Minutes of the
STUDENT ASSOCIATION SENATE
OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
14 October 2012
CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The meeting was called to order by Speaker Austin M. D. Quick at 6:00 p.m. in the Clara Sperling
Skyroom of the Holmes Student Center. Senate Clerk Chad Harris conducted a roll call of Senators. All
members were present except; Lenard Sanders and Jessica Fullilove. Also present were Executive
Directors and Senators At Large to be and Chief Grady, With a quorum present, the meeting proceeded.
President Pro Tempore Brian Troutman asked Senator Alford to lead in the Pledge of Allegiance.
MEETING AND AGENDA APPROVAL
Speaker Quick motions to amend the agenda and move items B, D, E, F, G, H, and consider it read as old
business. And postpone item C on old business. Motion Adopted.
SPEAKER’S REPORT
Good evening everyone, I hope everyone had a wonderful home coming weekend. I can say with a sense
of pride that our huskie team is having another amazing year. I think some people were a little nervous
when chandler left us for the colts, but our new quarterback is doing well so it exciting to see another
home victory. Plus if my calculations are correct that puts us at 19 in our home stretch wins. But I have a
few things I want to say and then we’ll move on. This past Thursday the president held his annual state
of the university address. Where he talked about the current the status of the university and things that
we are doing well in and things where we need to improve. And also in his speech he announced he will
be retiring after 13 years of service to our university. I believe he’s one of the longest serving presidents
we’ve had, he’s the 10th I believe. I think John peters will go down a president that has really lifted NIU’s
spirit. He was a steadfast leader when needed. He’s been a father like figure to many people and as they
said in the media, he was the student’s president. And I think in many ways he has shown that to be
true. And we wish him the very best! One of the reasons that I bring this up is that I’ve heard from many
different people that there’s a lot of uncertainty with the new changes that are going on in the
university. For those of you that don’t know there’s a search going on or different administrators. And
now with president peters leaving there now starts a new search for a new president to be in place on
July 1st. I would encourage all of you to speak to students this week that this is a great thing for our
university. It’s always good to get new leadership, and though we thank Dr. Peters for his years of
service to NIU, getting a new approach and a person with fresh ideas is always and exciting thing. So I
would ask all of you to be supportive of this change and I’m sure you will be hearing more on that issue.
For those of you who are keeping track, we have also had one of the most striking victories in University
Council to date, which is the senior legislative body of the university under the board of trustees. Plus
minus is something that has been discussed for multiple years, it’s been making its way very slowly
through the various committees that it needs to pass. We found out just a last week that it did pass
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through the necessary committees that would make it a policy that would have taken effect in fall of
2013. So all of you that are going to be here starting next year, you would have been affected by this
and you would have had plus minus grading for undergraduate students. Thanks to the votes of students
that are on University Council and the votes of faculty members we have been able to postpones that
vote and send the plus minus system back to the committees that oversee that. I am not saying that it is
gone forever, because it is not, but it is at least giving us more time so that we can get more student
input to show that it is something that we are either for or against. So I would encourage all of you to
talk to your constituents and students, figure out what they think. I’ve spoken to Senator Theodore from
University Services committee. His committee is going to work with Director of Academic Affairs Kyle
Bak and people in the executive branch to get a real feel for what students want and how they feel
about plus minus. Not just based on the surface level, but really what does it mean and what has it’s
effect been at other schools who have done it, what has happened, and really get a feel it. This is
something that we have to act on quickly because there is not telling how long it could be back in that
committee before it comes back up again. Next time if it does come back, we would need two thirds
majority vote in university council, which is pretty unlikely that we would ever get, even if it something
we believed strongly in. In the 16 votes that students have, there would not be enough to carry us over
the finish line. So this is an important issue, I’m not here to take a stand either way, but I want to know
specifically what students want in their grading system. One of the things that was disturbing , yet
hopefully we can change perceptions is the comment was made by people in University Council that this
isn’t a student issue, it’s a faculty issue, that the faculty members get to decide how they grade. I guess
just to put my two cents in, that isn’t the case. The people are going to be affected by it should be
consulted, but there are many things at work here, so I would encourage you to get some information
on this and let me know if you are interested in working with Senator Theodore to help with that. It is
something that we are happy that we were able to push it of for now, but it is not gone for good like we
