ASMSU Senate Meeting Minutes – April 19th, 2012
SUB 235
Call Meeting to Order at 6:07 pm
Roll Call
Review Previous Minutes
Move to approve the meeting minutes of April 12th, 2012 by Senator French seconded.
Minutes approved as stand.
Public Comment
Inter Hall RHA: Here to say that that all 8 residence halls are in support of the parking garage
proposal.
Transportation Director: He is here about the Latenight service and it’s correlation to the
parking garage. There is a need for $25 million dollars to complete this project. The permits
would increase around $73 per permit. He is not in favor of the parking garage proposal and
thinks that there are alternative options such as a bike share program, shuttle bus’, and etc.
Presentations
Mark Frisby, MSU Bookstore: Textbook Rentals and Banner Access: The textbook manager is
here to create a line of communication between the bookstore and ASMSU. He is hoping to
gain support from ASMSU to gain banner access in order to rent textbooks out to students.
Bernard: There have been 3 or 4 failures in the past to try and gain this banner access
and Bernard wants to make it clear that in the past the failures have been due to a lack
of communication not security purposes.
Haskell: Which vender are we using at MSU.
David: They use an outside vender similar to other universities own the bookstores
which is why there is some resistance.
Haskell: Is there a way for this to be implemented by next fall.
David: No probably not.
French: Has been gaining some information on this topic and the users of the banner
system have established that there are some trust issues.
David: The only thing that the banner information can give them access to just students
basic information.
Bernard: Spoke with a manager of the banner access and he indicated that he would
possibly be able to get this running by next fall.
Tom Stump: What they want out of banner are certain elements that will be carved out
and downloaded into their system. This would be used as to coincide to the prior
software. The other point is that because the bookstore is a separate entity they want
to make sure it falls under FERPA protection. These are the legal and security issues that
the bookstore is facing.
Tom Stump: Purchasing Montana Products and Third Hedges Suite Design: In two weeks they
are beginning the renovations to Hapner and Langford Halls. In the fall when students come
back to campus they will likely be breaking ground on the new edition to the hedges suites.
There will be solar panels on the roof and the building will likely be a Gold certified LEED
building. The suites will include living rooms and the rooms will consist of single, single, double
format. There will be 70 new beds in this building.
French: What is going to happen to the road that is right behind the new proposed
building.
Tom: There are still about 50 ft. from that road.
Lake: How do the solar panels work with the snow?
Tom: They are about 18 inches off the roof and they are steep enough that the snow
should fall off.
Mains: She loves this idea. Where are the cars going to go for this building?
Tom: There is actually excess parking in this vicinity.
Thuringer: Are you planning to continue this during fall and there is a concern about
noise.
Abeh: Are the solar panels going to be used as a full service heater?
Tom: No this will just work as a pre-heat.
Abeh: Who made the final decision to go gold with this LEED building?
Tom: They just recently found out that the budget allows for them to attain a gold level.
Haskell: What is the total amount for this project.
Tom: The original amount for the project was $7 million.
Montana Made Program: This is a process in which MSU optimizes the agriculture that
engrossed them. Established in 2004 and in 2011 they have reached $1 million in purchases.
They are shooting to reach 1.1 million in purchases. The cook recently began using almost all
Montana products. They wonder if they should be receiving food from other states that are
closer then just simply Montana. They continue to grow their programs and they have been
working with some venders for a huge part of their existence. The dining awards that they
participate in are being competed with, with schools across the nation. The local food fair is one
of their current projects. They are researching the probability that they will need a program
director. Some of the challenger is the accessibility to venders. There was a local producer who
could not even provide enough. The safety and pricing are two main concerns.
Abeh: Thinks that this is something that student’s will want to get involved in. What are
your thoughts about outsourcing and not putting Montana people first? They want to
emphasize that they want to keep the money in Montana. They are concerned that
certain products that are not available in Montana they are going to have to resort to
some form of outsourcing. In the instances where the supplier cannot provide enough
they use those products for special events.
