Student Assembly Finance Commission
March 6th, 2007
5:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.
163 Day Hall

I. Call to Order

The Meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.

II. Roll Call

Commissioners

Samuel Bendix, Adam Castle, Jillian Dorans, Liz Falcone, Erica Fischer, Sorby Grant, Colin Heath, Jennifer Hsu, Brittni Levinson, Kim Lewis, Scottie McQuilkin, Samuel Miller-Little, Nadia Ormsby, Eric Schulman, Anastasiya Sidorova, Riti Singh, Kate-Lynn Timmermans, Evan Walker, Marissa Wilson, Joey Zielinski, Luke Chernosky, Mary DePalma, Alex Saltman

III. Business of the Day

Policy Issues/President and Treasurer Handbook

J. Zielinski said that there are 8 appeals going to the SA appropriations committee. The SA meeting this Thursday, from 4:45pm to 6:30pm in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight, will discuss the appeals.

S. McQuilkin said that by the end of this week, the appeals and allocations will be completely done (for the commission). Now, she said, the commission would move on to changing the President and Treasurer’s Handbook (P&T).

E. Fischer mentioned that interviews for new commissioners would be near the end of April.

S. McQuilkin added that it is ok for the SAFC to recruit now, as the commission prefers recruits that commissioners already know.

J. Zielinski said that Ms. McQuilkin made surveys for the commissioners. She handed them out and the commissioners were given about 10 minutes to fill them out. Mr. Zielinski moved on to talk about the President and Treasurer’s Handbook. He handed out a list of main topics that the committee would focus on. He said that he did not want to go too in-depth, but instead be more superficial right now.

Administrative

C. Heath said that next year the commissioners should have a sheet to write things down that need to be changed. Mr. Heath also suggested that the SAFC put a cap on the number of copies a group can make, because right now if the groups do not specify, the decision is quite arbitrary.

B. Levinson said that the groups should have to enter the number of copies instead of monetary values when filling out the budgets.

J. Zielinski said the SAFC should change the online budgets so that groups have to fill out specific numbers (i.e. miles, copies, etc.) instead of just monetary values.

K. Timmermans said that she did not like the telephone budgeting as it is very hazy and seems to be more of a luxury item now.

C. Heath said that it seemed fair for international calls however.

J. Hsu said that there are many other options for communication instead of a phone.

Local Events

J. Zielinski suggested we get rid of rental cars entirely.

A. Castle said that the SAFC should lower the letter of intent threshold.

B. Levinson said that if a group does not have enough participation they should not receive funding.

L. Falcone pointed out that the way Cornell funding works is that the smaller groups do get funding so that all groups can afford to have events.

S. McQuilkin also pointed out that this would be a logistical nightmare.

S. Bendix said that the SAFC should make it even clearer that groups should find outside funding.

S. McQuilkin said that she would like to see an absolute cap set before budgets are given out which would make them prioritize more.

S. Grant responded by saying that the priorities in the budgets fulfill that role already.

S. Bendix pointed out that the SAFC already has built in caps and groups try to budget right up to those caps, so the groups will simply budget right up to the absolute cap.

M. Wilson said that it would be more useful if the e-board sent out an email to groups in the fall about the allocation process telling them that they would most likely only get a certain amount of money.

K. Timmermans said that the SAFC has to make sure the groups understand the priority system better.

K. Lewis pointed out that since we change the activity fee every two years, the SAFC would have to change the cap very frequently.

K. Nadolny said that the SAFC should tell groups what the previous years’ caps have been.

S. McQuilkin said that the clerks in the office could put the history of caps on the SAFC website.

A. Castle said that each group’s liaison could send out how much that group was allocated in previous years.

J. Zielinski suggested that each category have caps.

S. Grant responded that putting caps on other non-administrative things would be almost impossible because there is too much variation in the travel category as well as other categories.

K. Nadolny pointed out that the commission should not focus on things that would be club sports only because club sports will soon get their own committee.

L. Falcone said that the SAFC needs to make groups understand the intricacies of room rentals and program expenses (i.e. CUPD required at some events).

R. Singh said that the P&T Handbook should specifically talk about materials purchased to make costumes.

A. Saltman said that the SAFC should make groups understand that if the do no have proof, they can not get funding, specifically with room rentals.

A. Castle said that the notes in “endnotes” should be put all throughout the handbook, so that groups have to re-read those notes.

Durable Goods

M. Wilson said that copying and pasting a document into Microsoft Word should not be allowed as proof. She said the groups need to understand that they need to printout things directly from the internet.

S. McQuilkin asked that the SAFC outlawed funding for pens, pencils, etc.

R. Singh pointed out that some groups revolve around those items.

K. Nadolny responded by saying that the SAFC used to make exceptions if the items were fundamental to a group they would allow it, but that changed after 2003.

J. Hsu asked that the P&T Handbook specify protective cases.

K. Timmermans said that groups need to choose cases that are necessary instead of a luxury (i.e. plastic vs. leather).

S. Bendix asked that the SAFC encourage “business sense” by having groups bring in multiple quotes.

L. Falcone said that this would bring in too many technicalities leading to a lot of subjective judgments.

J. Zielinski said that the ideas that were tossed around were very good, and that the committee would continue this discussion next week.

IV. Meeting ended at 5:40 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Daniel Kantor
SAFC Clerk, Office of the Assemblies