Student Assembly Finance Commission
March 13th, 2006
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, Erica Fischer, Colin Heat, Jennifer Hsu, Brittni Levinson, Kim Lewis, Scottie McQuilkin, Samuel Miller-Little, Nadia Ormsby, Spencer Pepper, Ashwin Phadnis, Eric Schulman, Anastasiya Sidorova, Evan Walker, Marissa Wilson, Soyeon-Yu, Joey Zielinski, Luke Chernosky

III. Business of the Day

Policy Issues/President and Treasurer Handbook

S. McQuilkin said that the appeals process had finally ended and that everything was ruled in the SAFC’s favor, except for the Aikido club and the BBMTA co-org. She also said that this would leave about $15,000 left for special projects. Lastly, she also said that after going through the results of the E-board survey, she believed that the E-board was doing a good job.

J. Zielinski said that there will be more meetings on the President and Treasurer’s Handbook (P&T). He also mentioned that Saturday, April 23rd the SAFC would be having interviews for new commissioners as the SAFC needs about 5–10 new commissioners.

E. Fischer said that these interviews are mandatory, but they would probably not go until 5pm.

J. Zielinski said that the commission would now split into two groups to work on changes to the P&T handbook. One group would work on category 1 and the other would work on category 2, and then each group will report back on things they want changed.

S. McQuilkin added that the commissioners should think of new policies and not just wording changes.

-Commissioners separate themselves and discuss for 20 minutes.

Category 1

E. Fischer said that the SAFC should put a max on the number of copies a group can get, or at least have the groups put the number of copies they need instead of a monetary value. She also asked that the SAFC add some kind of check to make sure the Willard Straight Mailbox that each group has does exist. Some other ideas she had was to take out phone expenses entirely, have the SAFC not fund for “programs and stuff”, and have reminders at the bottoms of the online budget so that groups know what they need for every event, speaker, etc. For Durable Goods, Ms. Fischer thought of these ideas: not allowing groups to copy and paste price quotes into Microsoft Word, not allowing funding for office supplies, moving the end notes into the P&T handbook, and having groups prove a need for expensive Durable goods.

S. McQuilkin said that she and Mr. Zielinski are working on changing the online budget.

L. Chernosky asked if it was possible to set a cap on the number of copies but keep it a secret.

S. McQuilkin responded with a no because they SAFC cannot have secret numbers.

K. Lewis said that groups should have to give rational for a certain number of copies or they would get a minimum number of copies.

Category 2

E. Schulman said that his group discussed these ideas: lowering the amount of the letter of intent, having a checklist on the budgets, stop paying for rental cars, having a new rate for mileage, explaining things more in the help sessions, having a clause explaining that if a speaker does not have a room reservation, then the SAFC cannot fund the event, and having the groups get some kind of official stamp for room rentals.

J. Zielinski said that the materials section was also very hazy and asked that the commissioners think of ways to fix it.

S. McQuilkin said that next weeks meeting will focus on categories three and four.

C. Heath announced that all of the SAFC representatives who were running for SA positions lost, but he was still challenging his opponent because they only won by one vote. He said that he is trying to get a run off.

S. McQuilkin concluded by wishing all of the commission a good spring break.

IV. Meeting ended at 5:35 pm.

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