Horn: What classifies a product as being Montana made. They are supporting the
products that have been processed in Montana. There is a feeling that the small
producers should not have to adhere to the same laws as the large producers
Veteran’s Services: Joe Griffin he is here to take a minute to say thank you and also he wanted
to take a minute about what they do in accordance to the lack of knowledge in students of
what this department does. They have a unique program that is now being used nation wide.
There are about 600 veterans on campus right now. There are 5 chapters to the GI bill. Chapter
33 is the most widely used. The state of Montana has a tuition waiver that veterans can use. In
general most veterans qualify. The veteran support center is a new addition this year. Different
work shops and provide study skills classes. The flag is maintained by the veteran support
center. There is going to be an education workshop about PTSD. The student veterans club is
very active on campus. They are a resource provider to the community as well. For recruiting
most veterans don’t use the GI bill to graduate. Departments are trying to recruit veteran
students to increase the amount of out of state students.
Bernard: What percentages of veterans at MSU have serious combat injuries?
There are about 20%.
Abbey: She really appreciates the resource that Joe provides to veterans on campus.
Matt Caires: Changes to the Office of Student Activities: The plan is to work through the
transition of three existing programs. There will also be some small-scale summer events that
will be occurring in the coming months. This office will specialize in the training of student
organizations. He would like to see them providing support and training for students on asking
for funds. He would like to see them become a part of the ASMSU funding board as well. With
this reorganization will provide a lot of support for particular ASMSU events.
Bernard: Why has there never been funding for summer staff? There is just a lack of
funding.
Rogala: In the summer time there are not as many students who utilize the services of
this office. There also needs to be a better line of communication between the office of
student activities and ASMSU.
Matt: Would encourage senators to approach him if they have any questions!
Duker: Would like to move the resolution for the parking garage to the next item on the agenda
seconded.
2012-R-11 Support of a Campus Parking Garage:
Lake: Can we get a recap of any of the issues that may have been addressed at the meetings
that not all the senators may have been able to go to.
There is a perception from the neighbors that the increased flow of traffic and the increased
risk to their children’s safety. There is not really a better location for the garage because it is
this location that lacks the necessary parking. The increase will be an issue for the staff and the
faculty.
Townshend: He has done a lot of the research and he appreciates the public forums. He
understands that there is a parking issue and the perception of fear in this area of campus.
Would it be applicable for senate to research solutions versus the solution that has been
proposed? Also what is the next step in this process? They would like to be able to use the
design team that they currently have in place. Would there be a second opportunity to revisit
this issue?
French: There was similar conversations to these last years and he is wondering what changed
form this year?
They are trying to provide a parking service to all the students and faculty on campus and the
change is that now there is support for this project from the students and faculty. Is the
perceived fear a reason to build this garage?
The issue is the lack of parking in this immediate area.
McKay: She would like to thank the parking facilities. She would like to separate the issues of
parking and safety. She would like to emphasize the separation of the school of business and
the garage. The building is going up no matter what.
Mains: She has talked to a lot of people and safety is a huge part of this issue so she would like
to not see this treated separately.
Duker: Motion to approve seconded.
Haskell: He wants senate to be careful about saying that this elevates the problem of parking on
campus this will help the problem but will not solve it altogether. Pushing for a bike share
program and more accessibility for streamline. He understands that there are safety concerns
but he thinks that the pros outweigh the cons.
Rogala: The timing of this resolution?
Currently this appears to be the appropriate time, even though the building will break ground
fairly soon. The difference now is that the students came to parking services. They would like to
see them work through these issues and see what might evolve in time. This project is to take
around 22 months and he would like to see this happen at once so that the same area does not
have to be torn apart all over again. Currently they do not have a cash reserve large enough for
the parking garage. She is concerned also with the fee increase and students responses to the
increase.
Steffens: He thinks that parking has been a problem on campus for many years. With the
growing student population we need to accommodate for the new numbers of incoming
students.
