Minutes for 5 October 2008
Roll Call
Announcements
Executive Board Introduction (5 minutes)
Aheli Purkayastha, President: We have a full Executive Board for the first time in a long time. We will introduce ourselves formally, with just a quick thing about us, and then we would invite all of you to introduce yourselves, as well, so we can get to know names and faces, and also just so everyone else in the room can know who you are.
Meeting Procedure (15 minutes)
Aheli Purkayastha: You all have a copy of the slide-show presentation. Before you groan, because we are going over this again, we understand that these rules seem arcane and/or confusing, but they were designed to make sure that everyone has a voice, and so that the most number of people can participate. We decided that going over it will help everyone understand why we are doing this. We don’t want to make anyone’s life horrible, and hopefully everyone will get it after the next 15 minutes.
Klaralee Charlton, Treasurer: Every student is charged dues. You are able to request a waiver if you desire. Everyone has different circumstances, and we will grant a waiver.
Kendra Hayde, Secretary: The voting positions are listed here, including how many votes those positions comprise in the assembly. It’s nice to have this list, so that you all know that we are meant to represent you in all aspects of life on campus.
Ashley Madden, Vice President: We accept invitations for all sorts of things that you want on the meeting agenda. Agenda will be sent out by Thursdays so that you can read about the meeting and prepare, if you so choose. If you would like anything on the agenda, feel free to contact us.
Katie Kellom, Honor Board Head: New business is for assembly members – the purpose of that is that they are speaking as representatives – if someone is a voting member, you can bring forth community issues and ask for discussion and sometimes votes. So anyone who wants to bring something up can talk to their SGA assembly members and they can speak as representatives of a larger constituency when bringing up these issues during this time.
Ashley Madden: Old business is where the stuff in new business prior can be revisited.
Katie Kellom: Your two cents is where anyone can speak and talk as a community member. That’s more of an appropriate time for a voting member to bring up a personal issue.
Klaralee Charlton: You need to be on the main floor for us to recognize you. The length of discussion is kept by me to keep us from going over time. I will announce when there is one minute left – if you want to extend time, you can, but it needs to be a voting member who does so. Someone can second it, and we can have more discussion.
Aheli Purkayastha: All motions must be made by voting members, seconded, amended, and voted upon by members of the voting assembly. If you are a community member, talk to the representative members, and so that people who want their voice heard can talk to others about it. All motions must be seconded except for poi and poorder. All votes are simple majority, except for … SGA Slang, we know it sounds awkward. We sparknoted the way these can be defined.
Katie Kellom: Two things we wanted to vote on tonight, which we will now vote on later, is to change “Your Two Cents” to put it at the beginning of the meeting – people get tired and don’t want to have discussion later, and it also puts the community first. It would happen after announcements if we pass it as an amendment to the previously approved meeting procedure.
Plenary Wrap-Up (10 minutes)
Klaralee Charlton: We wanted to thank everyone for helping out at Plenary. We have gotten a lot of comments back about the gym, We’ve heard that people thought that it was great with open space, but we know it was hard to hear, so we are going to try to work on that in time for Spring Plenary in February. We wanted to hear what comments you had about what you liked and didn’t like, while they are still fresh in your mind so that we can note them and start planning for spring plenary.
Sofia Nitchie, Residential Council Co-Head: It was a very humid day, so it was hot without the doors open – I would suggest more fans.
Noelle Fair, Pem West Dorm Co-President: It would be harder to hear if we did that.
Emily Reuman, ’11: I’ve heard from a lot of people that I’ve been talking to that they thought the reason why Haverford always gets people to come and stay at their plenaries is that they have a time limit for resolutions. I thought I would at least bring it up for discussion.
Kendalyn Brown, Residential Council Co-Head: What would happen if a senior was presenting a resolution and it was passed to the next semester because they ran out of time?
Marisa Franz, Haverford Rep: They run through all the questions in the last couple of minutes to discuss them – they ran out of time this past Plenary, so they extended it for 20 minutes and breezed through the last few resolutions that people did not want to table.
Taline Cox, ’10: One of the things I do like about our Plenary is that you know that everything is going to get discussed – it’s unfair for people who put all of this stuff together, and that if it’s pushed off, it’s all of that work sort of gone to waste – that discussion is what helps us all decide how to vote often times.
