82nd MSSA Senate
November 19, 2014
I.
II.
Call to Order by 82nd Speaker Ben Shakespear
Roll Call
PJ Piotrowski 14-0-0; David Schieler 10-3-1; Elizabeth Anderson 7-6-1; Dillon Petrowitz 14-0-0;
Arnold Bagamba 13-1-0; Fred de Ruiter 14-0-0; Noel Leul 10-3-1; Nolan Brinkman 13-1-0; Kyler
Schoner 13-0-0; Tyler Conlon 13-0-0; Connor Martin 10-3-0; Ashley James 11-1-1; Miesso Wako
10-2-1; Marshall Tromborg 12-1-0; Patrick Riesterer 8-6-0; Becky Wegscheid 14-0-0; Elizabeth
Jacobson 14-0-0; Nick Kragness 12-2-0; Michael Hanson 14-0-0; Faical Rayani 8-0-0; Karli Heroff
5-2-0
Shakespear: We will be in Closed Session for a few minutes, therefore, will ask everyone, other than
senators, to please leave the room. (Confidential packet distributed- Motions & Bill of Particulars).
Presentations – MSUSA – Elsbeth Howe, Executive Director (4:21 pm)
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Tonight’s theme for you is what your President said at the Board of Trustees meeting today: “We
are not here to weaken the Minnesota State University Student Association, we are here to
strengthen it.” That is why we exist. We have one voice. For students. We want you to stay.
Remember when Moriah Miles had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. and testify before
congress? Never before have I had a student from MSUSA testify before congress. Unbelievable.
And, everyone who knows Moriah knows she is unbelievable.
Worked at MSUSA for 15 years. Went to law school and worked here in Mankato in district
court.
MSUSA is a statewide voice for state universities. The Board is comprised of delegates for the
schools.
All decisions are made by students. Everything is driven by students. Student decide what my
salary is, students decide what we talk about when we go to MnSCU, State Legislature,
everywhere. Everything is driven by students. We are here to inform students about higher
education issues. Alex Griffin, who worked at MSUSA last year, worked at MSUSA and now
works for Amy Klobuchar. MSUSA got her to that point. We all come together and then take
that power out. We are the only group fighting for state college students. We don’t have power
unless we have all seven universities. Other groups have lobbyists. We go to these things and
give critical voice of the students to these things which is critically important. We work to keep
tuition and fees low, lobby for money for repairs and maintenance, new buildings. We work to
increase financial aid, on textbook prices, paid internships, work to keep interest rates low. We
run two scholarships and fellowships. We’ve also an Alumni Association Board who met for the
first time on Friday. Several Mankato students, Matt Lexcen and Matt Lindquist, are now
members of that board.
Conduct situation: I can’t tell you how disappointed, disheartened and disillusioned I am. I
never heard of a Facebook page being secret. I didn’t know that lots of students have secret FB
groups. I had no idea. Then I was informed of allegations on Saturday, November 14th, at
Delegates when St. Cloud State University and MSU students made a motion about it. That
motion was ruled out of order by the parliamentarian as we don’t kick delegates out. I’ve been
accused of dismissing this concern which I find false, incredibly hurtful, and defamatory. My
entire career has been working for students and to have this said about me is incredibly hurtful.
so I referred those students to the MSUSA Code of Conduct immediately which, if you think
about it, I think that you can understand that there is no way that I could do an investigation
about all of this in one day. I checked email and had received two formal written complaints and
it was serious code of conduct allegations and was asked not to hold a MSUSA Board meeting
until after those allegations were investigated. While I was talking to that student our auditor,
Wayne Burtzel, had been presenting the audit and I went back into the board meeting and then
advised the Board that we shouldn’t meet until the conduct investigation was concluded. They
agreed, came out and those were the actions I took. After that, I went back to the office and
immediately contacted an attorney to get some advice as it seemed like an incredibly serious
allegation that I did not feel I wanted to handle on my own. On Monday, someone forwarded
me a Bill of Particulars and I had seen the allegations that I had dismissed concerns…
Shakespear: Elsbeth, I want to interrupt you here as we’ve had a lot of contention with that and just
want to say that this was supposed to be confidential until our senate, and St. Cloud, had approved
of it. When I had heard that there was language in it that you had dismissed allegations, we had that
removed as we recognized that, perhaps at the time when that was originally drafted, we were a bit
upset, a bit hot-headed and used some language in there that we should not have used. I do have a
copy of the one we are probably going to vote on later and would like you to have one. I hope some
of those changes alleviate them. I do apologize that someone did submit those allegations. We don’t
want that bill out in public until St. Cloud talks about it at their senate meeting tomorrow night.
