Term: 39
Meeting: 12
UT Dallas Student Government
Senate Meeting Agenda
02.03.2015
Call to Order 5:15pm
Roll Call
Approval of Minutes
Minutes approved as circulated
Announcements
Visitors:
Bob Fishbein, Assistant VP of Administration
Carrie Chutes, Assistant Director of Food and Retail Services
Pam Stanley, Project Administrator
Bob:
There are many new exciting things on campus. First, we have three new people on our team.
Shannon is the Resident District Manager for Chartwells. Pam, as well as Tyler Toledo, works for Carrie,
responsible for day to day retail operations.
There are currently up to almost 20 different venues on campus. Here are some interesting facts
about dining services. Weekly, Dining Hall West has 18,000 meals served. At other retail locations, 13,000
meals are served a week. Papa Johns, Einsteins, Jason Deli account for almost half of retail transactions. New
venues are very popular. We currently have extended retail hours, Einsteins is open Saturdays 8am-1pm. And
we have great community participation from bike clubs.
The Pub has happy hour 5-7 Thursdays. The Food Truck has a new menu plus specials. There are
new flyers titled “Comet Choice” for healthy choice, new logos on certain types of foods labeling healthiness
and food groups. There is more info available online. IHOP is scheduled to be open in April. The IHOP
express service is new to IHOP, and will be open to 1am in PS3.
There are new tech store renovations, we have new equipment – 3d printers and supplies, as well as
Microsoft and Apple training. The Bookstore currently has a winter sale & spring clothing is in stock. The
existing dining hall will have more retail venues such as Panda Express, a much larger Chick-Fil-A, a MoSouthwestern, as well as a Ben & Jerrys in the Comet Café where the Chick-Fil-A used to be. Hopefully this
construction will be done during the summer and will be open for Fall 2015. Another development, Copy and
Print can ship stuff through Fed Ex.
This is just a couple things happening, but more is to come. There are lots of choices throughout
campus.
Questions:
Charlie: Catering costs are increasing, why is this and is there an increase in quality?
Bob: There has been a lot of restructuring, we met with senior staff, and are revamping that program. We will
see changes in the right direction. There will be more options for catering such as Papa Johns, Subway, and
Einsteins, This catering will be competitive with off-campus options. Pricing is frozen right now, changes
were for this academic year. There will be service enhancements because of the price increase.
Grant: For the new food court – meal exchange program?
Senate Minutes (01.20.15)
Bob: Negotiated with Chartwells, will be able to swipe card for meal exchange. Just like you can go to the
pub, but with Panda Express, and Chick-Fil-A. Chick-Fil-A is the most expensive product, they have a lot of
control over the product, but are willing to work with the University to provide meal replacement options.
Senator: Will the food court dining options be open on weekends?
Bob: Need to have the traffic to justify keeping them open. Hopefully as traffic grows we can keep them
open on the weekends. Einsteins is open on Saturday, but we are not really getting the traffic. With the new
building coming on line, we are expecting to be able to extend the hours.
Senator: How is Papa Johns doing?
We are nervous, it is in a new location and nothing is happening, Last semester we had 13,000
transactions in 4 months. There is also a learning curve with the convenience store, for instance, what
products do people want. Snacks seem to be the big draw.
As for the rest of the venues on the north side of campus, we have IHOP and Einsteins in PS3 near
residence hall. Einsteins is doing fine, not quite to performance standards. We want to spread out the dining
locations, and so when the new building is complete, we are expecting more traffic in that corner of campus.
One thing we want to get out there is that the convenience store is open to all, until 1am. We may work on
marketing this to apartment residents.
Senator: With the increase of restaurants in SU, will that affect the availability of dining in DHW?
Bob: Not at all, we will have more variety with meal equivalency. Additionally, the SU dining area will
provide more seating for students in the SU.
Brooke: If you have more questions please let Bob or Carrie know!
Drew Carson, Senator from Sam Houston State University
Represents the Texas Infrastructure Student Alliance. There is a new railway proposal to link
Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth with a high-speed railway. With the rapid growth of the state, Texas needs a
student group speaking on behalf of the students. This Alliance supports infrastructure projects that benefit
students in Texas.
Charlie: Membership size?
Drew: First, I want to address what membership looks like. There are no dues or mandatory meetings.
Currently, we have Sam Houston, UNT, Navaro College, and are talking to UTD, the first UT school
Brian: What projects are you working on?
Drew: Texas Central Railway is the main project that we’re working on right now, but we are always
interested in other projects. Utilities, water solutions, etc.
Katie: I’m from Montgomery, is there any chance that a North Houston stop is a possibility? Doesn’t make
sense for a lot of students that are in that area.
