Student Senate

Student Senate

February 24^th, 2013

River Valley Room

6:00 pm

Minutes

Members Visitors

Lyndy Broomfield Eric Watne

Molly Bucher Tyler Herbst

Rhonda DeVries Shane Gerbert

Casey Furey Kylene Fitzsimmons

Jacob Gapp Derek Rood

Brett Johnson Kaitlyn Bezdicek

Joseph Kalka Matt Finley

Derek LaBrie Shawn Wagner

Sean McClain Landon Bahl

Emma Meyer Robb Jefferies

Alan Oberg Shaina Lawernce

Jacob Osterman

Kyle Slaathaug

Jacob Stutelberg

Adam Swigost

Chantel Thompson

Brian Tschosik

Jennifer Vetter

* Arrived after call to order

** Excused

*** Unexcused `

**** Left before adjournment

CALL TO ORDER Vice President Watne called the 2/24/13 meeting of the UND Student Senate to order at 6:00 PM.

APPROVALS
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION Senator Osterman moved to approve the 2/10/13 minutes without objection.

VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:00:35)
JDOSAS Senator Approval

1. 
   Derek LaBrie
   

Derek introduced himself and stated why he would like the position. He stated that he is very interested in politics and senate.
MOTION Senator Kalka moved to approve Derek LaBrie as the JDOSAS Senator without objection.

VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:01:39)
GUEST SPEAKERS

No Guest Speakers were present.

REPORTS
Executive Reports
President President Fletcher was not present. His report will be covered in other execs reports.
Vice President Vice President Watne stated that at the next meeting we will be approving all the constitution and bylaw changes. Also having Matt Johnson from the involvement center to make a presentation on CollegiateLink next week. If you are going to miss a meeting, email him and he will decide if it is excused or unexcused. Expect an email later this week with current attendance. He and Shane will be having a meeting to talk about their legislative stuff.
Chief of Staff Chief of Staff Herbst had no report.
Treasurer Treasurer Rood stated the amounts in each account, and how much money we have to spend. (See attached handout).
Governmental Affairs Commissioner

Governmental Affairs Commissioner Gerbert stated city/senate will not be March 3^rd, should be late March now. Went to city council meeting last Tuesday, and since SB2252 failed Grand Forks, they encouraged the city to take a stand on that. HB1412-medical amnesty passed the House unopposed, Tuition freeze did not pass. Last week before the crossover happening March 3^rd. Going to be making frequent trips to Bismarck. NDSA was this weekend; they did pass the no confidence vote for Chancellor Shirvani. There is a bill proposing that we buy out the Chancellors contract for $830 million. Had 14 of 18 voting members present. Next NDSA is March 22-23, putting out the signup sheet earlier.

Senator Vetter asked if it is important for people to go to NDSA in March.
GAC Gerbert stated it is important because this is when elections will be taking place. Senator Oberg is running for President, Senator Vetter is running for SBHE member, and Senator Gapp re-nominated for Tech Affairs.
Public Relations Coordinator

P.R.C Fitzsimmons stated she has been working a lot with elections committee things. Went to NDSA this weekend. Everyone should be receiving their invites for the banquet via Email this week. Elections committee you can put table tents up on March 3^rd.

Senator Osterman asked if can do it any earlier.
PRC Fitzsimmons stated that she booked this date in January and this was the only date they had available.
Subcommittees
Judicial Vice President Watne yielded to Senator Osterman, Chair of the Judicial Committee.
Senator Osterman stated the approved Derek LaBrie and will be talking about constitution and bylaws next week.
Appropriations Vice President Watne yielded to Senator Gapp, Chair of the Appropriations Committee.
Senator Gapp stated they talked about SB1213-36.
State & Local Vice President Watne yielded to Senator Kalka, Chair of the State and Local subcommittee.
Senator Kalka stated they approved SR1213-16.
Standing Committees
SOFA Vice President Watne yielded to the senate liaison of SOFA, Senator Gapp.
Senator Gapp stated they are requesting additional funding because they have become very busy.
SCFC Vice President Watne yielded to the senate liaison of SCFC, Senator B. Johnson.
Senator B. Johnson stated
UPC Vice President Watne yielded to senate liaison of UPC, Senator Vetter.
Senator Vetter stated they are working on having a spring country concert. This weekend they are having a hockey watch party and you can make your own fishbowl.