 Ben, I greatly appreciate the apology, however, I know that that Bill was sent to high level people
at MnSCU, a Board of Trustee member, and others. This is my reputation and what I do and I am
incredibly disappointed. I appreciate your apology and accept it. It then became very clear to me
that an attorney needed to take a primary role in this due to these false allegations against me as
any investigation that I would do would be unbiased and unfair. Consequently, I’ve hired an
attorney who will do the majority of this investigation and who already has begun. I want to
make clear that as Director the past three years, any conduct allegations you see you should come
to me and let me help investigate it. That is why we have this policy. I feel we haven’t done our
best to let people know about it. We really want conduct to be good at all of our Delegates and
have really worked hard on that.
 CTF allegation: I feel I made I made a mistake by not present Charting the Future. I had no
intent to ignore it. I honestly didn’t. The last several years we’ve created a process to get state
resolutions from your campuses for the state legislative agenda. We’d asked for those to be back
to us by Oct. 31st, however, we didn’t get any prior to the meeting. That is okay. We then got
three brought to Delegates. So, the purpose of the November conference is to pass a state
legislative agenda. Generally, we then put those out to the delegates and then they are passed
onto the board. So, my first thought when these were brought was, oh my gosh, we have to get
these done. We then scrambled and did some research on them. Obviously, we all know how
controversial CTF is, so we thought we as staff don’t want to make a resolution on this.
Consequently, it wasn’t in my head to project it out to everybody. And, as I thought it was St.
Cloud’s resolution and when it was CTF on the agenda, they would bring it up. While I now
know I made a mistake with not bringing it up, I had no intent to ignore it or hide it. It was an
oversight. I wish someone from SCSU, or anyone else, would have told me that we now have a
motion. For those of you at the Delegates Assembly, that was unfortunate. So we started with
the motion to remove people from the body and couldn’t do that by our parliamentarian. So then
we went into some other things and had the delegates actually pass a legislative agenda. We
then passed the Indigenous People Day brought by Mankato and everyone clapped about that
which was good. Then at the end was a motion to withdraw from MSUSA. As you know, St.
Cloud and Mankato voted yes. Everybody knows we need everybody to be at the table. We can
not not have you. I know someone clapped when you left. They were not at their best in doing
that. I know that was hurtful and we all know that delegates sometimes get like that. People are
nervous and don’t always act on their best behavior. So I’d caution you not to look at that as a
real indictment of St. Cloud and Mankato and I think it was more of, what just happened here
and this is not good. Everyone will have to make up their own mind on that I understand the
allegations with the secret FB page and that it was hurtful to people and I do not condone it. I
promise you that we will do a deep investigation with all of the facts and with the attorney and
that if there is inappropriate actions found, we will issue the proper sanctions. I implore you to
let us do that investigation. Please don’t leave us. Please stay with us until that is done. We will
do it as quickly as we can. There will be no board meetings or nothing until the investigation is
done and when everyone has had the chance to appeal that decision which is part of the policy.
Then, if students don’t like my decisions, students on the Board can overturn it.
 I feel if we don’t have your voice at the legislature feel like students’ lives will be harmed and I
strongly believe that. Your lobby cores make a huge difference. Higher Ed knows us and know
that we do the best possible work we can do for you. Thanks again for letting me be here. I’d be
happy to answer anything you have.
Haffield: Have you seen the document of screenshots from the Facebook page? Also, will the
investigation continue if MSU and SCSU suspend participation? Or, do you need us to move forward?
