Minutes — March 14, 2013
Cornell University Student Assembly
4:45pm — 6:30pm, Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room
I. Call to Order/Roll Call
A. Gitlin called the meeting to order at 4:55pm.
- Members present
- G. Block, E. Bonatti, G. Braciak, S. Breedon, A. Chopra, R. Desai, A. Gitlin, R. Gitlin, I. Harris, T. Hittinger, D. Kuhr, J. Lee, G. Lovely, M. Lukasiewicz, J. Marshall, J. Mueller, D. Muir, C. Pritchett, P. Scelfo, U. Smith, M. Stefanko, N. Terrones
- Members tardy
- S. Balik, M. Cho, D. Iwaoka, J. Marshall
- Members unexcused
- J. Batista, I. Chen
II. Approval of the 3/7/13 Minutes
- Minutes approved by unanimous consent
III. Open Microphone
IV. Announcements/Reports
SJRT Dinner Recap, Diversity & Inclusion Plan Update, and Joe Quandt Memorial Update — U. Smith
- SJRT Dinner was a great meeting with many members attending
- Working on all 5 initiatives of the Diversity & Inclusion Plan, 3 are in the process of completion
- Joe Quandt Memorial on 3/27 — there will be a gallery space to post a personal note
Memo to the Provost — U. Smith
- Memo sent from SADAC to Provost Office regarding the search for a new Arts & Sciences Dean — record time response that will be relayed to SA members
Convocation Announcement — R. Desai
- Mayor Cory Booker will be the speaker — he was one of our top choices and is in high demand, so we are happy to have him
Dining Announcement — E. Bonatti
- Have been working on increasing dining options over break and getting the information out
Codes and Judicial Committee Announcement — P. Scelfo
- Current projects
- Should privacy for student organizations be maintained (for processes such as hazing, for example)
- Who needs and how to get approval for using Ho Plaza for protests
- Extension from 2 to 5 days for JA response to appeals
Outreach Announcement — R. Gitlin
- SA was given tickets from CAPSU for post-break events — encourages members to attend
V. Business of the Day
Resolutions 40–2: Creation of the University Student Supreme Court — U. Smith
- G. Block: SA doesn’t have the powers outlines in these resolutions. Do students actually want this?
- This is NOT an extension of the SA — the only reason the SA is involved is to provide a check for the court
- There are a lot of things to look into — fines/restraints/etc. and they are not married to any part of the resolution
- G. Lovely: What exactly is being discussed? What are you looking for from the SA?
- Looking for opinions and feedback
- This is not a radical idea — already in place for every other judicial body around campus
- C. Pritchett: Believes the SA should have the ability to recall decisions, but is there a limit to the reach of what can be recalled?
- Technically, anything is up for recall
- J. Mueller: Can’t fathom how this will be handled by five people — how will this work? Also, some of the samples are very pretentious
- The samples are from public universities
- The Court will look at current Assembly bylaws and charters as well as organization charters — does not cover Code of Conduct. These topics currently not covered by any judicial body
- Not all 5 people will be present for everything — handled in stages. If appeals get that far, they have the option to present to the full Body
- N. Terrones: What models did you follow and how long have those been in place?
- Have looked at a lot of public colleges — not sure that any other Ivy League university has this
- S. Balik: How is this different than the Peer Review Board?
- PRB hears cases of house rules violation, whereas this will cover documents/charters/bylaws
- G. Braciak: Will this Court be able to cover byline appeals made to the SA?
- The current byline appeals system is pretty good. If there was a special case where a bylaw/charter rule was broken, then yes
- C. Pritchett: If this were to pass, how will the University be notified? What will be the feedback mechanism?
- Planning on housing the Court at the Dean of Students Office
- JA office is currently the only body talked to so far regarding feedback
- J. Mueller: Motion to commit back to the Residential Life Committee, seconded