Steffens calls previous question seconded Vote: 6/12/0 Motion fails.
McKay: She commends RHA for coming however; she feels that this process has been
exceedingly rushed. She thinks that the students deserve senators to take more time.
Bandstra: She believes that we are a campus of solutions and would like to see senators take
more time to discuss this issue. She thinks that the perception of fear cannot be included in this
resolution.
Feder: She thinks that there needs to be more parking spots than what it is currently being
offered.
Horn: Is there any way to create a long-term storage area for cars? This has been largely
unsuccessful in the past. There would be an incredible amount of maintenance in this process.
Bjornson: There is a huge deficiency for the students who live in this vicinity of campus, and
that is what this garage is for.
Lake: Would like to see all the students concerns addressed and not just a select few.
Duker: He understands that there are alternatives that were pursued and this has not corrected
this problem in the past. He would rather see this table then have it die. His interest in doing
this now is that a team is in place now. He understands that there are a lot of hesitations.
Bernard: He believes that the body has shifted on this project and he would like to see this
move forward. Fee changes are going to happen anyways so he believes that this is a good time
to pursue this project. There is going to be a time to address the other alternatives.
McKay: The design team will be available through October so this does not need to be rushed.
She ultimately supports this in the future once there has been some mulling over.
There is a friendly amendment to line 10 by Duker seconded.
McKay: Moves to table this until the first senate meeting of the fall semester seconded. Vote:
13/5/0. Motion carries.
Duker: requests 5 min recess seconded.
Unfinished Business
Budgeting

Brandi Higgins: Budgeting Presentation: There has been a change made to the
exponent budget. The exponent met on Tuesday to discuss it becoming a long-term
budget. The main changes are in equipment part of this budget. These will be the capital
line items that will be recycled through every year. The travel will include the instate
travel and also the supplemental that was previously passed. They are predicting a slight
increase in the revenues. The final fee will be $2.43.

Human Powered Transportation, Funding Board, Exponent, and Remaining open
budgets:
Haskell moves to open the exponent budget seconded. Vote: 19/0/0.
French: This has been well researched and he thinks that this a good number and a good
idea as it stand’s.
French moves to close the exponent budget seconded. Vote: 18/0/1 Motion carries.
French moves to open Campus Entertainment budget seconded. Vote18/1/0. Motion
carries.
Townshend: Moves to amend line item 62102 to $50,000 seconded. This was calculated
by the previous campus entertainment director’s recommendation. This will be
distributed to the supplemental fund and RSO funding board. Vote: 19/1/0. Motion
carries.
French: Move to close campus entertainment budget seconded. Vote: 19/0/0. Motion
carries.
McKay moves to recess for three minutes seconded.
Lake moves to move exponent budget to next item of business seconded.
McKay moves to open HPT budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
Motion to move HTP under sustainability by Mains seconded. Vote: 20/0/0.
French moves to open funding board seconded. Vote: 20/0/0 Motion carries.
Townshend moves to amend funding board budget to $20,001 seconded. Vote: 20/0/0.
Motion carries.
Townshend: moves to close funding board budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion
carries.
Townshend: moves to open sustainability budget Vote: 20/0/0 Motion carries.
Townshend: moves to close sustainability budget as amended seconded. Vote: 20/0/0.
Motion carries.
Townshend: Move to open supplemental budget. Vote: 17/2/1. Motion carries.
Lawson: Move to close supplemental budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
McKay: Motion to open streamline budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
McKay: Motion to close streamline budget seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
McKay: Motion to move $751.49 into the reserve seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion
carries.
McKay: Move to approve budget as a whole seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
New Business

Supplemental Request: Sustainability Center Remodel Overage, $3,602.34: Last
summer there was a new space created downstairs for the sustainability center. The
estimate came in extremely quick. When the renovations began they found that one of
the walls had several problems and therefore, they had to demo the entire wall. The
office of student success financed this move. Gretchen and Blake reduced the cost by
$900.
