Student Assembly

Agenda — April 4, 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 4:48pm.

Members present

S. Balik, J. Batista, G. Block, E. Bonatti, G. Braciak, S. Breedon, I. Chen, M. Cho, A. Chopra, A. Gitlin, R. Gitlin, I. Harris, T. Hittinger, D. Iwaoka, J. Lee, G. Lovely, M. LUkasiewicz, J. Marshall D. Muir, C. Pritchett, U. Smith, M. Stefanko, N. Terrones

Members excused

J. Mueller, P. Scelfo

Members unexcused

R. Desai, D. Kuhr

II. Approval of the 3/28/13 Minutes

• Minutes approved by unanimous consent

III. Open Microphone

• None

IV. Announcements/Reports

Know the Power of Your Words Announcement — D. Iwaoka and R. Gitlin

Event being held tonight

• Vice President Murphy will be a guest speaker — encourages attendance

Cornell Dining Plastic Bags Announcement — J. Marshall

• Plastic bags have been eliminated from dining locations — now using paper bags
• Still working on Cornell store
• A campaign will be held to discourage plastic bag usage

Big Red Ideas Announcement — A. Chopra

• ResCUer application has been chosen as a finalist

Outreach Event Update — N. Terrones

• Women’s Issues will be holding a summit 4/12 at 6:00

Cayuga’s Watchers Update — Eric Silverberg

• 144 students have been recruited — from every college, over 30 campus organizations, over 80 Greek employers, and members from all 3 councils
• Two training sessions held so far
• Ambassador program created to assist with outreach
• 4–5 week trial period starting this weekend

V. Presentation by President David Skorton and Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan H. Murphy ‘73, PhD ‘94

• S. Balik: Can you speak to the process by which the endowment is moving toward more responsible investments?
  • Cornell is and has been very committed to sustainability
  • Divestment done at specific times in small amounts can be a good thing, but it is a big decision to make
  • Not convinced that there is no risk in divesting from fossil fuels
  • No current or near future plan to divest
• Kelsey Erickson ‘13: Would like Cornell to remain progressive about researching which companies they are investing in and make an effort to move away from companies not headed toward renewable energy
  • Appreciates all the communication that has been occurring
  • No promises of divestment, but they will remain active in their efforts
• N. Terrones: Can you speak to the increase in tuition? Will financial aid reflect this?
  • Tuition increase is always a difficult decision
  • Financial aid has increased dramatically — Cornell has been listed as more affordable in the last two years because of its incredible financial aid
  • Average student debt out of college is $25K whereas Cornell’s is about $18K
• U. Smith: Is there any push for the faculty to be more open to communication with student groups? There has been frustration at the lack of willingness to listen to opinion
  • Best method so far is by persuasion
  • Best option for the SA might be to discuss the matter with the UFC
• G. Lovely: Transparency and student input have been concerns on this campus — can you speak to that?
  • There is always room for improvement — maybe one thing to do is make more transparent the people making decision and their sources of input
  • Amount of student input depends on the issue being discussed — if the SA communicates their wishes, he can speak to the appropriate groups to see what can be done
  • Basic data is available to everyone — always open to suggestions for improvement
• George Miranda ‘14: What is the University’s short and long term plan regarding resources for the LGBT Center and by extension the LGBT community
  • Do not see any additional funding going toward new resources in the near future
  • Currently there is the matter of managing current talents of the Administration and staff
• D. Muir: There is a feeling that Greek traditions are being threatened — questions the future of the Greek community here at Cornell
  • There are some thing that clearly cannot happen again — working to improve those things so that the fundamental values can move forward
  • Cornell has made a lot of progress, despite the difficulty and pressure, but there is a very bright future for the Greek community

VI. Business of the Day

R.43 Student Assembly Finance Commission Performance Tier Proposal — R. Desai, Matthew Gruber, Alykhan Bandali

