Johns Hopkins University Student Government Association

Meeting Minutes- Tuesday, September 6^th, 2011

I. Call to Order: 7:31pm.

II. Roll Call

• Quorum established. Senators Alex Schupper, Debra Schwitzer, Alex Dash, Michael St. Germain excused for Sophomore Class event

III. Minutes

• Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes from 8/30/11 by Kirk Sabnani
• Seconded by Treasurer Joanna Gawlik
• Motion Passed

IV. Message from Greg Smith

• Introducing the Blue Jay Shuttle
• Safety measures and student opinion taken under consideration for most effective service.
• Blue Jay Shuttle arrival in Mason Circle as scheduled
• Run every 30 min- Last departure at 10:45pm
• Escort Vans then available
• J-Cards required
• For more information, see http://www.parking.jhu.edu/bluejayshuttle.html
• Question/Answer period

1. Question: Junior President Alexandra Larsen- Are you considering transportation downtown? Expanding service

• Greg: No, not downtown, but other areas close to campus.

1. Question: Junior President Alexandra Larsen: Dispatch channels from last year still a dilemma?

• Greg: No, it has been resolved and the escort vans have their own channel.

1. Question: Senator Erin Reilly: Will there be a smart phone application?

• Greg: A smart phone application is available for schedules and escort van tracking.

1. Question: Senator Erin Reilly: Is there a designated stop in areas where the vans go to?

• Greg: Yes, a 14-inch round sign designates the van’s stop. The sign also has “10 points for success” on the back of it, very useful to educate users on the best way to use our service.

1. Question: Senator Moses Song- How can we teach the freshmen this service best?

• Greg: Orientation week has been very conducive to teaching how the van works to new students. We are now aiming to teach the rest of the student body.

1. Question: Senator Mimi Gu- Will there still be a limit to how many bags you can have?

• Greg: We are concerned with the comfort of our passengers and being on time. We ask that our passengers be able to hold everything in entering the van.

1. Question: Senator Cameron Ahmad- What about the Waverly Giant Store?  Is it too long of a trip for a half hour increment between vans?

• Greg: We have tested the van schedules out for the most effective service. If you would like to go to a Giant with more

1. Question: Senator Minerva Kim- Who can ride the shuttle?

• Greg: Each J-Card holder is allowed one guest

IV. Executive Officer Reports

A. Executive President: Ardi Mendoza

• Has fixed the listproc problem
• Meeting with Sarah Steinberg postponed

1. will keep us posted

• The SAC Fair is Friday 2-4:30
• SGA BBQ at Ardi’s house, Saturday 5-8pm

B. Executive Vice President: Wyatt Larkin

• Campus Crawl- hopefully to resemble Hoptoberfest as last year
• Reached out to members of the Parents Committee- the Executive Board will attend their meeting to thank them and give them a progress report about what we are doing
• Attendance and Class Nights- Tuesdays, conflicting with SGA Meetings

1. This will be changed, Wednesdays/Thursdays possibly?

• Please join Wyatt’s google group for SGA: hopkinsSGA

C. Executive Treasurer: Treasurer Joanna Gawlik

• Survey will be sent out by consultant from Housing and Dining, improving Housing policy and change areas of campus (e.g. Juniors living on campus, freshman having their own quad)
• Dean Boswell: What incentives would have people fill out the survey
• BBQ at Ardi’s- please pay $5 by the end of the meeting

D. Executive Secretary: Annie Scavelli

• President’s Day of Service: Fill out google spreadsheet with your availability

1. We should get a good showing for this

• Meeting with Class Presidents and Executive Board this week

1. Next week, Committee heads (The schedule will alternate as such)

• Online Syllabi

1. Meeting with Kirk and Alexandra to hammer out details and logistics

V. Committee Reports

A. Academic Affairs, Alexandra Larsen

• Online Syllabi Database
• Meet with Dean Connelly also to clarify policies such as the Reading Period Policy, Add/Drop policy
• Update Course Evaluation System, has improved through Merlin
• Work on ISIS filling in your major checklist
• Committee Meeting 5:30 pm on Monday

B. Appointments and Evaluations, Mimi Gu

• 6:00pm on Mondays
• Two applications for new student groups already, deadline soon

C. Student Services, Kirk Sabnani

• Will meet 7pm Wednesdays in the SGA Office in Mattin Center

• Met Dean Shepperd regarding wide range of issues related to the committee as well as Senior Class Council.

• Minerva Kim introduced Library Sanitation Initiative

• Ben Googe introduced a Ride Share program

• Alex Schupper brought up concerns regarding Campus Dining

D. Finance, Merrill Anovick

• Thursdays at 5pm
• Met with Joanna and Wyatt about proposed budget

E. Campus Safety and Development, Nick

• Tuesdays after SGA General Body meeting
• Addressing problems with the Blue Jay Shuttle system

VI. Class Council Reports

A. Senior Class President, Luke Sand

• DISorientation week, Youtube video out
• E-mail stuff has been mixed up, Ardi has taken care of it
• PK has a banner going up
• PK Smith: Where is rope available to hang banner?