thought it was last year. The next thing is that we have been working with the rec center to hopefully
start moving for on a project to construct a new Health and Wellness Center. Currently we have a rec
center, I have talked about it here, I think this year and multiple times last year, our recreation center is
not at the level it needs to be. It is nowhere near the size and the scope that it needs to be for a
university this size. Obviously all of you know that enrollment is an important thing for our university,
and one of the pieces that we have lagged behind all of our competitors schools is in our rec center. And
one of the things that came up in discussion with the previous Vice President for Student Affairs Brian
Hemphill, student leaders, and other members of the community, was that we would like to see
potentially, and I say potentially, an all-inclusive health and wellness center. It would house all the
clinics, the counseling center, etc. All of them would be in one building and it could really be a focal
point for students to visit and spend a lot of their time in. A number of us over the summer went to visit
various campuses around Illinois to see what they have. University of Illinois is definitely on the cutting
edge in that regard. I would also ask that Senator Theodore and the University Services committee to
start getting some information input from students. There is more information on that coming, but I
wanted to just put that in your head to start talking to students and have more concrete information so
that you can educate people on what that would look like. Next week we will have a very candid
discussion regarding the overall budget that the Student Association has. I don’t have specifics for you
today, but I want you to start thinking about that and going back to previous year’s minutes or the past
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budgets. There will be information forthcoming on that. The last couple of things that I have for you is I
have a community service opportunity, hopefully Elyse or Chad emailed you this week. There is a
bystander intervention training coming up, there are multiple dates for you to choose from. We have
talked a lot about safety, and this to train people on what to do if they see something happening.
Senator Zanayed is on the committee that oversees it, so if you would like to be a part of that contact
him. Also, we are allowing it to count as two of the five community service hours you are required to
have if you go to that training. I think Elyse had the dates, so if you would contact Senator Zanayed or if
there is contact information in the email contact them, but he would your best bet. The last thing that I
wanted to talk about this evening is the university’s distribution of the annual Cleary Act Report, which
deals with campus safety. Obviously during my first Speaker’s Report a few weeks ago, I discussed the
need for improved safety around our campus community not just the campus itself. There are couple
things I will say on that. While the report itself is positive and I think our campus is safe, the “campus
proper,” I do think that there is concern and I think that we have expressed that here as well as many
other places. There is concern that the surrounding community is not as safe. One of the things that I
want to remind you of is that when we are speaking about, and I have had numerous people come up to
me after the last meeting, when we are speaking about “Greek Row” it is not necessarily a positive
thing and it gives a negative connotation to the fraternities and sororities that live out there. The new
name, correct me if I am wrong, is the “Northwest Corridor.” That is the fancy name that they have
created at the city level to refer to that area, so when you say “Greek row is unsafe” that is technically
not what we are supposed to say. We are supposed to say “Northwest corridor,” because it’s not
necessarily the fraternities and sororities that are causing it to be unsafe, it is just the area itself. The
Northwest Corridor as we know has been a problem area for some time. I do want to devote time and
attention to this issue over the next semester and the next year and I ask all of you to help out in that
regard. If you see something, speak out. If you have issues, let us know. Part of that is also we have a
flyer that we have been distributing for a campaign that is called “Not On My Campus.” I passed those
around to your area, you can take a look at it, you can take it with you to put up in your fraternity or
sorority house, your residence hall, your apartment, wherever you want, to get people to know the
important numbers to have and to let them know what to do if they see something suspicious. Part of
that, I promised you the last time that I would always keep you informed of what we are doing and have
candid conversations about problems and areas of concern. As a result, I have invited the new Police
Chief of DeKalb, to come this evening to speak to you directly about safety off of our campus. This is
your time. He’s going to speak briefly and then this is the time for you senators to ask questions. If you
have something that you would like to know, ask it! Don’t be afraid. At this time, I would like to yield
time to the new DeKalb Police Chief, Gene Lowery.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH REPORT(S)
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Vice President Gina Gregolunas:
 Improve communication with student organizations, revised the student handbook,
organizational expo with the largest participation yet, student engagement subgroup to find
ways to improve, the sample constitution.
