STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org
Student Government Assembly Meeting
April 10, 2012
I.
Call Meeting to Order
II.
First Roll Call
III.
Approval of Minutes
IV.
Guests
V.
Open Forum a.
Brian Tran, Student for MCBSAC i.
This Friday will be a ceremony, Josh and Horacio, Kensie, Crystal are comingm it will be fun, atrium will be named after her, 11:30, reception after b.
Big John Lawler, UAP i.
I got to pass this out to some of you this really cool flyer the city of Austin has put out, a couple of years ago we discussed the addition of a contra-flow bike lane down rio grande, it came to a reality after passing through the bureaucratic system. Monday April 23 rd
at 4:30, convince mayor and city council, press opportunity, a lot of other things going on, big thing is this
Thursday night at 7pm in painter hall there will be a parking meters town hall, city ordinance amendment to have a town hall for these parking meters in west campus, if you have friends who live/park there, tell them to come out, post on face book, we can stop the meters, if you have any interest in neighborhood or city interests let me know c.
Cindy Fisher, UT Libraries i.
Some of you have seen me here before, if you have any questions or concerns or want to see anything for the libraries, I am your liaison, I bring events to you ii.
Thursday we have our annual events in Latin American collection has a vivo books, this year they are featuring film and activism, its 7-9pm, you can stop by and hang out iii.
Plant sell on Thursday 8am-noon, benefits sustainability iv.
Libraries Fair on PCL plaza v.
Video kiosk in pcl that provides video tutorials on stuff like how to use microfilm, it connects to our youtube channel, we are trying to get feedback d.
Nick Spiller, Richie Gill, Jonathan Van, Alex Maingot, Aaron Sanchez, UT
Entrepreneurship Council i.
I am Richie and I am a UT Entrepreneur, I started Mr. West Campus. ii.
I am Jonathan Van, CEO of uthinktank iii.
I am Alex Maingot, President of CNS Entrepreneurial Society iv.
I am Aaron Sanchez, President of Technology Entrepreneurial Society

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org v.
I am Nick Spiller, President of Ut Entrepreneurship Council, we represent all entrepreneurship organizations on campus, we are here to urge SG to start a student entrepreneurship agency, help us recruit at orientation, support our entrepreneurship council, trying to create a student run startup incubator, facility and place to meet, celebration of longhorn alumni entrepreneurs,
Michael Dell Dr.T from Texas Instruments, Whole foods, if you bring them back to campus they will want to support student entrepreneurs. vi.
I don’t really know how it works; does anyone have any questions on how it works? vii.
The problems we are trying to solve is that there are a ton of resources available to students and because we are at a time in our lives where we are not expected to make money, but it is the perfect time to work on companies, joining with yall we can reach more people to let them know about these opportunities viii.
Patron, Paul Mitchell Hair Products, Billionaire coming to UT on Thursday e.
Billy Calve, Civic Engagement i.
Voter Registration Deadline is this week, plenty of cards in the office, all you need is a deputy to sign it, tabling in the west mall tomorrow and Thursday f.
Andrew Townsell i.
East Campus promotion for Longhorn Run, its Saturday, numbers are climbing, civic engagement stuff going on throughout the week, I am headed out, I just finished my programming binder, if you are interested in the programming side of sg, please check it out, good info and documentation on things for this year. g.
Louis Armendariz i.
Leadership Celebration is Sunday at 2pm, please come h.
Sydney Fazende i.
Updated the website with new rep info i.
Ilse Quijano i.
The deadline to spend is May 4 at 4pm, if you were planning on spending money you have until then, if you are looking for new monies, there is an application for special projects fund on the website. j.
Madison Gardener i.
Boot Scholarship Application is out and due Friday April 20 at 5pm, comes from the UT Boots, 100 percent of profits, based on need and merit, open to all students
VI.
Ex-Officio Reports a.
Michael Redding, Graduate Student Assembly

