Eastern Connecticut State University
83 Windham Street, Willimantic, CT 06226 Phone: 860-465-0099
Student Government Association
General Board Meeting
March 10th, 2014
Present:
Executive Board: P. Bjornstad (President), A. Bullard (Vice President), M. Hicks
(BAM), K. Chrzanowska (Treasurer), Z. Yeager (Secretary)
Advisors: C. Ambrosio, M. Delaney
Senators: J. Ahern E. Benoit, A. Burns, V. Cosma, A. Fiducia, M. Fournier, J. Garzone,
C. Gosselin, M. Kandemir, E. McDonald, M. McFall-Gorman, E. Pelletier, R. Perry, J.
Reid, R. Rivera, M. Silver, M. Styrczula
Guests: R. Labrie
Meeting called to order at 3:01 PM
1. Acceptance of Minutes for 03/03/14
a. Motion # 50 (R. Rivera, C. Gosselin) Motion to accept the minutes from
03/03/14 (20-0-2) Motion Carries.
2. President’s Report:
a. Student Advisory Committee Update:
i. The SAC met on Friday regarding the propositions that the BOR has
made, including the Genius Classrooms and “Going Back to Get
Ahead.” They spoke with Erika Steiner, Chief Financial Officer,
regarding the costs of the Genius Classrooms and student concerns
about the money use.
ii. The BOR will vote on the 2% tuition raise this Thursday at 10 AM at
Capital Community College in Hartford, CT. The other schools are in
favor of the low increase. J. Reid asked about a different outcome in
the event that it is voted against, but that is unlikely, almost
guaranteed not to happen. Eastern is trying to maintain a balanced
budget with faculty pay increases and a small tuition increase. This
difference will cause a multi-million dollar deficit.
3. Vice President’s Report:
a. Committees
i. Student Issues:
D. Dykstra gave the update for Student Issues. The Majors Fair will
be 2-4 PM this Wednesday in the BTR. The committee is going to set
up at 1 PM. Senators are required to attend and check in with E.
McDonald. Everyone should be handing out mini sheets to advertise
and should receive some to distribute after the meeting. Make sure
that these are handed out. E. McDonald mentioned that posters have
already been put up in the Freshman Residence Halls. B. Bisese from
Eastern Connecticut State University Student Government Association
“Students Serving Students”
Advising/Academic Affairs will be sending out an e-mail to
undecided students and all Freshman inviting them to the event.
ii. Public Relations:
1. M. Fournier gave the update. Wal-Mart delayed the minibucket order, so the event will be pushed back to around
Elections. A. Bullard recommended getting the posters to
advertise for Student Issues’ event into all of the Academic
Buildings too. C. Ambrosio has a list of available places to
post as well and should be consulted before putting posters
up.
2. The committee went over the T-Shirt designs. The end date
of voting is on April 23rd, not April 24th as mentioned on the
current T-Shirt drafts. M. Hicks mentioned having a Dry-Fit
shirt because a lot of people wear them to the gym. C.
Gosselin recommended that we go with the nicer shirt to
impress students more as a PR move. M. McFall-Gorman
recommended that we split the shirts between dry-fit and
cotton. There were deliberations about whether it should be
an advertising shirt or an “I Voted” shirt. PR will look into it.
M. Delaney asked about the club rules for getting T-Shirts
and said that we should try and match them. M. Hicks
mentioned that SGA is unable to fundraise though so their
rules do not apply. M. Hicks also mentioned that it is PR if we
all wear the shirts at once, but not advertising well if we
wear them at different times. R. Labrie recommended that
some days we do cotton and others we do dry-fit. All of the
input will be considered by the PR committee and they will
report back to us.
3. V. Cosma showed the “Family Tree” to get some input from
the Senate. Z. Yeager recommended having our names on
there. P. Bjornstad recommended having our positions on
there as well. Overall, the draft was well-liked and wellreceived by the Senate. M. Delaney recommended removing
the advisors from the tree though.
iii. Internal:
1. April 24th is the Internal Banquet. It is from 5:30-7 PM in the
Johnson Room of the Library. If you are unable to attend, let
E. Pelletier know because food is being purchased and money
is being spent on each Senator in attendance. E. Pelletier
asked about allergies. There will be no pineapple and no
shrimp at the banquet.