Drew: We are looking to create infrastructure first and the hopefully add new stops over time. Start with
this project and expand to other neighboring areas.
Senate Minutes (01.20.15)
Charlie: What are the next steps for your organization?
Drew: We are hoping to get as many members, as many students represented as possible. We are currently
at 50,000 students represented and are looking to represent over 100,000 students. Hopefully this will build
inertia to create resolutions and talk to the state legislature.
Nancy: Talk about the attention you’ve gotten, and who is currently working with you
Drew: When we created this alliance, we weren’t expecting any publicity, Texas Central Railway knew we
were advocating and various railway interest groups in DC expressed interest. Representatives from the Texas
Legislature have expressed interest in our organization and we are trying to get published in major
newspapers.
Brooke: Questions or looking for more information, look for his email address!
Dean Gene Fitch, Dean of Students
Dr. Marilyn Kaplan, Faculty Advisor
Working on the details of IB and details of AP
Ex-officio reports:
Briana Lemos, SG Advisor
No report
Officer reports:
President: Brooke Knudtson(brooke.knudtson@utdallas.edu)
 Please wear your SG polo to Senate! If you don’t have it please speak to me
 SG Spirit Competition
o Communications kicked butt! Every other committee needs to step it up.
o Signup sheet and game this Thursday
Vice President: Nancy Fairbank (nancy.fairbank@utdallas.edu)
 Dine w/ the Deans, Feb. 19th (Thurs), 11am-1pm Galaxy Rooms
o Please put this on your calendar! Sign-up sheet will go around at the committee meeting on
the 10th.
o Wear your Senate polo 
 Thirsty Thursday Transfer Students, Feb. 12, 5-7pm, The Pub
o Personally invited us back for the next event, really appreciated the senators who came out.
o Get to meet transfer student be a first point of contact for them.
 Tailgate + Pub Proposals
o Still in draft form, looking for Senate input, will go through more edits and then will be
going up the ladder, eventually reaching Dr. Daniel.
o Check out the proposals
Senate Minutes (01.20.15)
1st Proposal (Pub)
Charlie: Awesome proposal, maybe the drink limit should be increased? The currently proposed system might
be too complicated. Maybe allow two drinks between 5-8, two later on?
Nancy – like that suggestion, will take it into consideration
Brian: TABC licensing?
Nancy – no changes, we have the appropriate licensing to cover the proposed changes.
Dr. Kaplan – Time tracking might be too complicated for the employees
Nancy – not expecting that many sales, so this shouldn’t be an issue
Daniel Bricker – How about a 4 drink limit after 5pm?
Nancy – could definitely present that, but it probably will be shot down by the administration.
Brooke Lopez – what portion of the student body might be drinking?
Nancy – most likely grad students who are taking the late night classes. Don’t know if we keep stats
on that, but will check.
Nancy – Administration worries that student might show up to class drunk after drinking in the Pub.
Daniel Bricker – we need to address this, students can drink if they want to and could drink in their
apartments before class and do the same thing.
Nancy – we don’t want “school-sanctioned” drinking, worried about student drinking before classes
Brooke: Thoughts on drinking at 1pm?
Isaac: if you’re over 21 you should be trusted
Nicole: students will do what they want. They make their own decisions
Molly: we should trust students, we have the right to drink.
Charlie: problems with over-drinking, employees should be there to handle these situations.
Brian: 1pm might be too early. We shouldn’t make the school liable, students might drink and drive.
Raja: how do we keep track this drinking limit?
Nancy: not sure how they track it.
Katie: they don’t really keep track with the current system.
Nancy: we aren’t expecting that many sales, so tracking shouldn’t be an issue.
Molly: In response to the statement about who is responsible, the school would never be liable. If anything, it
would be Chartwells for serving customers irresponsibly.
2nd Proposal (BYOB)
We currently only have one official tailgate on campus, SG tailgate during homecoming. This year was better,
but we have a ways to go to compare with schools like UT Austin. UT has a system in place where the
President can waive the rules and allow alcohol on campus
Senate Minutes (01.20.15)
Isaac: It would be more feasible to allow approval through the office of the President.
Charlie: some wording is confusing
Charlie: Are these organizations the best choices for being allowed to sponsor? Differences in philosophies
might create friction.
Nancy – this allows flexibility
Charlie: Have you defined tailgating?
Nancy – Yes, it has to be in the designated lots, has to be just for sporting events.
Nicole: Do any other schools in Texas have organizations that run tailgates or host?
Nancy: At other UT schools, the departments host the tailgates. Up to the judgment of the hosting
department.
Nicole: Keep alcohol in cans, a lot of schools only allow plastic or aluminum. Should stay away from glass
bottles.