Elsbeth: Yes I have and looked at them today. What do you mean by not participate?
Haffield: Essentially, not participate in things like delegates and board meetings.
Elsbeth: If you stay on, you have the opportunity to have a say. If not on the board, you don’t have any
recourse. The investigation itself will continue no matter what.
Wegscheid: Why did you hire the attorney that you did?
Elsbeth: I had used him before for an employment situation I had with MSUSA before and went to law
school him, although didn’t know him.
Schieler: Are you familiar with the MSUSA code of conduct? (recited)
Elsbeth: Yes, I am familiar and it is my job to do that.
Elsbeth: When I received notice of the FB page, I should’ve removed it but at the time wasn’t sure if I had
the authority to look at it or if there was a privacy issue associated with it.
Nakumbe: I understand that students make the decisions; however, whose job will it be to decide if these
students stay in?
Elsbeth: I get to decide but the Board of Directors may overturn it by unanimous vote.
Nakumbe: If they overturn the decision, will there be any further repercussions?
Elsbeth: no, as it is written, my part is done and they decide if I was correct in the sanction I hand out.
Wegscheid: What is the process and timeline with your investigation? Also, who will he be reporting to?
Elsbeth: We’ll be doing it in conjunction. I can’t hire him to do the entire thing as it is student money and
will amount to a lot of student money. We will be doing it with student money so have to be careful with
it. We’ll be at SCSU’s senate meeting tomorrow. We’ll do as quickly as we can and know that he has
reached out to the two people who complained already.
Schieler: Were you aware of the use of Sec. C in Code of Conduct negates the Director’s actions and
issues grounds for immediate removal of the motion.
Elsbeth: I am aware and if you read Section C, state that, “if an MSUSA student engages in a behavior or
egregious nature, assault, illicit drug use, public nuisance, underage alcohol consumption, destruction of
property, he or she is subject to immediate removal from the event or function. I did not take these
allegations as the same that I saw in this section. Reasonable people can differ on that. My concern was,
“What is my jurisdiction to investigate a secret Facebook group?” I had not seen the FB group when I
made that decision.
Schieler: So in your opinion, what you seen in this FB group were not egregious? In the motion made by
SCSU and MSU, what was your reason for not taking a moment to read it?
Elsbeth: I knew nothing about this earlier but did know that there were going to be strong feelings at this
meeting. Thank you for having me. We want you, we need you. I’ll do anything you ask me to keep
you. I’ve worked hard for the students over the years and will do my best to keep you as members.
III.
Open Forum
John B. – Greek update: election of new 2015 officers who will be installed on Dec. 7th.
Holiday Sharing Tree, opportunities for you to sponsor individual children and families.
IV.
Approval of Consent Agenda
Appointments:
Commission on Ethics & Standards:
Student Allocations Committee:
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Recommend allocating up to $1,000 ($50/student x 20 students) for non-food related student travel
expenses to the Students Today, Leaders Forever to engage in community service and leadership
building activities in multiple cities on the way to the celebration city of Denver, CO, March 6-14,
2015.
- Recommend allocating up to $600 ($50/student x 12 students) for non-food related student travel
expenses to the United Nations/International Relations Club to participate in the American Model
United Nations conference in Chicago, IL, November 21-25, 2014.
- Recommend allocating up to $110 for non-food related student travel expenses to the MSU Club
Gymnastics to assist 6 students participate in a gymnastics event at the U of M, Minneapolis, MN,
and November 21-23, 2014.
- Recommend allocating up to $1,000 ($50/student x 20 students) for non-food related student travel
expenses to Cru to attend the Twin Cities Xperience Conference in Minneapolis, MN, December 28,
2014 –January 1, 2015.
- Recommend a supplemental one-time allocation of $3,750 of SAF funds to IMPACT to guarantee that
the student ticket price for the large spring concert will not exceed $15 per ticket if the spring concert
is held on the MSU, Mankato campus.
