do the 4 year plans.
6. Advisor’s Report:
7. Old Business:
8. New Business:
a. Senator of the Month!
We unveiled the Senator of the Month award for the month of October.
9. Open Floor:
a. S. Ramsay mentioned that the practice LSATs are this Saturday. RSVP by
Wednesday to prelaw@my.easternct.edu The test takes place from 10-2.
Good luck!
b. K. Chrzanowska mentioned her external Support Services Committee and
the parking concerns survey email. Faculty members brought it up. M. Hicks
mentioned that we active students need to be the ones to respond.
Meeting adjourned at 3:45 PM