Special Reports

Constituent Reports No Constituent reports.
Other Matters Arising Senator Vetter stated that the open textbooks committee is compiling their research, she will send it to Vice P. Watne to send out with next week’s agenda.
Elections Committee Senator Gapp stated they have been very busy. Thanked Kylene for all her help with advertising. Forums coming up, 2/26 3:30-4:30, 2/28 6:30-7:30, 3/1 2:30-4. 2/26 and 2/28 are presidential debates and 3/1 will be presidential and senate debates. Senators have been addressing campaigns about issues, and he just asks that it goes through himself or another elections committee member.
Senator Osterman stated that he will email out the rules for displaying elections posters in the union.
DS EIC Ad-Hoc Committee Senator Oberg stated they finalized the interview questions. The application packets are out and the online job posting is up.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS

1. 
   SR1213-16
   

Senator Vetter stated that this is to support HB1412. There was a friendly amendment made in State and Local to remove lines 16-18. Defined what medical amnesty is. Talking about this because it is changing and it affects University students. Adds the use of drugs and removes the limit on the number of people that can get immunity.
Vice P. Watne stated that they are still supporting organizational amnesty. The university would still have the power to sanction that organization. Everyone must be cooperative with the emergency professionals.
MOTION Senator Gapp moved to approve SR1213-17.
SECOND Senator Oberg seconded.
VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:26:38)
NEW BUISNESS

MOTION Senator Osterman motioned to move SB1213-37 to line item d of new business.
SECOND Senator Oberg seconded.
VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:28:08)

1. 
   SB1213-37
   

Senator Osterman stated that they are asking for an additional $1,000 for more advertising and pizza at the last forum. Also, getting DS papers on all the student seats at the hockey game on Friday promoting elections. Going to print extra copies of the Tuesday edition. If the money doesn’t get used it goes right back to senate after March 6^th.
Vice P. Watne asked when all the receipts must be turned in.
Senator Osterman said he would accept a friendly amendment to add in a date for receipts.
MOTION Senator Gapp moved to approve SB1213-37.
SECOND Senator Oberg seconded.
VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:33:03)
MOTION Senator Gapp moved to pull SB1213-36 to the current item of business
SECOND Senator Vetter seconded.
VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:33:52)

2. 
   SB1213-36
   

SOFA Chair Wagner stated they are requesting the additional funding because they have seen a large increase in the number of requests. The number of people going on the trips that are being funded is also increasing.
Senator Vetter asked how much money a group will receive on average.
Chair Wagner stated that it varies depending on the type of request. Transportation is about $300, and this does not cover all costs. Programming is about $1,000-$1,500. At this time the majority of the requests that are going to be seen are transportation.
MOTION Senator Vetter moved to approve SB1213-36.
SECOND Senator Johnson seconded.
VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:40:31)
MOTION Senator Gapp moved to add line item e to the agenda, SR1213-17, vote of no confidence.
SECOND Senator Oberg seconded.
VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (00:42:16)