B. Junior Class President, Alexandra Larsen

• October 1^st, Junior Class Night, Food Around the World!
• Sushi Night with Sophomores?
• Memorial for Katie and Nathan
• Plant a tree and/or memorial service
• “Junior Prom” Cruise possibly
• $10/$15
• Welcome Maaiz! New appointed Junior Class Senator

1. Interested in Add/Drop period policies

C. Sophomore Class President, Merrill Anovick

• Half of Council is at Sophomore Karaoke Night
• Looking into Inner Harbor Day
• Preliminary discussions for planning big Sophomore event
• Possibly interested in Sushi Night

VII. Message from Dean Boswell

• Has shadowing paperwork from years past
• Listproc person of contact available
• Encourage filling out survey on Housing and Dining
• E-mail her to get information before our next meeting

VIII. Message from Rohit Dayal

• Chairman of CSE
• Introduce Resolution to be voted on: Declaring Official Candidacy Amendment

1. 1 presidential position and 6 senatorial positions
2. Last semester there were just enough to meet this amount, so more candidates were sought after the accepted period

• Freshmen Elections Information Sessions:

1. Tuesday 9/13 and Thursday 9/15

IX. Old Business

A. Executive Budget

1. Sophomore President Merrill Anovick introduces changes
   1. Past years have only had a contingency with budgets allocated to committees by request. If they needed funds immediately, they would have to wait one to two weeks for paperwork/approval.
   2. Enable people to pursue what they’re passionate about.
   3. Finance committee will have a ‘check’ on all committee spending.
   4. Any expenditure below $500 will not have to be approved by Finance committee. If over, it should have the approval of the Finance committee and the opinion of the entire SGA.

X. Open Discussion

• Senator Kirk Sabnani- Sustainability Initiatives has not yet presented a concrete plan for $5,000 to be allocated as a line item. Should a Bike Project initiative be presented, then the project may be funded as such. Also, the Entrepreneurship Initiative should be covered under a line item under a specific committee.
• Sophomore President Merrill Anovick- The Bike Project has carried on for a long time because attempts to approve financing to take it to the next level have been debated over and squandered.
• Treasurer Joanna Gawlik- Bike Project Summary: Idea came from other schools that had it on a large scale. Worked closely with the Sustainability office and the Cycling Team to get the project moving. Bike shops, former Senator Max, and Joanna have researched to create the amount, $5,000, to be appropriate for buying equipment. Possibly charge $10 for students to be involved. Buy bikes, helmets, and maintain equipment. Also, progress on the project slowed down because of the tragedy of Nathan’s death.
• Senator Nick Trenton- Should SGA take on an entire bike program? Would it be more appropriate elsewhere? To be most efficient in saving money and housing inventory would be to have another group take on the project.
• Treasurer Joanna Gawlik- People want this program and it should be institutionalized as a program at Hopkins
• Senator Mimi Gu- Specific numbers in the preliminary proposal have been identified with some flexibility.
• Senator Ben Googe- For this kind of an expenditure, I do not feel that we should approve this part of the budget until the Sustainability Initiatives is solidified. When the Bike Project is proposed, then we would discuss funding and approving such a project.
• Senator Steph Gellar- Explain how it will be financed and under what committee.
• Vice President Wyatt Larkin- There is $5, 000 to be spent on the Bike Project program and voted on by committee, Finance, and the SGA board as a whole.
• Senator Erin Reilly- What happens if someone steals a bike? What are some logistics?
• Treasurer Joanna Gawlik- Logistics are still in progress; however, it has been proposed for the J-Card to be linked to ensure responsibility for the bike.
• Motion to Prolong Discussion for 10 minutes by Senator Kirk Sabnani
• Majority has been reached
• Motion Passes
• Senator Nick Trenton- Voting on the Bike Project should be discussed not in conjunction with the budget
• Senator Mimi Gu- The $5, 000 has been previously mentioned to be for this Sustainability Initiative
• Motion to Vote on Budget by Junior Class President Alexandra Larsen
• Objections: Senator Moses Song and Senator Kirk Sabnani
• Vote on whether we should vote on Executive Budget

1. 12 in favor, 4 opposed, 1 abstention

• Senator Kirk Sabnani’s Objection: Need two sponsors for resolution to pass
• Senator Steph Gellar: Motion to add self as co-sponsor
• Seconded
• Motion Passes
• Vote on Executive Budget

1. 9 in favor, 6 opposed, 1 abstention

• Budget passes with amendments and Senator Steph Gellar as an additional co-sponsor

XII. The Committee Efficiency and Productivity Act

• Senator Kirk Sabnani: Executive VP has power to assign members to committees and the constitution says that it is solely in the Exec VP’s power. Alex Dash has suggested amending this power. No amendments have been made to the bill since this point.
• Senator Ben Googe: Move to vote
• Seconded
• Unanimously in favor of The Committee Efficiency and Productivity Act with one abstention

XIII. Announcements

• Senior Class President Luke Sand: e-mail with bike info? For Senator Erin Reilly, as well (from Joanna)
• PK Smith: please include levering renovations student feedback included on googledoc
• PDOS- Sign up online!
• SGA BBQ- Ardi’s House 5-8pm
• SGA retreat- Date TBA
• Senator Kirk Sabnani: Class Council email address are all setup as well as committee email addresses
• Maaiz: Do I have a committee? In the works!
• Senator PK Smith clarifies Ardi’s and his address

XIV. Adjournment

• Move to adjourn by Senator Kirk Sabnani
• Seconded
• Motion Passes

Respectfully Submitted,

Executive Secretary Annie Scavelli