Student Assembly Finance Commission
April 20th, 2009
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

Lee Blum, Jack Castle, Cailen Casey, Maddie Ehrlich, Elyse Feldman, Charlie Feng, Varun Gehani, Ian Lesyk, Michael McCormick, Yuliya Neverova, Lauren Nicola, Jonathon Raymond, Scott Rog, Benjamin Schreff, Cathy You, Dan Gusz, Vivien Pillet, Lauren Rosenblum, Qing Zhao, Emlyn Diakow

III. Business of the Day

E-board evaluations/ Elections

Y. Neverova passed around e-board evaluations sheets and asked everyone to fill them out. She also informed the commissioners that the club sports resolution has passed with the Student Assembly. However, because members were wary of a voting constituent, voting was removed from the role of the club sports liaison. Y. Neverova said that there will also be an ad-hoc position of the SAFC liaison to assist in the organization of the club sports council. E. Diakow has been appointed to this position.

L. Rosenblum said she would e-mail everyone the names of the 12 people who were accepted onto the SAFC.

The commission moved on to executive board elections for Co-chair.

V. Pillet said that he would like to withdraw his name from the Co-chair position, although he would still like to run for VP External.

V. Gehani added that L. Blum had also withdrawn his name from the running. He said that he and Y. Neverova will be reading the election speeches on behalf of D. Fernandes, who is abroad, and C. Scott, who could not be at the meeting today.

Co-chair candidates in attendance, C. Feng and B. Schreff, left the room.

Y. Neverova spoke on behalf of C. Scott about her commitment to the position, experience in the task-force, as well as the new proposals in the SA and her pledge to communicate those changes to the rest of the commission.

V. Gehani spoke on behalf of D. Fernandes about her dedication to the commission, her attention to detail and positive relationships with various student organizations, and her experience as a freshman representative on the SA.

B. Schreff entered the room.

B. Schreff spoke about his 2 and a half years of experience on the commission, as well as the valuable experience he had on the e-board this semester. He said that he had a laid-back, but professional attitude that was needed in a co-chair in dealing with groups which would help succeed in stressful situations.

B. Schreff left the room.

C. Feng entered the room.

C. Feng said that he had reached out to the past 10 co-chairs and spoke to Terry extensively in the past week to gain ideas and perspectives about what was needed for the commission. He said that he has immense dedication to the SAFC, has not missed a meeting, and would take the position very seriously. He says that he has a lot of ideas for change. In the short term, he believed that membership training needed to revamped, which could be done through comprehensive training and a more strenuous President and Treasurers’ test to test the commissioners’ full understanding of the guidelines and policies. He felt that currently the e-board seemed very separate from the general commission, and believed that the commission should be more integrated as a whole in decision-making. He wanted to add that past commissioners expressed to him that club sports should have its own funding process separate from the SAFC. He also said that the redundancy of the hundreds of student organizations needed to be changed, as well as the funding process which allows groups to not utilize the funds that they were allocated.

C. Feng left the room.

Discussion ensued.

B. Schreff was asked to enter the room.

M. Ehrlich asked B. Schreff what commitments he has for next year.

B. Schreff responded that the terms for his other e-board positions are ending this semester, so he will be able to fully commit to the SAFC. He said other activities he has planned is TA-ing a class and his fraternity, but that the SAFC is his primary interest.

L. Rosenblum asked what activities he had this semester.

B. Schreff said that other than his e-board position on the SAFC, he also had a position in his fraternity, DSP, and worked.

B. Schreff left the room.

C. Feng was asked to enter the room.

Y. Neverova asked what his year of standing is, and if he will be here for another two semesters.

C. Feng replied that he is a sophomore, but may be planning on graduating a year early. However, he will be at Cornell for at least two more semesters.

V. Gehani asked what his major commitments for next year were.

C. Feng said that although he as an e-board position at DSP, he had no other major commitments and is planning on taking a very light course load.

M. Ehrlich said that she has noticed that SAFC and DSP events often coincide, and asked C. Feng what he would do in that situation.

C. Feng responded that if there were conflicts, he would attend the SAFC events as that was his primary interest.

C. Feng left the room.

Vote: C. Feng — 15, B. Schreff — 4, D. Fernandes —1

C. Feng is the new Co-chair.

B. Schreff and C. Feng re-entered the room.

The commission then continued with the elections for VP External, whose candidates included C. Scott, D. Fernandes, and V. Pillet.

V. Pillet left the room.

V. Gehani added for D. Fernandes that she had served as VP External for a semester before, and would like to do it again.

V. Pillet entered the room.

V. Pillet said that in this position, he would like to send out surveys to get a better idea of the commissioners’ preferences for food. He added that he would like to create videos and image-based instructions on how to fill out a budget. He also said that he wanted to establish transparency, to improve commission relations with the rest of campus. He said that people do not come to terms about the objectivity of the SAFC, and often do not understand the processes behind funding. His goal was to create a better flow of information via emails, messages and campus media about the funding caps, funding issues, and to individually address feedback. His main point was that he wanted to change people’s minds about the SAFC and to create a positive face. He said that he was very serious about this position, and has a relatively light course load and has no other commitments.

Y. Neverova asked if the commissioners had any questions for V. Pillet.

V. Pillet left the room.

Discussion ensued.

Vote: V. Pillet — 17; D. Fernandes — 1; C. Scott — 1

V. Pillet is the new VP External.

V. Pillet re-entered the room.

Y. Neverova said that there will be a very brief meeting next week, to basically say goodbye to the seniors and to welcome new commissioners.

IV. Meeting was adjourned at 5:35 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Valerie Pocus
SAFC Clerk, Office of the Assemblies