Senate Minutes
8/14/2015
I.
Call to Order: 12:00 pm
II.
Roll Call: Quorum
Franklin Joseph, Johnnie Nguyen, Shubeksha Shrestha, Pedro Ramos, Avneet Chauhan, Alex
Pongphachanxay, Ryan Duong, Grecia Portillo, Will Mundo, Remi Shipley, Aaron Blahut,
Ernesto Rodriguez, Zach Lubline, Will Card, Joe Halter, Rachel Cohen, David Heisler, Jaclyn
Fields, Omer Sarwana Phone: Tiffany Cung, Maria Luisa Lins
III.
Adoption of Agenda: Approved
IV.
Approval/Correction of Minutes: The minutes of the July 24th meeting were approved.
V.
Guest Speaker(s): Gordon Hamby, Professional Life Coach
Presentation Topic: Student Leadership and Advocacy
Gordon started with a harmonica solo, then introduced himself and described the
different projects he is working on, including his mayoral candidacy.
He discussed the importance of broadening your view away from “professional tunnel
vision,” or being too focused on one specific thing and missing everything else. This is related
to going from the inner sphere (core circle of loved ones like family, partners, etc.) to the
“extosphere” (a term that he created) which is essentially respect for all of human kind. This is
similar to agape: how MLK embraced love for mankind and encompassed forgiving enemies.
One of his biggest messages was, “When we help ourselves we are empowered to help
others.” His mantra: “I can do better every day and in every way. I can do better.” Until you
believe you can do great things in this world, you cannot help other people do great things.
Part of this is to “be more forgiving” not only to others, but yourself. Everybody makes
mistakes, and that is okay. Don’t dwell on these mistakes, move on.
11 Energies of the Verve: Passion, enthusiasm, compassion, openness, sincerity, truth,
self-value, forgiveness, sparkle, courage, and love. They are interdependent values that work
best together. His presentation discussed how these energies can be used as student leaders.
Try to be open, not only in mindset, but demeanor. As student leaders you need to be open and
approachable to interact with other students. This is through body language, mindset, and
being active and present in the moment. Every student should feel like they can ask you a
question or advice. An open and inviting body language is incredibly important. Sincerity
needs to be present, especially with listening. People can tell when you are not actually
listening to them. Use eye contact and let people know that you are actually listening. You
should “not be waiting to speak, but actively listening.” “Listen, don’t defend”
Discussion:
He has additional resources on his website, and would love to email or discuss with you.
VI.
Financial report:
a. Previous Balance: $39,500
b. Current Balance: $36,503.05
VII. Unfinished Business: None
VIII. New Business:
a. Revisit Sr-001-Added to agenda in the meeting through a vote
We realized that the board of regents had different wording on their proposal and wanted to make
sure that we pass the same language as the regents. On this edited proposal, there is no conflict
with what SGA has been saying, but it is important that the language matches. It is to ensure that
thirty years from now once the debt is paid off that the student fees remain the same, and it helps
us to make sure we don’t create a large amount of money that someone uses later on for
something else. We agreed that SGA would pass it then the board of regents. The immediate
concern was wanting to be consistent and uniform with SGA. The highlighted portion of the
proposal is the only actual change with a merge in two pieces. Everything else is a change in
wording only. This will effectively change the motion we passed on July 24th.
Senators took the time to read through the resolution.
Amending the previous motion discussion:
Senators clarified that this is a resolution saying that the student fee will remain the same.
There was some concern with grammar on the highlighted portion concerning the “shall”
portion. This led to the following motion.
Motion to let L & D edit the format: Approved
The edited proposal will be available in the L&D office, as well as online soon.
Vote to approve this amendment to SR 001: Approved (9-0-0)
b. SB-003 CU Denver Summer/Fall SWAG
They presented a budget for SWAG for the whole year. They do plan on ordering more
specific items for events, but this will be a stock to pull from the whole year. Their proposal
is for 500 grey shirts with the shield logo and 350 tank tops with the same logo. Total cost
with shipping is $3,720. They wanted to diversify SWAG, but didn’t want to have SWAG left
in the office. Since the t-shirts are from a company we have previously ordered from, we
know we like the quality of the shirts. The tank tops are from a new company.