Amber Zambelli, Elections Co-Head: What determines the order of the resolutions?
Kendra Hayde: This semester, it was the order in which they emailed me their resolutions for submission after the Sunday discussion meeting. We had a request for one resolution to be put earlier in the queue, but ultimately, it didn’t matter, since they turned their’s in first anyways.
Amber Zambelli: So then if a senior were presenting, they could hypothetically request to be put earlier on the agenda, so as to avoid Kendalyn’s proposed problem?
Kendra Hayde: Yes, they could, if we chose to run it that way.
Elise Nelson, Radnor Dorm Co-President: I really like the idea of adding a time limit on each resolution. We only had one Plenary per year a few years ago, and because we were there from 10 am until 6 pm and we thought that having 2 Plenaries would make it less time each time, but it hasn’t terribly shortened it at all. I think adding a time limit on each resolution would help.
Katherine Redford, ’10: The amount of time allotted would theoretically help us understand how long it’s going to end – if we start at a certain time, and each resolution lasts a certain amount of time, then they will know how long it will be, and people would be more willing to stay the whole time, because they know they’ll have time to go do their work afterwards.
Marisa Franz: Elise, what you said makes a lot of sense. A lot of what gets said at Plenary is very repetitive, and I think that a time limit would make people consider their comments more carefully. Haverford’s Plenary is in the evening, and can I just add that the 9 am call to duty as an assembly member is not fun.
Patricia LeBron, Pem East Dorm Co-President: Do they schedule it in the evening assuming that more people will come then?
Marisa Franz: The assumption is that nothing else is going on – everything else is closed, all of the dining halls, all of the libraries, and so there is nothing else to do but go to Plenary.
Sofia Nitchie: It seems like a hard situation, because if you put a time limit on the discussion, and we still don’t have quorum, it still won’t help.
Caroline Troein, ’09: In response to Kendalyn’s concern, is there another venue in which these issues brought up at Plenary could be presented to the student body?
Kendra Hayde: For all constitutional changes, we do have a system in place that allows for a referendum, which requires a 2/3 vote of the entire community (2/3 of the community must vote, and 2/3 of those who vote must affirm it to pass it).
Amanda Bowes, Class of ’10 Co-President: I would say that if class on Monday morning if we have Plenary in the evening would be extremely frustrating – at least now, you have the rest of the day to get things together and you can make time for it.
State of the SGA (15 minutes)
Katie Kellom: Two things we want to focus on are inclusion and accountability. We are trying new things about the setup – there has been talk about us not sitting at the table in front of everyone. We are trying this circle thing out – we will have mics at future meetings and screens later. We are trying to make it more inclusive, so that everyone has a right to speak. We are trying to start invite people to SGA meetings – randomly and by request. We had a suggestion from customs people if we invited a customs group to sga – or clubs, or anyone – so that they can present or talk or chill. We are going to try to hold office hours, and if you want to ask questions or present something for the agenda, you can do that without sending an email. Part of us doing office hours is choosing to be accountable, we want people to know that we are working hard for you guys. The other thing we want to do is to make sure that people know what their jobs are. Pointing people to the constitution where the jobs are laid out – where, when they ask “what is my job?”, they can then look and find out. There are ones that are a little less clear as outlined in there, which we want to fix, and there are things laid out there that are not being done or haven’t been done in a while. We want people to know what they should be doing as representatives – to represent constituencies on campus. Part of us helping them to be more accountable is asking people to present at SGA to talk about what you are doing on your meetings every week – that sort of thing rarely finds its way to this forum. Another thing is that when we are having votes, we are going to send it out on the agenda ahead of time. We want all of the representatives to know that that vote will be held at SGA, and it’s also good for community members to know that the vote is going on, so they can come and talk about their ideas and to make sure reps are informed and so they can vote based on their constituents and not on their own personal ideas. We are making that promise – and the fact that you do have reps to serve you. We want to start – there’s been a lot of issues in the past – there is about 3-4 year memory of SGA as far as people being here and making change – we want to start to think ahead and have a list of things to do to hand down to future Exec Boards. At least it will be a record – what we think would be important. Even though we are limited by time constraints, we would like to set a precedent.