2. M. Hicks asked for E. Pelletier to talk about the Internal
Banquet so that new Senators understand what it is. She
explained that it is a formal celebration and reflect on our
achievements. It is also our last time to be together and is
when the new members get inducted. There will be
superlatives as well. Invitations will go out next Monday and
if Senators are bringing guests, they should let E. Pelletier
know by the end of next week.
3. The Club & Organization Banquet is on April 29th from 5-8
PM in the BTR.
4. April 16th is a candidate Meet & Greet. Interested candidates
will be attending so that students can meet the students
running for office. It is from 3-4 PM in the BTR.
iv. BAM:
M. Hicks thanked other Senators for sitting in on BAM. K.
Chrzanowska encouraged Senators to look over the minutes.
4. Treasurer’s Report:
Nothing to report.
5. Secretary’s Report:
a. Penny Wars:
PHP will be sponsoring a “Penny Wars” event where money goes to benefit
the March of Dimes. There are jars setup for different clubs and you can add
coins to your own club for positive points or cash to other jars so they get
negative points. This event will be taking place in the Student Center Lobby
on March 31st, April 1st, and April 2nd. Senators are encouraged to donate
change. The winning club receives a pizza party donated by Domino’s to the
club with the most points.
b. ZipCar/Capital Expenditures:
ZipCar has not responded to either of Z. Yeager’s calls or e-mail requests. Of
roughly 10 SGAs contacted, only one replied with an idea on how to get
ZipCar on campus. Z. Yeager explained what ZipCar is: It is a rentable car
that students can pay to use if they want to go to Stop & Shop, the movies,
the mall, off-campus, and other places in the event that they do not have a
car.
M. McFall-Gorman asked about the price. Any clubs can use the case.
Motion # 51 (Z. Yeager, A. Bullard) Motion not to exceed $4500 from
Reserves (Capital Expenditures) to repair a Senior Class gift display case
outside of the Student Center that is used to advertise club events (23-0-0)
Motion Carries.
i. M. McFall-Gorman asked about the price and why it is so high. The
repairs are being done because it was very damanged and moisture
would get inside. The door could not be closed. It would cost $10,000
to purchase a new one, so we decided to go with the repairs. M.
Delaney further explained the use and removal of the case.
6. Advisor’s Report:
Nothing to report at this time.
7. Old Business:
8. New Business:
a. University Hour: Girl Rising:
M. Silver discussed the Girl Rising Event. The event promotes education for
third-world countries and even here in the United States for women that do
not have access to education or are denied further education and also raises
awareness for the issue. There will be a guest speaker that worked with the
U.N. on Wednesday at 3 in the SC Theatre with an excerpt of the movie being
shown. The entire movie screening is at 6 PM in the Johnson Room of the
Library.
9. Open Floor:
a. Quinnipiac University’s Off-Campus Party Problem:
J. Reid mentioned that she heard about how Quinnipiac recently released an
app that allows people to politely ask neighbors to quiet down. It is fully
anonymous and could be looked into for SGA to get on board with.
b. Town Wide Town Pride:
E. Pelletier asked about our involvement in the program. It is through the
CCE and involves different cleaning and community improvement projects
throughout the neighborhood. Senators were largely in favor of getting a
crew together to help out.
c. Dates to Remember:
i. Wednesday, March 12th; 2-4 PM; SGA Majors Fair; Student Center
BTR
ii. Saturday, March 29th; 12-4 PM; Admitted Students Day; Student
Center
iii. Monday, March 31st;–April 2nd; PHP Penny Wars; Student Center
Vendor Table
iv. Sunday, April 13th; 12-4 PM; Junior Preview Day; Student Center
v. Thursday, April 24th; 5:30-7 PM; SGA Internal Banquet; Johnson
Room: Library
Meeting adjourned at 3:51 PM