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org i.
Real quick update, we just ended our graduate students and professional student appreciation week, it was really successful, I do see some faces that went to our stuff, we had awesome feedback ii.
My VP and I took office last week, we didn’t have quorum so we didn’t get to appoint our new officers, we will be having a special meeting tomorrow at
5pm to do that. iii.
Graduate Student Housing is going to be a big issue this year, look forward to us working on that b.
Cameron Allison, Student Events Center i.
Tomorrow at 4pm the tournament and games committee will be putting on a four square tournament on Gregory plaza ii.
Wednesday is Girl with the Dragon Tattoo iii.
Thursday Forty Acres Fest rally, FAF is on Saturday iv.
Orange and White ball tickets are online, utsec.org/owb
VII.
Internal Appointments a.
Chief of Staff – Jordan Metoyer i.
Lund: All of these appointments share Wills and I’s passion for students, you have the applications ii.
Metoyer: Before applying for the position, I evaluated my experiences and skill range and felt that this was the position for me. There are trends in my experience, and I feel that I have skills for team management and team communication. I would like to see, if approved, more cohesion between the different executive branches, clarify roles, encourage the exec branch to go out to students iii.
Milligan: What was the interview process? iv.
Thor: Would you like to know the process for this representative or all of them? v.
Milligan: Chief of Staff vi.
Thor: There are a lot of applications, we went through all of them, we went through and we made phone calls vii.
Vincent: You mention a couple of things you wanted to do were to bridge the gaps and clarify roles? How? viii.
Metoyer: Communication. I can tell what I have seen from policy directors and agency directors, I want us to sit down and communicate what we see as their goals, what campus entities they can work with to improve ix.
Leonard: Thor do you think you interview process was thorough? x.
Lund: Yes, I do xi.
Milligan: Out of all of the applicants, why did Jordan stick out to you?

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org xii.
Thor: Passion for students, commitment to students, overall drive xiii.
Vincent: Thor has mentioned a couple reasons why he has selected you, why are you uniquely qualified xiv.
Metoyer: My experiences both in an out of SG. You need to have a working knowledge of SG and campus as a whole, I think I have observed that in two agencies within SG, but also with my experience outside SG, everything needs student input and support, and my role working with students outside of sg, seeing they’re timeline and what they are passionate about will be helpful in deciding which initiatives will be most helpful xv.
Townsell: I think that you bring a valuable perspective and you know that internal clarifications need to be made, but as I have said session will be most important next year. What ideas/experience do you have to offer for session? xvi.
Metoyer: Invest in Texas Coalition Building Team, talked about issues, to a lot of my understanding a lot of those issues are the same, tuition, which we will tackle, guns on campus, I have heard from different contacts, it will still be an issue, domestic partnership benefits was brought up and will be something that will be looked at again, main issues on our docket. I think a lot of this is driven through invest in texas and the civic engagement policy director, these students have a lot of experience, coalition building with other student organizations will be important xvii.
Leonard: Motion to close and approve xviii.
Appointment Approved b.
Communications Director – Laurel Pugliese i.
Lund: This is Laurel, she has a great passion and vision for students ii.
Pugliese: I am a third year Spanish/international relations major, been in the assembly for two years, LA Rep and Uwide rep, chair of the student affairs committee, SG needs to be changed, I touched on that on my application iii.
I will be here all summer, very approachable for freshman, they can talk to me, I hope to be an intermediatary between SG and the student body, which can be done by developing the outreach initiative and pushing social media, I can engage students iv.
Gold: I know as an assembly we have talked about making students have more positive perceptions of SG, how will you help do that, what is your idea? v.
Pugliese: I mentioned having a more on campus presence, develop an improved outreach initiative so students can see us in more tangible ways and have them feel like we can use them , I would like to include the assembly on that