Discussion:
There were some concerns regarding whether the shirts will be sized according to gender and
how shirt sizes will be decided.
Shirts will be unisex, tank tops will be gendered. They will have more medium shirts
since they are the most common. They wanted to get some XL since they have some
popularity, but they didn’t get XXL since there are still leftover shirts from last year.
There will be a similar size distribution for tank tops.
There was concern about the size of the logo on the tank tops and whether SGA would have
their name on it.
They are personally working with both companies to fix all issues. In regards to getting
the SGA name on the shirts, it costs about $1,000 more to have it on the back, so they
decided not to this time. The rest of the swag will have it though.
The budget that senators had been sent on Wednesday did not match the budget that was being
shown on the screen. Due to this discrepancy, amendments were needed in order to update the
budget that had been sent out on Wednesday. The new budget was not sent out 48 hours in
advance, but time was deemed important.
Amendment to the pricing: With 750 tshirts ($1,599), with 500 it is ($1762)
Motion to amend the amount to match the correct price: Passed.
Vote on approval of amendment to SWAG budget: Passed
Further discussion on SB-003 CU Denver Summer/Fall SWAG:
The difference between the two budgets was that tank tops were not incorporated nor was the
correct shipping and handling fee. They needed to change 750 shirts to 500 shirts, add in 250
tank tops, and add in more S&H.
There was concern as to why they wanted to add tank tops.
Since SGA wanted more diversity in available SWAG, they though tank tops would be a
good idea. Senators expressed agreement stating that they had several shirts, but not
many tank tops and thought they would be popular with students.
Motion to add in 350 tank tops from logostuff.com and to change the price to $1810:
Approved through acclimation
Motion to have the budget look like the new budget : Approved
Vote on SB-003: Approved (7-2-0)
c. Judicial Council Presentation
They have created two new online forms: one for absence reports and one for feedback,
complaints, and problems from students.
Absence reports: the new form provides a time stamp and spreadsheet so we have
accurate information. Previously people had to come in person and get a paper copy from
the office and get it signed two days beforehand. Hopefully the online system will be
easier. You will now fill out this form, send an email to your chair with a blurb about why
you will be absent. You will still need to send it two days in advance, but emergencies are
exceptions.
Feedback, complaint, and problem form: originated when we found out other offices on
campus use this, so we want to create a system for students to approach us and give us
feedback. It’s less bureaucratic in order to be conversational and approachable to
students. It is also easier to contact the person and acknowledge or solve their complaint.
Discussion:
There was a question to how this link would distributed.
The response was to set up a rapport with different offices and either send this
link or set up a domain. We are mainly looking at adding it to our website so it is
visible. We also plan to add a link to our SGA website so that it is visible.
There was concern about whether people had to be a CU Denver student to fill it out.
There’s no way to block other people as the form currently stands. We could
include an ID # option, but they want to keep it anonymous.
There were questions about if the absence form could be used to report absences from
events as well as meetings and if there could be a way to report multiple dates.
The absence form is for events as well, and they will look into adding the option
to report dates instead of one event; however, senators will need to specify all of
the events they will be missing in a period of time. If you submit a paper form,
you don’t have to email your chair. If you are a chair please don’t email about
your absence.
There was an idea to have tablets or a laptop at Spirit Thursdays so that people can fill it
out then.
The website is up and running, but if you give the link to students, explain that it’s beta
and will be edited soon. I will send out the link on the listserv today.
d. Leadership Development
Rachel led an exercise on how to create an elevator speech for upcoming events.
IX.
Presidential Update:
David discussed going forward this year. We made goals at retreat, and he wants you all to
really focus on them throughout the year. Review them and review your progress. You may
not finish them all, but try to. We write them down so you hold yourself accountable. He is
really excited for the year and believes y’all will do amazing things.
X.