Grant: Tailgates can get messy. Should we have a policy about recycling, etc.
Nancy: it would allow more flexibility to give departments control over the restrictions
Pooshan: extend this to other events on campus?
Nancy: No, we are focusing on sporting events
Charlie: Alcohol choices and locations
Raja: will there be limits to how much people can drink?
Nancy: can’t really plan for this, will let the police know beforehand so that they can be vigilant
Brain: we should ban large containers of alcohol
Nancy – yes, we are planning to limit alcohol to unopened containers
Nicole: for homecoming tailgate setup, we had places for proper disposal of various things e.g. charcoal,
containers. Also, overdrinking shouldn’t be a problem as long as police are in attendance to make sure that
students are safe
Tim: what happens if you break the rules?
Nancy – leave the policy flexible for departments to handle different situations according to their
judgment
Zaheer: what about different types of alcohol?
Nancy: will leave this issue up to the discretion of the deparment
Thank you for your input, we will let you know as we have new updates.
Senate Minutes (01.20.15)
Secretary: Sabrina Arnold (Sabrina.arnold@utdallas.edu)
Treasurer: Nicole Watson (naw130330@utdallas.edu)
 Budget Report
Committee reports:
Academic Affairs Committee: Raja Reddy(rxr142030@utdallas.edu)
 Kaplan event (Feb. 9-11, 11am-1:30pm, SU Lower Level)
o Next Monday
o Sign-up is going around, please sign up if you are free
Communications Committee: Molly Vaughan (mjv130030@utdallas.edu)
 Reward Card Promotion Sign Up
o February 23-24th for the Reward cards, first event for earning those prizes
o We have Temoc scheduled, Radio UTD will be broadcasting about the event
o Look for the sign-up and an allocation
Graduate & International Affairs Committee: Karl Wolff (karl.wolff@utdallas.edu)
 International Week (March 30--April 3)
o SG typically participates in this event, let me know if you have suggestions for the menu
 iFriend Program
o Sign-up if you are a domestic student
o Matched with a person of a different nationality, do stuff with them for 8 weeks.
Legislative Affairs Committee: Tim Sullivan (tim.sullivan@utdallas.edu)
 Goals For Semester
 Know Your Rights Event include Title IX
o Spoke with Chief Zach, will hopefully have it the week before elections
 Richardson Chamber of Commerce.
o Feb 13 meeting with them, let me know if you are interested in attending by the end of the
week.
Residential Student Affairs Committee: Akshitha Padigela (axp132730@utdallas.edu)
 Booth in the dining hall west
o Will be working on a date
Student Affairs Committee: Katie Truesdale (kxt120330@utdallas.edu)
 Sustainability
o Used to have multiple companies picking up trash, but I am pleased to announce that we are
now a single stream university! 
Technology Committee: Charlie Hannigan
 Updating Campus Map
o Out of date on some stuff, so will be updating for students that are new to campus or trying
to find their way around the university
 Go Pro and Go-Promo video
o Check it out
Senate Minutes (01.20.15)
 Clean Door openers
o Allow students to use their feet to open bathroom doors, looking to see how much they cost
 Outlets
o Looking into seeing if we can get more outlets on campus, especially in classrooms
 Emergency Poles
o Going to see if we need more poles on campus
 Cameras on Campus
o Some cameras are not functional on campus, recordings are kept on campus for an
appropriate amount of time.
Old Business:
New Business:
 Discuss student transportation infrastructure alliance
o Motion by Nancy, seconded by Tim, 7 min
o Motion passes
Nancy: other SGs have asked us to look into this. Don’t think we should support private companies.
Charlie: I don’t think it’s the best idea, I’m not sure it’s our place, our responsibility is to look out for
our students not the affairs of a private entity.
Briana: we shouldn’t be supporting this as a Student Government, we shouldn’t even be discussing it
Nancy: we can’t support this as an organization, but if you are interested in helping with this project,
please talk to me.
Brooke: Senator of the Months:
November: Sukaina
December: Noah
Molly: They both helped a bunch with the tailgate, Molly loves her whole committee and she
couldn’t imagine two better people for the award.
January: Ben
Akshitha: In charge of the ad-hoc committee, very helpful, just so nice. You can text him.
 Allocate up to $200 for reward card prizes
o Motion by Molly, second by Noah
o Sunglasses for SG, 150 pairs of sunglasses
o Motion passes
 Allocate up to $50 for promotion of event
o Nicole, second by Akshitha
o Toward food and drink, with Temoc, backdrop for pictures
o Agree because we’re going to make this successful
o Motion passes
o
Senate Minutes (01.20.15)
Adjournment
Motion by Tim, Second by Nancy
Motion passes!
6:41 pm