Approve the supplemental by Lawson seconded.
Haskell: Which reserve account should this be taken out of? This should be taken out of
the ASMSU reserve.
Lake: Why is this coming out of the supplemental? This is a matter of policy. This is just a
way to untie the sustainability’s reserve. Vote: 18/0/1. Motion carries

Supplemental Request: Initial Investment in a Climbing Wall, $2,500: There was a
resolution to redesign the climbing wall and the estimates have been made. We have
made a commitment to the buildings. Passing this will not stop them from asking for
more money but this is to gain the start up fund for this summer. Finance board saw a
proposal for this. This is more of a sponsorship very similar to the planetarium. This is
simply to show that ASMSU supports them.
Motion to approve by French seconded.
French: Believes that just spending this because we have it is faulty logic.
Haskell: He thinks that we should entertain being conservative on this issue. We should
not just continue spending everything we have.
Townshend: Who did this request come from? This came from Recreation sports.
Rogala: She would like to see this passed. She thinks that we should give them
something so they can start their process.
Steffens: Does not understand why we are funding things that have been built 5 years
ago?
Floerchinger: Why is there such a drastic increase from the original proposal?
Lawson: The climbing wall being crowded is a huge safety issue, which is completely
different than just the overall gym being crowded. These students have to go find their
money and he thinks we should support them.
Townshend: The resolution was supposed to be continued support from ASMSU for the
rock-climbing wall.
Lake: Move to amend the amount to $1,000 because this is an arbitrary number
seconded.
French: As the money was running out the club changed their approach. The current
proposal is just to see if we support the ideology and he thinks that is a good idea.
Scafide: She thinks that a lot of students utilize the climbing wall and she believes that
this is a good use of student fees.
Bandstra: She does not understand why we are discussing this when we have a finance
board to do this part for the senate.
Mains: We should go with finance board or nothing at all.
Floerchinger: What is to occur if they do not use the funds? As with anything else it will
go to a partial renovation or come back to senate.
Bernard: We can get into a little bit of hot water by decreasing the value of the
monetary funds drops the symbolic meaning.
Lake: She respectfully disagrees with Haskell and she thinks that this is fiscally
irresponsible.
Previous question called by McKay seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
Amend supplemental to $1,000 Vote: 5/15/0. Motion fails.
French: Move to previous question seconded. Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
Approve supplemental for $2,500. Vote: 17/3/0. Motion carries.
French Moves banner access to the next item on the agenda seconded.

2012-R-10 Support of MSU Bookstore Banner Access: Townshend moves to approve
seconded.
Townshend: He believes that as long as we show support then we are doing them a
service.
French: Has had many conversations about this and he thinks that this is the correct
route for ASMSU to take. This is a last resort and he is highly for this idea. He believes
that they are not asking for access to banner but to be able to get textbooks into the
hands of students at a cheaper cost. The software is just a part of making this process
smoother. If there are any discrepancies than a line of communication can be opened by
ITC. They are not asking for unlimited access they are asking for specifics.
Haskell: This is a given that students are going to support the access to cheaper
textbooks. It is also clear that there has been a lot of collaboration on this issue and he
would like to see this passed tonight.
Lawson: His biggest problem is the language with this resolution. He thinks that there
needs to be some wording changes.
Bernard: He thinks that there are reasons for the language chosen and it is there for a
reason.
Steffens: He would like to echo support for this. He knows that the bookstore will fulfill
their intentions.
Feder: The bookstore is here for the students so we should let it serve the students.
Scafide: Move to previous question Vote: 12/9/0. Motion fails. Chair voted against.
Thuringer: What type of textbooks will be available to students?
The popular entry-level classes will be put at priority.
Lake: Moves to amend the supplemental and strike lines 14-17 seconded.
French: This is an understood public policy and he doesn’t believe this should be
stricken.
Rogala: Why are we concerned? We can debate wording but we should move on.