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org vi.
Milligan: I know you touched on your experience in SG, do you have any experience in the communication portion of SG, have you sat in on any of the comm. Board meetings? vii.
Pugliese: I have not, but for the two and a half years I have been involved I have developed communication skills, the PR and alumni relations and new media positions will work with me viii.
Milligan: I looked at some of the other applicants for this position and they had a lot more media experience with specific programs, do you feel that
Laurel will be able to perform without that experience? ix.
Lund: Are you questioning Laurel’s Ability as a communicator? x.
Milligan: No, I was just wondering if you think she needs those skills to be communications director xi.
Leonard: Plans for communication? xii.
Pugliese: Starting in the assembly, they need to be communicating, connecting with students, agencies, lets use that again, get students connected, fostering relationships among yourselves, getting working relationships and friendships xiii.
Leonard: Move to end Q&A xiv.
Weinstein: What specifically makes you the best person? xv.
Pugliese: I am extremely passionate about SG and about students, I would do everything and anything it would do to be comm. Director and get students to work together and I would love to see that happen xvi.
Leonard: Motion to end Q&A xvii.
Leonard: Move to approve by hand vote: Approved c.
Internal Finance Director – Nirali Shah i.
Lund: Nirali is being put up for internal financial director, she shares our passion for students and commitment and will make a great candidate ii.
Shah: Third year communications major, my past experiences help me. I was the chair and the external communications director of the events cosponsorship committee (which is the SECs appropriations committee). I want to make the funding process easy for student orgs, maybe a guidebook that gives you a way to apply, tells you about other venues and funding sources iii.
Leonard: I am now the chair of financial affairs, we will work a lot together, I worked with Ilse a lot, are you aware of the massive time commitment that this position requires, random hours/times iv.
Shah: I will be a senior next year, this is my main commitment, I will be available for the hours, I know the commitment is huge, I will work with the finance committee which is part of the legislative committee, I am 100 percent in to make it

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org v.
Patel: It says that you will be traveling between July 2 nd
-August 3 rd
, do you think you will have enough time to look over the budget? vi.
Shah: Yes, I will be here the rest of the summer and commit to work on that vii.
Pickei: What classes have you taken here at UT that have prepared you for finance? viii.
Shah: I am doing business foundations program so I am taking finance and the other classes, I am not a finance major, but my experiences in the ECC of the
SEC have prepared me for that, I have more experience through that, but I do have somewhat of an experience through accounting and finance? ix.
Aarons: What was your role on that committee x.
Shah: First year I was external communications chair, I scheduled interviews and followed up with them, I was a voting member as well, I have experience with appropriations xi.
Vincent: What was your motivation in applying for this? xii.
Shah: I have had a great run as SEC relationship, SG is an amazing experience and I have a lot to bring to it, I have worked with orgs that have gotten funding from SG. I think that I just want to try something new, get involved with SG and bring my experience to it, make the process better as an outsider xiii.
Patel: Move to approve by hand vote: Approved d.
External Finance Director – Nash Horne i.
Lund: He shares our passion and commitment for students and our overall vision ii.
Horne: Last year I served as director of development under the External
Financial Director last year, helped bring in the first endowment in a long time, served on boot scholarship and excellence fund iii.
Gold: Specific initiatives in regards to philanthropy? iv.
Horne: Talked to an artist this week to put on a Student Organization concert to raise money for a specific organization that we would agree on v.
Villareal: Could you go a bit more into the endowment? vi.
Horne: I went through a long process of finding a donor of 25,000 dollars to create an endowment in civic engagement. vii.
Gold: Next year you will be a junior, and both of us serving under Madison have found that it is a full-time job, do you think you will have time viii.
Weinstein: What makes you more qualified? ix.
Horne: Been working in the past year within the funding and philanthropy sides, the only applicant with that experience, I am dropping a few commitments for next year that I have made to make time for this x.
Gold: Move to approve by hand vote: Approved