** Recommend a guarantee to IMPACT that SAF funds will cover 10% of a potential loss, up to a
maximum of $750 if the spring concert is held on a Thursday; 20% of a potential loss, up to a maximum of
$1,500 if the spring concert is held on a Friday or Saturday on the MSU, Mankato campus. It is further
recommended that SAF funds will cover 0% of a potential loss if the spring concert is held on Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday on the MSU, Mankato campus.
Schieler: SAC Chair – ** Last item on consent agenda:
Any questions we’d like to see revolve around the budget and not programming.
Hanson: In the event it isn’t held, that funding would go back to SAC.
Schieler: Yes, there have also been a few others that didn’t come to fruition.
Hanson: Do you feel it is a conflict of interest considering your involvement as both Sac and Impact?
Schieler: I typically don’t vote in SAC although I have the right.
Nakumbe: With SAC buy-down, would this allow for more options for the concert?
Schieler: They aren’t programming board but only budgeting. We remained as neutral as possible.
Hanson: Do you know what % sold for last spring concert?
Bill Tourville: Yes, 33%.
Hanson: Did that cover the cost?
Schieler: It did not cover the cost and was risk coverage that was taken by SAC.
Recognized Student Organizations: - None
Approval of Minutes: 11.12.14
V.
Vacancies
a. Off-Campus (1)
b. Arts and Humanities (1)
c. Allied Health and Nursing (1)
d. College of Business (1)
e. College of Education (1)
f. Student Body At-Large (1)
g. College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (1)
i. Josh Atencio- I’m an Economics major looking for leadership opportunities. I
have a flexible schedule and am looking forward to great opportunities while
being on MSSA.
Hanson: What focus will you bring to the body and how will you best utilize your best
Atencio: I know of a lot of resources on campus and I am also part of Sigma Nu. I have good resources
within my college right now.
Conlon: Only one senate meeting left, what are you excited about learning?
Atencio: Looking more towards spring semester and what I can do then.
Wolf: What are your biggest strength and weakness?
Atencio: Strength: This would be a good resume builder. Weakness: I feel like it would help me with
public speaking.
Hanson: Have you built up any relationships with the Dean or others in the Administration?
Atencio: No, but this would make it easy now. Would be honored to work with you guys and be on
MSSA.
Hanson: We are seven senators down and he is here which shows a willingness to work on his
weaknesses such as his public speaking.
Martin: I agree. I don’t think it is a bad thing that he also looks at it as a resume builder. It still builds
character.
Vote: Josh Atencio elected & sworn in.
VI.
President Haffield – (via conference call)
Testified at the Board of Trustees meeting today and feel it went well.
Looking for people for the social worker taskforce. If you know of people interested, let me
know.
Vice President Wolf
 City/University meeting was primarily discussions on school events
 Meet & Confer went over revised policies, and review process; (mnsu.edu/polices); Todd
Miller, City of Mankato, talked about police officer; student fees at satellite campuses,
 Had our monthly meeting with David Jones.
 Dec. 3rd will be informal senate meeting at Jakes Stadium pizza @ 4:00. This will be a wrap
up of the semester. Upon return for next semester, will have another informal meeting on
Jan. 15th to plan for nest semester.
Bulcock: Discussion on policy review at Meet & Confer. They were very complimentary of Tyler’s input.
There were a total of (18) being reviewed and pretty significant such as admission standards, progress
reports, etc. You’ll want to take a look at these and provide feedback.
Conlon: I encourage you to take a look at it and the highlighted changes. Medical Amnesty isn’t up for
review but we did ask for it. I will let you know. Will also be sending out email tonight to SA and AA
coordinators as to what policies should be taken care of by each.
Constantine: RSO policy – had a meeting and waiting for feedback from Integrated Marketing. We got
an email today from them today and now want to meet to provide proposal. Once we’ve met, we’ll give
it to you from there.
Speaker Shakespear
VII.
Senator Reports
a. Senator Leul - Postponed
b. Senator Heroff - Postponed
Shakespear: I won’t hold any of you to the requirement of three senator reports as I’ve not allowed some
of you to do them.