Katie Kellom: Do you prefer the old way – anything to talk about with regards to what we just said?
Kendalyn Brown: The thing I don’t like is that there is an inner circle. I don’t like having one main circle and others.
Amand Bowes: The room is shaped weird for shaping it this way.
Rebecca Findlay, ’10: I like the circle, although there is an inner circle, there are far less rows, you can still see more even if you get here late.
Amber Zambelli: I’ve noticed that some people have come through, whether they have made it here, people are thrown – they are used to filling in on the side. Especially tonight, people who come in late, maybe choose not to stay.
Alex Kohut, ’12: I have issues with sound – with distractions.
Taline Cox: The circle could be worked out – it’s hard to hear and see all of you – but there will always be people who can’t see.
Erica Seaborne: We are concerned with people paying attention at meetings, and if I’m sitting in the back row, maybe I don’t want to pay attention. Here, it’s different.
Nina Jankowicz, Brecon Dorm President: I kind of feel I’m getting stared at a lot.
Caroline Troien: Do people want a horseshoe? So we can still see each other, but it’s different?
Steph Hilton, ’09: I like the circle, it makes it more of a sense of community. People who raise their hands are held more accountable. I like it. There is a face to it now.
Aheli Purkayastha: You can talk about other things too.
Jasmine Howell, Haffner Dorm President: Normally, I just see the back of peoples’ heads, and I feel that either way that someone would end up being in the back row. I like the circle. It’s fun to see the faces of the people you are talking to.
Amanda Bowes: Inclusion is awesome. A lot of people feel like you are on the outskirts of SGA, people feel like its hard to come in late in the game. I would say you all should work to reach out to upperclasswomen especially – and people who come back from abroad, too.
Brittney Thornbury, ’12: I think this circle is a good idea for people who didn’t like the table.
Elise Nelson: I like the ideas for inclusiveness and accountability – if you guys had goals that the community knew that they could hold you accountable for that would help, too.
Katie Kellom: For reps or for just us?
Elise: Both.
Anne Bugnaski, Traditions Mistress: I think that the circle is a lot more conducive to conversation, and that everyone else would sit on the floor in the middle, there would be a bunch of pple sitting in the middle. Co-positions sit together, maybe on the ground. Everyone could come together without community exclusion. If people come in late, it would be easy for them to come in.
Marisa Franz: I’m a big fan of the circle, even from the outer rings. I like that I can see more of you. It’s refreshing to see the people I am talking to. I like that the Exec Board has to chill with the rest of us.
Caroline Troien: Would it be individuals or groups that you would invite to meetings?
Katie Kellom: Individuals from groups, and groups as well.
Constitution Review Committee Discussion (15 minutes)
Ashley Madden: We had discussed in past meetings the idea of having a constitutional review committee to go over the document to clean it up, rephrase, etc. Mostly what we want to know is just a generating discussion on whether you thought it would be an appointed position – who/how many – class presidents, solely appointed or elected position, basically how many people we would need on the committee in order for it to be effective. What you think the best committee would be – we can get a good idea now and then vote on it later on.
Amanda Bowes: I think it should be appointed because we need a mix of both assembly members and non-assembly members – those really involved, but also those looking at it from the outside.
Sofia Nitchie: I would like to have it be as inclusive as possible – so appointed rather than elected – I don’t want people to feel like they have to get bogged down in the process. Everyone should have a voice.
Emily Reuman, ’11: I feel like many things are remnants of past SGA things – I would prefer that there should be people who have had experience in SGA. That way when we come across things, there would be people to say “There is this, but it hasn’t happened/isn’t applicable anymore”. As the exec board has already gone through it – we think it would be a good idea to have them involved.
Kendalyn Brown: Both appointed members and assembly members should be involved – if there are 8 people, 4 appointed from outside, 4 appointed from the assembly. I don’t think we should just write it into their job descriptions now.
Marisa Franz: We should include Honor Board reps, too.
Katherine Redford, ’10: It would be nice to have co-heads of the committee be elected and run the rest of the appointments. So maybe the student body would have a bit more say.
Erica Seaborne: Application process would be great – so appointed – it would be awesome since appointed positions can have people sit in on the interviews – it would be great if we could have some people who have a greater knowledge of the constitution like Dean Tidmarsh sit in on it. It would be great if it were community members who were really interested, and then members of SGA on a rotating basis – so when portions of the constitution are up about your job, you could help, but only then would you have to.