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org e.
Administrative Director – Taylor Ragsdale i.
Lund: Like I have said before, Taylor really shares our passion for students and our commitment to them. ii.
Ragsdale: I was the FLO agency director my sophomore year and served as business representative last year. I have the kind of skill set that works well in
Administrative Director, after the SG reform the role changed, the past administration has done a good job of changing that, it is a lot of programming now, being on the exec board of UBC I helped oversee 46 programs, I want to amp up orientation sessions. I understand the legislative process and I understand the follow-through is difficult, having been a rep and following through with legislation, I will be of good help. iii.
Leonard: Can you name one personal quality that makes you right for this position? iv.
Ragsdale: Thorough and Self-motivated v.
Move to vote by hand-vote: Approved
VIII.
External Appointments a.
President’s Student Advisory Council (PSAC) – James Briley i.
Lund: My guess is people may have questions about this, all of the applications were due at midnight, James is the man for the job ii.
Briley: I am from Dallas, Third year nutrition and business major, prephysical therapy, I have been working in the MIC for three years, president of my fraternity, serve the community a lot iii.
Leonard: Thor can you enlighten the assembly on the process that you went through? iv.
Lund: Application deadline by midnight, in order to get the appointment up by
2:00, we were getting pressure from the president, we looked through the application and picked someone by our best judgment v.
Leonard: Are you insinuating that this process was rushed and that there were not interviews? vi.
Lund: It was rushed vii.
Leonard: How many applications? viii.
Lund: 15-17 ix.
Leonard: And you didn’t interview anyone? x.
Lund: No xi.
Gold: What would you bring to the table for PSAC? xii.
Briley: Bringing new initiatives, expanding existing programs like camp texas, bring in people from other communities

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org xiii.
Lawler: Louis and I are sitting back here, we both applied and we received an email saying we would be forwarded instructions on when an interview would occur, we never received that xiv.
Wills: I am on the PSAC website now, advise the president on issues, we got an email saying we need to choose a diverse group of students, looking through the applications we thought that James Briley was perfect xv.
Leonard: Because of his diversity? xvi.
Lund: Because he has a very different background xvii.
Milligan: Move to postpone both appointments to next meeting xviii.
Leonard: Move to postpone for two weeks, contingent on the fact that they interview all candidates xix.
Rady: Next meeting is on the 18 th
, needs to be one week xx.
Leonard: Withdraw motion xxi.
Rady: Move to amend to postpone by one week xxii.
PSAC appointments postponed for one week b.
President’s Student Advisory Council (PSAC) – Jennifer Jassawalla i.
Postponed
IX.
Deputy Advisor Report a.
Melinda Sutton, Deputy to the Dean of Students – msutton@mail.utexas.edu
i.
Would like to introduce myself, I am the deputy advisor for student government, you will probably see me here every week, my office is in the sg senate suite, I am here to help you all and support you to achieve your goals.
Please feel free to stop by any time, I look forward to meeting with you
X.
Executive Reports a.
Thor Lund, Student Body President – thorlund@utexas.edu
i.
We will be doing PSAC interviews this week and try to do new appointments, get that ball running on students government b.
Wills Brown, Student Body Vice President – wkbrown@utexas.edu
i.
Working to get through interviews and appointments, try to get those in by this week
XI.
Executive Staff Reports
XII.
Representative Reports a.
Milligan b.
Leonard c.
Goodson: Committee decided to wait, appoint vice-chair later d.
Rady: External Affairs appointed Steven Michael Vincent as Vice Chair e.
Villareal: Perry Pickei is our vice chair of legislative affairs

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
1 University Station, A6210 · Austin, TX 78712-0810
(512) 471 – 3166 · Fax: (512) 471-3408 · http://www.utsg.org f.
Gold: We had an awesome first student affairs meeting, our Vice Chair is J.
McNamara
XIII.
New Business
XIV.
Announcements i.
Zhao: Fill out the google doc interesting fact ASAP by tomorrow. When I end the meeting, please pass your name plates to the end of each row, thanks
Rachel for bringing up that suggestion
XV.
Second Roll Call
XVI.
Adjournment