Vice-Presidential Update:
While we were at the retreat, we were excited about getting as much done as possible this
year. Monday classes will start, and everything gets harder. You are all students first, but after
you have handled all of your class stuff he wants you to be aware that it will be more difficult
to time manage. Make sure to prioritize, get a small book to keep notes for the week and keep
track of your personal goals and SGA goals.
XI.
SACAB Update:
No update, but we are meeting for the first time for the semester next week.
XII.
From the Floor:
A.
Standing Committee updates
a. Events & Planning: None. Timesheets due at 5pm today. Or tomorrow for day
of service or lynxapalooza.
b. Legislative & Drafting: Expect to hear from us about town halls. Nothing else
besides that. You will soon find a new friend in the office so get excited!
c. Finance & Funding: We have beach day, SGA/Student Org tabling, and block
party. For beach day we have a new system to volunteer, so please fill it out.
On beach day we will have a bounce slide, volleyball, sack racing,
trashketball, and food! For the tabling, we have a board about change at CU
Denver to get notes from students. For block party, we are promoting
facebook and instagram. With an ID card you can get lemonade, and we have
a dart game with balloons to win prizes.
B.
Judicial update:
We are thinking about finding a way for people who are not a chair or don’t come to
senate to be able to see what other committees need. We are going to evaluate how we
can get SGA to be more connected as a whole in some way. We are also working on
trying to promote complaint reports.
C.
Outside committee updates
a. SFRC: We have selected our two SGA Reps, Franklin and Caleb. Next week
is our first meeting.
b. Freshman Council: None.
c. College Council: Will Mundo is new, but they are working on getting
someone from SPA and the business school to have a full conference room.
Meetings will be Wednesday at 2.
PUT YOUR MEETINGS ON THE SGA CALENDAR
D.
Ex-officio: This Wednesday-Friday we will have Focus groups for the wellness center,
so make sure you go sign up via email, or the SGA facebook page, etc. These are very
important to figure out the details that we want for the wellness center. You need to
attend one, but if you can attend more that’d be great. There’s a different topic for each
one. Pass on the word to as many people as possible.
Joe went over some of the emergency procedures that SGA needs to know. In case of a
fire, people need to go to the green truck near the Kings Center. That way we can head
count and make sure no one is left inside. In case of a tornado, get to an interior office,
and if you have time, go to the basement. In case of an active shooter, get out if you can.
There is an emergency door near the conference room. The alarm is active, so only use it
in case of emergency. If you can’t leave, barricade yourself in a room with no windows.
Expectations for Welcome Week Events:
Proactively help, don’t just stand around and talk. There shouldn’t be a circle of SGA
people standing around. Stay humble and have a good attitude. At block party especially,
higher ups will be there so we want to represent ourselves well. Know your audience
and watch how you talk to people. Be professional. Remember what you are there for:
engage the freshman body and help them start their college experience. Also, PAL is
there, and one of our goals is to work closely with PAL, so get close to them.
E.
General business from the floor:
Vikasini: We are doing anti-harassment trainings, so look out for that. There is no
official completion notification, so take a screenshot of your completion page. If you
have already taken a training, you can also take a screenshot of your completion notice.
A reminder will be sent out, and it is due August 31st.
Zach: Tutoring in shelters is taking off, so if you want to get involved, we are mainly
working on GED work. Monday from 11-12 I will have an info session.
Omer: Congratulated and welcomed Rachel to the SGA team. We are creating a Spirit
Thursday adhoc committee; if you have any interest, please let him know. We are trying
to get one person from each standing committee.
XI.
Thought for the day: Vikasini Mahalingam
a. From Napoleon Dynamite: “At Rex Kwan Do, we use the buddy system. No more flying
solo. You need somebody watching your back at all times. Second off, you're gonna learn
to discipline your image. You think I got where I am today because I dressed like Peter
Pan over here? ”
“Take a look at what I'm wearing, people. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to
the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it. Last off, my students will
learn about self respect. You think anybody thinks I'm a failure because I go home to
Starla at night? Forget about it!” –Rex the personal trainer
XII. Adjournment: 1:59pm
Office Manager Signature
Date Minutes Approved