Emma Wisniewski-Barker: How do these changes come about after this committee works?
Kendra Hayde: Either through Plenary or a constitutional referendum, which requires a 2/3 vote of the community, with 2/3 of the community voting and 2/3 of those voting in favor to pass.
Ashley Madden: How many people should be on this committee?
Taline Cox: It’s important that there are a number of people – maybe 10, and no more, so that it’s not too large. We tried to discuss the mock version of this at the Dean’s Leadership Retreat and there were way too many people at it to get anything constructive done. Trying to keep the numbers low – represent everyone, but not too many people total.
Caroline Troien: I think 8 would be nice, but 7 or 9 is not even, so a vote would be good in case of a tie.
Amanda Bowes: If we are going with assembly, non-assembly, who would you have more of?
Sofia Nitchie: One could be an honor board rep, maybe.
Brittney Thornbury: Would this be only for this year?
Katie Kellom: Generally the Plenary Committee does this on a yearly basis. But, it’s larger than a normal upkeep. I hope it will involve a lot more community involvement. I think that this might be special in this year, and maybe if we do a really good job, the job can just keep going to the plenary committee – there was never a group set aside to look at this from a wider perspective.
Kendra Hayde: Exactly, this is more than just simple housekeeping. Somewhere along the way, the constitution has lost it’s functionality and spirit, and we need to bring it back.
Old Business
New Business
Your Two Cents!
Emily Reuman: Why can only a voting member present a motion?
Aheli Purkayastha: The idea is that they are speaking on behalf of someone – they are voicing those concerns from the community of a greater number of people.
Emily Reuman: For presenting a motion, extending times, calling the question – I feel that this should be something that anyone who is here should be able to do. There are no voting members around me – I don’t know who they are, so I would feel weird trying to ask someone to do it for me. I feel like somebody should be able to do that even if they are not a voting member. It seems strange that they would have to nudge the nearest person to do that.
Noelle Fair: Could we have a box, and we can set it on the table, and if you want it presented at a meeting – anyone could read them and present if they wanted? I like the idea of people being comfortable to speak for themselves, and putting a face to their comment, but if you really don’t know anyone, it could be intimidating.
Emily Reuman: I meant that as more of a procedural motion here, with immediacy attached.
Sofia Nitchie: I don;t think it’s uncommon for someone to request it out of the assembly members – they can ask others to do it. It’s important for community members to be able to want to do it, but the voting members are the ones who vote on it.
Cara Sogliuzzo: The Athletic Association is going to do a really fun fall pep rally on Merion Green after break. It’s going to be fun, with lots of games/sporting events. If you win, you’ll collect points, and the winner will get an iTunes gift card. When should we do it so we get the most members of the community there? A Weekend afternoon – maybe Sunday afternoon?
Amanda Cegielski: I think the problem is that anytime between 1-4 on weekdays, people have classes.
Amanda Bowes: Friday afternoons might be best for most people.
Cara Sogliuzzo: I like Saturday, too.
Amanda Bowes: I think that might be better, but I’m not sure.
Caroline Troien: I think the weekdays work better because people walk across Merion Green – at least you have guaranteed traffic.
Becky Findlay: I would say not Saturdays because of athletic events on the weekend.
Cara Sogliuzzo: We want people to get involved – so we would plan around that.
Emma Wisniewski-Barker: For a lot of people the foot traffic idea makes sense, Saturdays afternoons have practices, etc.
Cara Sogliuzzo, ’09: Thanks for the suggestions – we will also be selling fan t-shirts at all of the events – they will be 5 dollars each, and have an owl sitting on a nest. If you wear the shirt to the sporting event – you can find friends in the “Owl’s Nest” who wear the shirt – and people sitting in the stands with those shirts can qualify for a raffle to win prizes at big games during the semester. I’m also going to send out an email about it, too. But they are going to be really awesome looking yellow with black outlines – but we want everyone involved. Email me csogliuzzo@brynmawr.edu – or on the athletic blog – which is Owl’s Nest, ironically enough. Wear them to the end of the fall events and beginning of the spring events.
Meeting adjourned at 8:32 pm.