3. 
   SR1213-17
   

Senator Gapp stated this is to follow up the vote that was taken at NDSA, to pass a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Shirvani. This states that we are not confident in the abilities of Chancellor Shirvani.
Senator Slaathaug asked what brought about the vote of no confidence.
GAC Gerbert stated that this has been building for a very long time. Started at Minot State, they were not very happy with the pathways document. NDSU has also had problems with him; they have had bad interactions with him and bad communications with him. Has also taken a larger amount of control than NDSU is happy with. So between NDSU and Minot State, they both encouraged us to support this bill of no confidence. He does get his authority to do things from the State Board of Higher Education.
Senator Slaathaug asked about the buyout of his contract, and also how the State Board feels about this.
GAC Gerbert stated the information he has is mostly hearsay, but the biggest problem is the full support of the pathways document. He is under the impression that after the NDSA vote, Hull stated that it would sway her vote in the vote of no confidence in the Chancellor. Seems to be a little bit of a mixed message.
Senator Gapp stated Senator Hull is the elected representative on the State Board of Higher Education that serves on NDSA.
Senator Swigost asked if there is any substantive evidence that he is not doing what his job description says, or if it is all hearsay. What is the big complaint with him?
GAC Gerbert stated there are a lot of rumors, and he can’t say if they are true or not. Everything that he has said is things that he has confirmed. The big issue is that Shirvani stated in his cover letter to apply for the position that he wanted universities that work well together and that support each other and that he would reciprocate that. The State Board has made some structural changes to the university system that is vertical integration not horizontal integration. Some students feel that they should be able to just talk to the State Board rather than having to go through all these other channels in the line of succession first.
Senator Stutelberg stated that it sounds like NDSU is a big part of what is making this bill happen. Wondering if NDSU or NDSA would find out about this or if this is just a statement for us to say that we agree or disagree with the vote of no confidence.
Senator Gapp stated the resolution is currently going to President Fletcher, Vice P. Watne, Dr. Gerhardt, Dr. Robert Kelley, the Presidents’ cabinet of UND, the University Senate of UND, NDUS, and the systems office of NDUS.
Robb Jefferies stated he is here tonight to write about this bill, as of 8:30 tonight it will be on the Forum website, the Grand Forks Herald website, and other news outlets as well.
GAC Gerbert stated whatever decision that is made here, you need to make sure that you fully agree with however you vote.
Senator Vetter offered a friendly amendment to add the State Board of Higher Education to who this is getting sent to.
Senator Gapp accepted the friendly amendment.
Senator DeVries stated that there was a lot of time spent at NDSA talking about this issue, so what we are hearing tonight is a brief overview of what was talked about.
MOTION Senator Vetter moved to approve SR1213-17.
SECOND Senator Oberg seconded.
DISCUSSION Senator Vetter yielded the floor to Senator Gapp to talk about SBHE policies in relation to the Chancellor’s responsibilities.
Senator Gapp stated Chancellor Shirvani was charged with the task of setting in motion the pathways document. This is from the resolution that was passed at NDSA, in regards to the duties of Chancellor Shirvani, in section 100.5 of the policies of the SBHE the first 5 core values to be reflected in how the Board and all personnel of the university system carry out responsibilities on a daily basis are high integrity, open, honest, forthright, and mutually respectful in discussion and actions, trustworthy, accountable, cooperative valued partner with other state agencies and entities. Talked about the rest of the resolution that was passed at NDSA.
GAC Gerbert stated he was asked by President Fletcher to elaborate on this issue. His personal opinion that this is a coming to head of an ongoing problem between the system and the legislature. There are pros and cons to taking both sides. Our original stance was neutrality. At this point there was the theoretical support of the Chancellor, which would keep the SBHE on our side and since they control the money that we get it would be a good thing. The cons to neutrality would be that we look like we aren’t doing anything. Supporting the vote of no confidence could very well lead to the removal of the chancellor. There are some legislatures that are very excited that we are proposing a vote of no confidence. On the other side, the republicans have a super majority; this might create a break in that super majority. It will affect Higher Education the most, but also legislative things like the tuition freeze, medical school renovation, and the law school renovation. If Chancellor Shirvani stays and we do a vote of no confidence it will be a large hole to dig ourselves out of. There are members of the house and senate that have already voiced their opinion about how supporting the vote of no confidence would be bad.
Senator Oberg stated that people think that the Chancellor’s system may not be the best for this system.
GAC Gerbert stated that that issue will not be brought up until the vote of no confidence is either passed or failed.
Senator DeVries asked for a point of clarification of if we are protected or not, whether this passes or fails.
GAC Gerbert stated that at NDSA it was brought up that more likely than not we would be politically protected from any negative repercussions.
Senator Osterman called to question.
Senator Oberg objected.
Senator Swigost stated he thinks it would be unwise for us to take a stance on this issue when it is all hearsay from NDSU and Minot State.
Senator Vetter stated that she thinks that people need to hear both sides of the debate before a decision is made. It is important to voice our opinions on how you are going to vote on this issue. In her opinion, this is something that not only affects us at the university level as students but also in her position at the state. She does not disagree with his leadership style, but she does not know how she is going to vote yet because she would like to hear from everyone else to see what they think would be best for their constituents.
Senator Thompson yielded the floor to Treasurer Rood.
Treasurer Rood stated that it sounds like a lot of this is coming from gossip and that people don’t like his style. Chancellor Shirvani was put into this position to change the system and changes can’t happen overnight. The nature and culture of this state is one of not being open to changes and new ideas. A vote of no confidence would just put us back in this same position next year when a new Chancellor takes over.
Senator Oberg asked if GAC Gerbert thinks that his way of leading and dealing with the legislators is costing the universities money because they don’t like his tone.
GAC Gerbert stated as an example, the tuition freeze bill was for Representative Oversen. Chancellor Shirvani went into the meeting and stated that it is the SBHE’s call on issues related to tuition. It ended up not passing in the end. It is a little concerning that we may end up losing certain legislators based on his tone.
Senator Kalka stated that he and Senator Johnson took this issue to the ARH student government meetings and the general consensus was that no one had enough information to make an informed decision. Those who did have more information had a distinctively negative opinion of Chancellor Shirvani.
MOTION Senator Slaathaug moved to table SR1213-17 until the next meeting so people can gather information.
SECOND Senator Tschosik seconded.
DISCUSSION Senator Slaathaug stated this would give people time to talk to their constituents and gather more information as to better make an informed decision.

Senator Gapp stated he would be in full support if everyone would like more time to get more information. He would encourage everyone to actually seek out people that can answer your questions.

Senator Johnson asked if we did table this would this put us behind in any lobbying at the state level.
GAC Gerbert stated that a one week delay would actually be a good thing. He is pretty sure that they will be talking about the buyout.
Senator Swigost asked who to go to for additional information.
GAC Gerbert stated that he could give information, and he will also put a document together about the information that he has and any other additional information that senators request.
Senator Vetter stated that everyone should actually be talking to their constituents and forming an accurate opinion on the issue.
Senator Kalka stated that tabling this issue would be a good idea, because a lot of people did not know that this bill was coming to the floor as we do with other bills and resolutions, so a lot of people have not had a chance to form an opinion on the issue.
VOTE MOTION CARRIES. (01:24:33)
PUBLIC COMMENT/ANNOUNCEMENTS
GAC Gerbert stated that the tabling of this resolution is a good thing so that people can make informed decisions.
PRC Fitzsimmons stated she is updating the Facebook page with all the elections information, so like the page and anything to do with elections.
ADJOURNMENT The 2/24/13 meeting of the Student Senate was adjourned without objection at 7:24.

Respectfully Submitted,

__________________ _____________________

Eric Watne Megan Beneke

Chair Recording Secretary

Senate Minutes 2/24/2013