• Motion to amend Section 9 criterion 9:
  • Describe how your organization currently reaches out to Cornell’s numerous diverse communities, and going forward, how it plans to continue and expand these initiatives. These communities may include but need not be limited to:
    • Cornell’s 7 undergraduate colleges and schools
    • Majors
    • Relevant organizations or groups that support your mission/purpose
    • Racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, disabled populations
    • Faculty and staff
    • Other undergraduate organizations or special interests
  • Call to question, seconded
  • Amendment passed by a vote of 22–0−0
• D. Muir: What’s the difference between this performance tier and by-line funding?
  • Applicants to the performance tier are still subject to SAFC guidelines
• G. Block: Once the applications are submitted, how are groups chosen to move into the performance tier?
  • Still unsure what the application will look like — reviews won’t happen until the beginning of next semester
  • Would like to work with the SA to discuss how they will be reviewed
• D. Iwaoka: In recruiting SAFC commissioners, have you considered adding a diversity aspect to the evaluation process?
  • The current focus is on recruiting from many different parts of campus
  • In terms of individual evaluations of candidate’s multicultural competency, that has not been focused on but that are moving towards that
• S. Breedon: How will you communicate the addition of the performance tier?
  • Email is the best option
  • Not too many groups are eligible — outreach won’t be too difficulty
• J. Marshall: Is this tier potentially where organizations that may not be by-line funded in the future will transition to?
  • It could happen, but any organization new to SAFC funding will have to start at the bottom and advance up the tiers
• U. Smith: Commends the SAFC for the progress it has made. Going forward, the SA is happy to work with the SAFC to make sure the diversity criterion is properly evaluated and implemented
• Call to question, seconded
• Resolution 43 passed by a vote of 22–0−0.

VII. New Business

R.44: Building Better Communities — S. Balik, J. Marshall, M. Lukasiewicz, U. Smith

• Committees have been understaffed — plan to give the more responsibilities and have them be more involved
• Several committees have been absorbed into others — idea to have each committee focus on various issues instead of just one
• G. Block: Will on person be able to chair each committee now that they’re combined?
  • There will also be vice-chairs focusing on specific issues
  • Would like to see more SA members involved
• D. Iwaoka: How will you get students on board from the get go?
  • The application will be sent out at the end of this school year as opposed to the Fall
• J. Batista: If a specific force or sub-committee needs to be created, is there room in the Bylaws for that?
  • You would create an ad-hoc committee

R.45: Fostering a “United Student Body” - A. Gitlin, U. Smith, J. Batista, Oscar Correia

• A. Gitlin steps down as chair and Vice President of Internal Operations M. Lukasiewicz assumes the role
• Looking to mirror Towards New Destinations on a student level
• Borrowed three initiatives: composition, engagement, and inclusion
• Asking student organizations for a good faith effort on this matter
• S. Breedon: What is your plan to get buy-in for the future? Current list of Campus Partners doesn’t seem extensive enough
  • Current list is very preliminary — each group was contacted for very specific reasons. **List is limited as meetings were difficult to organize on a short-term notice
• G. Block: What does diversity mean to you? How is that going to be measured? The SAORC cannot feasibly handle evaluation of 900+ DIPs — how will this process be implemented?
  • Diversity is not just composition — it is diversity of thought, gender, political views, sexual orientations, etc. - a very broad term
  • If this is passed, it will be implemented incrementally and adjustments will be made as necessary
• M. Stefanko: How will these initiatives be measured without excessive oversight of these groups?
  • Metrics is a big discussion right now — once a baseline is agreed upon, they will continue building off of that
• N. Terrones: Foresee a lot of student groups protesting this. What will you do if that happens?
  • First step is to see if it works — not a mandate, but providing tools to begin solving a problem
  • If there is a vast amount of protest, then the implementation of this idea will need to be re-hashed
• J. Marshall: What is the overall vision? How will this impact the more specific organizations (eg: Dairy Club)
  • Ultimate goal is that the culture of the university changes
  • Unsure what will happen with those organizations
• C. Pritchett: Will the SAORC be reviewing the organizations based on their ‘good faith effort’ or will there be some form of accountability for actual changes?
  • That is still a bit unclear — still searching for a baseline to work off of

M. Lukasiewicz adjourned the meeting at 6:39.

Respectfully submitted,
Chelsea Cheng