VIII. Old Business - None
IX.
New Business – (Closed session)
a. 82 MM 01 11.19.2014 – Suspension of involvement with MSUSA - Wegscheid/Schieler
Whereas there was a Facebook group under the name of “Minnesota Higher Ed Illuminati” comprised of
MSUSA leadership, directors, and delegates,
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Whereas this group was defaming and slandering prominent members of MnSCU and members of the
delegates assembly,
Whereas this group was attempting to get a promised vote count in controversial issues,
Whereas the motion to withdraw from MSUSA made by Minnesota State University, Mankato and Saint
Cloud State University failed by a vote of 20-21 vote,
Be it resolved that the Minnesota State Student Association suspend their participation in MSUSA,
Be it further resolved that the MSSA not attempt to promote MSUSA or recruit members at this time,
Be it further resolved that we reserve the right to return to MSUSA when they find themselves in
prominent position to represent the students again.
Motion passes.
Ayes-20; Nay- 0; Abstain:-1
b. 82 MM 02 11.19.2014 – Bill of Particulars
- Wegschied/Jacobson
Whereas the students of Minnesota State University, Mankato have suspended their
participation in the Minnesota State University Student Association,
Whereas the creation of a secret group comprised of MSUSA members has compromised the
integrity of the organization,
Whereas the concerns and complaints of both Minnesota State University, Mankato and Saint
Cloud State University have been sent to the appropriate people in an official format,
Be it resolved that the Minnesota State Student Association approve the Bill of Particulars.
Motion Passes.
Aye: 21; Nay: 0; Abstain: 0
c.
82 MM 03 11.19.2014 – Approval of Delegate Action - Wegscheid/Johnson
Whereas the students of Minnesota State University, Mankato attended the MSUSA Delegates
Assembly this past weekend,
Whereas the students and our student body president acted in the best interest of the students
of Minnesota State University, Mankato,
Be it resolved that the senate approve the actions that Mankato delegation took this past
weekend,
Be it further resolved that the senate approve the actions of our student body president.
Motion Passes.
Aye: 19; Nay: 0; Abstain: 2
d.
82 MM 04 11.19.2014 – Bylaw revision - Wegscheid/de Ruiter
Whereas the Minnesota State Student Association has moved to suspend their participation in
the Minnesota State University Student Association,
Be it resolved that the Minnesota State Student Association strike Article V, Sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, and 8 of the MSSA bylaws,
Be it further resolved that the Minnesota State Student Association amend Article III by
replacing Campus Coordinator, Legislative Affairs Specialist, PR Specialist, and Diversity
Specialist with the MSSA Diversity Committee chair, MSSA Legislative Affairs Committee
chair, and the Public Relations Committee chair,
Be it further resolved that Article III, Sections 1-4 be amended to reflect any changes,
Be it further resolved that “MSUSA Specialist” be struck from Article VII, Section 3.
Tabled.
e.
82 MM 05 11.19.14 – Cost Associated with hiring a Lobbyist – Schieler/Piotrowski
Move to direct the MSSA cabinet to investigate the costs associated with the hiring of a lobbyist
to represent the MSSA to all relevant legal bodies.
Motion Passes.
Aye: 21; Nay: 0; Abstain: 0
X.
Roll Call
Senators Present:
Elizabeth Jacobson, Tyler Conlon, Rebecca Wegscheid, PJ Piotrowski, Dillon Petrowitz, Fred De Ruiter,
Ashley James, Alexander Johnson, Nick Kragness, Michael Hanson; Noel Leul, Kyler Schoner,
Marshall Tromborg, Faical Rayani; Karli Heroff; David Schieler; Nolan Brinkman; Abdul-HafeezNakumbe
Senators Absent:
Elizabeth Anderson, Patrick Riesterer, Connor Martin, Meisso Wako, Arnold Bagumba
Executive Leadership Present:
Joe Wolf, Vice President; Ben Shakespear, Speaker
Executive Leadership Absent:
Mariah Haffield, President
XI.
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned 6:15 pm.