Townshend: Why can we not just take out the banner access aspect of this resolution?
The end is what we should focus on.
Tom: The committee met last year and at that point the banner access was necessary
for this to occur. The certification is necessary for them to move forward on this project.
Bernard: This is the most efficient way for us to go about this.
Rogala: Moves to previous question to cut lines 14-17 seconded.
Vote: 6/13/1 Motion fails.
French: Move to previous question on motion to approve seconded. Vote: 14/6/0
Motion carries.
Motion to approve resolution 10.Vote: 16/3/1 Motion carries.
2012-R-12 Support of Letter to the Board of Regents:
Combs: Motion to approve seconded.
Lake: Can we have some insight into the background on this?
McKay: Board of Regents has state fund allocations. There is a model in place that is
highly complicated. Not many people know what’s going on, but this model has been
frozen for a number of years and it has not changed. FTE changed between MSU and U
of M. This decision was made without a lot of knowledge behind it. Yield floor to former
President Bjornson.
Bjornson: Board of Regents sets the budget rather than state legislature. It helps the
university system. Before the cap, which was an initiative years ago to cap tuition, they
had given money to the universities and its affiliates using an unclear metric to
determine the amount. After the cap, they were going to set the budgets again; they
were unclear again. What we are asking is for the Board of regents to give a transparent
model to the campus that we can rely on so that campus decisions are decisions where
we know how they will effect our funding. MSU recruited a lot on out of state students.
Our in state students dropped compared proportionally to U of M. There are other
variables that need to be accounted for.
Bernard: Moves to previous question seconded.
Motion to approve resolution 12 Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
2012-R-13 Exponent Final Fee:
Townshend moves to approve seconded. Lake moves to amend lines 37-38 seconded.
Approve exponent final fee resolution Vote: 20/0/0. Motion carries.
Admin Reports
President – Kiah Abbey: Although she wants to discuss the health insurance plan she
feels that she is not familiar enough with the health insurance to explain it to the
senate. There are three options: tier system, increase in the credits, and finally create an
insurance verification. Lindsey and her mentioned a student ambassador program and
are trying to get this program off the ground this summer. This would be so that
students don’t feel entirely overwhelmed. This would be a great fit for multiple offices,
for example the office of student success. She went to the sorority and fraternity awards
and it was really great.
Vice-President – Lindsay Murdock: Deans and directors discussed financial literacy. The
talked about better equipping students for being educated about finances. There was an
email sent to Lindsey and Kiah by the nursing director and she was extremely upset
about the porno that is being showed at the procrastinator. She encourages feedback
from senators.
Steffens: What would you like to see happen?
Murdock: She doesn’t have an answer yet.
Karimian: Is this a meeting that senators can sit in on?
Murdock: Yes, I do not see a problem with this.
Duker: Feels there could be something else to support this cause.
Lawson: Roundtable discussion on pornography will be on Tuesday hosted by Jenny
room 168 at 3:30 pm.
Business Manager – Lauren Jackson: No report.
Senate President – Jenny Lawson: This is the last senate meeting so congratulations.
Banquet will be next week please come.
Senate Vice President – Dillon Haskell: This has been a growing senate and he is proud
of the work we all have done.
Senate Reports:
Bernard: Physical activity courses for credit was tabled and they are going to be able to talk
about this on the 27th.
Rogala: There will be a meeting held next week for the clubs.
Karimian: SUB PUB tomorrow at 12 so please come.
Townshend: Active learning environment meeting yesterday and it was really cool where there
was discussion about the different variations for classrooms.
Duker: Will the college of business classrooms will be open to students of other majors.
Bernard: Yes!
Senate Announcements
Feder: Wild Joes is having a genocide awareness concert so please come! Concert at the eagles
next week it will be $5.
Scafide: Dance marathon will have an event tomorrow at 12.
Townshend: On Monday and Tuesday there will be presentations by several senators so come
support.
Meeting Adjourned at 11:37 pm.