Director Faulkner:
 Made new logo for the SA, new radio station and online magazine. Acting as the marketing
consultant to promote events.
Director Samuels:
 Working with VP to get students involved. Researching other schools methods.
Director Cho:
 Wants to be a liaison to university departments and be a resource to students with issues they
may have with university affairs.
Director Julion:
 Started working Shelly, and working with Campus recreation sports advisory council, created a
new initiative to get tailgating for free throughout the whole year. Housing gives us hotdogs,
working with sandy Carlisle of the rec and many others to get to work on the new health and
wellness s center.
OLD BUSINESS
SAB 44005: A Bill to amend the bylaws
 Speaker Quick speaks on its behalf
 Bill passes 7:10pm
SAR 44013: A Resolution to appoint Demetrius Strong
 Demetrius Strong speaks on his own behalf
 Resolution passes 7:14 pm
 Senator takes Oath of Office
SAR 44015: A Resolution to appoint Shawn Hannan
 Shawn Hannan speaks on his own behalf
 Resolution Passes 7:15 pm
 Senator takes Oath of Office
SAR 44016: A Resolution to appoint Matthew Dunn
 Matthew Dunn speaks on his own behalf
 Senator Gordon Inquires: “How do you plan to help with the huskie bus system?”
o Would like to see the extended hours progress to every weekend.
 Resolution passes 7:18 pm
 Senator takes the Oath of Office
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SAR 44017: A Resolution to appoint Derek Koegel
 Derek Koegel speaks on his own behalf
 Senator Birk Inquires: “He filled out his packet very minimally”
o Speaker Quick Comments “Personally worked with Derek over the past few years he has
shown to be a dedicated, good student leader, I highly recommend him for senate but
appreciate you pointing that out.
 Senator Gordon Inquires: Your packet says you want to make Senate awesome.
 Senator Brady comments: Let’s treat them equally.
 Resolution passes 7:22
 Senator takes Oath of Office
SAR 44018: A Resolution to appoint Matthew Wellington
 Matthew Wellington speaks on his own behalf
 Senator Phillips: “What other activities have you participated in on campus?
 Resolution passes 7:25
 Senator takes Oath of Office
SAR 44019: A Resolution to appoint Stephanie Wiggins
 Stephanie Wiggins speaks on her own behalf
 Speaker Quick Comments “She contacted me from Afghanistan this summer. I highly
recommend her for Senate.”
 Resolution passes 7:29
 Senator takes Oath of Office
Motion to approve last week’s minutes
 Senator Shockey seconds.
 Passes at 7:30pm
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Speaker Quick, 2 hours for Bystander Intervention training is available. Contact Senator Theodore or
Senator Zanayed for information.
Seth Peritz: Mass Transit committee meet me.
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Senator Theodore: If anyone wants info on University service issues, let me know, I will add you to email
list.
Speaker Quick: All new senators are to report to rules and procedures. Come to meetings earlier than
6:00 pm we will start promptly if a quorum is present and half absences will be given out.
ADJOURNMENT
President Troutman requested a motion to adjourn. Motion is made by Senator Zanayed. Seconded by
Senator Theodore. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:36 p.m.
MINUTES SUBMITTED BY
Chad A. Harris, Clerk of the Senate & Special Assistant to the Speaker.
EXECUTIVE ALLOCATION INFORMATION
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