Student Senate Minutes

Total on Roster: 20 Votes needed for simple majority vote: 50% + 1 = 11 Votes needed for 2/3 majority: 13 Location: Aptos Campus 6500 Soquel Dr., Aptos, CA SAC East, Room 225 Student Senate Minutes Date and Time: Thursday, September 22 nd, 2011 3:00 pm 6:00 pm The Cabrillo College Student Senate held a meeting on Thursday, September 22 th, 2011, at 3:00pm. These are the minutes reflective of that meeting. A Motion to approve rescinding the decision made on the September 8 th meeting to fund $1000.00 from the programs account for the Health and Wellness fair on the stipulation that they hold the fair in the quad. 16 1 0 passed B Motion to approve $1000 from the programs account foe the Fall 2011 Health and Wellness Fair on September 29 th in the Cafeteria. 18 0 0 passed C Motion to approve $1500 from the Conferences Account for the Dance Department to attend it s Spring Conference. 16 1 1 passed D Motion to approve $300 from the programs account in order to purchase more t-shirts given the fact that there were not enough shirts (with correct sizes) for all senators. 2 15 0 Not passed F Motion to approve $150 from the supplies account to purchase pictures that will hang in the SAC East hallways and also in the Senate Meeting Chambers. 13 1 1 passed G Motion to approve an additional $200 from the supplies account to purchase business cards. The reason for the additional amount is that for 20 senators, the total cost will be $743.60 and we have only approved $600. 14 4 1 passed Student Senate MINUTES 1

I. Call to Order A. Roll Call at 3:01pm Executive Officers Vice President: Oleksii Chuiko-tardy Treasurer: Joseph Gomez-Present Legislative Representative: Gaby Avila-tardy (3:10) ICC Chair: Ivan Sumano-Vargas-Present Senators-At-Large Stephanie Petrillo-Present Sharon O Connor-Present Arthur O Reilly-Present Chris Steele-Present Sage Goncharoff- Absent Laura Hunerberg- Present President: Charlotte Achen-Present Trustee: Joseph Watkins-Present Watsonville Representative: Joshua Riparetti-Present Scotts Valley Representative: Stephen Venegas-Absent Kathybelle Barlow-Present Darwin Constantino-Present Jennifer Venegas-Present Jesse Collins-Present James Williams-Present Summer Maiorino- Present Advisors Sesario Escoto-Present Flor Chacon-tardy (3:10) II. Three Breaths 30 Seconds III. Adoption of the Agenda 3 minutes Items E and H should be tabled. Should Alex not be back from his dentist appointment, Joseph Gomez will cover items A and B. Senator Barlow moves to approve the agenda as edited, Senator Petrillo seconds. Agenda approved, 15 yeas, 0 nay, 1 abstain IV. Approval of the Minutes 3 minutes A. September 15 th, 2011 Trustee Gomez moves to approve the minutes; Senator Constantino seconds Minutes approved, 16 yeas, 0 nay, 0 abstain V. Public Comments This time is reserved for members of the public to address the Senate on issues not already appearing on the agenda. There will be a limit of five (5) minutes per speaker. Mario, the accounts chair from Cabrillo, who works in the transfer center, provided information about the transfer process. He advised us that if you are interested in transferring to a 4 year university, you need to start the process now. Transfer Admission Guarantees (TAGs) must be completed this month, and if you are unable to meet with a counselor to complete one, you may attend a workshop where the contracts can be completed. Also at these workshops you can learn how to properly create a personal statement. Many colleges entrance acceptances weight heavily on these personal statements. Starting October 1 st, the UC and CSU applications will open up. The transfer center also hosts workshops on filling out these applications properly. Contact Mario in the Transfer Center for more information on this process and the upcoming workshops. VI. Committee Reports 3 minutes per committee The Thanksgiving Committee met for the first time last Friday; they have discussed having entertainment and a piano player at the event. The Cafeteria Committee meets tomorrow at 1pm. The Watsonville Committee has had recent discussion about adding new furniture at that campus. CPC met yesterday in the music recital hall, during which time a S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) grant was approved. The 800 building will be receiving a 4.3 million dollar renovation grant, which will allow the movement of the President s office, Fast Track To Work and many other offices. The 800 building will host the engineering and learning centers after the renovation. The Budget Town Hall Meeting was also yesterday, and there were a lot of faculty present. Student Senate MINUTES 2

The Faculty Senate Meeting this week held discussion on the hierarchy for the courses and which courses should be cut in the future. Discussion settled that the most important courses were majors and general ed, and that these courses would be the major priority to continue to offer to students. In regards to the repeatability of classes; a student will no longer be able to repeat a class more than 3 times. This will include withdrawals and drops, and once you have completed 3 attempts at a course, you will be banned from enrolling in that course again. The PR Committee met last Friday and discussed what should be on the blog and what steps can be taken to improve and update our website. The next meeting is tomorrow at 2pm. The SAC Committee meets weekly on Mondays at 1:30pm. You are encouraged to come and they will try to have food. The SLO Committee will be meeting September 25 from 2-5pm and will be discussing the results from last year and brainstorming what we can do for next year. SCCCC Committee met last Friday as well. They are still in the preliminary stages and asking questions to determine how the Student Senate can assist them. The Curriculum Committee met yesterday and they are working with a state organization that is trying to standardize articulation. See Jesse if you would like additional details about this. VII. Special Items A. Guest Speaker: Victoria Lewis Info. / Discussion 20 Min. Presentation 10 Min Q&A Victoria Lewis gave a detailed presentation on the college budget, going over information that was discussed t the recent Budget Town Hall Meetings. Although we have about 3.4 Million dollars in our reserve budget that will be used to balance the 2011-2012 budget, cuts will still need to be made. The group expects our state funding to be cut by approximately 1 million dollars. One of the biggest impacts on students will be the enrollment fee increase. This semester, the fee increased from $26 to $36 per unit. The college had plans to increase the fees in the Spring as well, however the state mandates that no further enrollment fee increases can take place until the Summer semester. Do to this regulation, Cabrillo will be holding off on the next enrollment fee increase until the Summer semester, at which time the fee will raise to $46 per unit. Because we have been using our reserves to supplement for the budget cuts, we have not actually decreased our budget enough to have our current revenue carry us over, which is why cuts are still being made. Most of our budgets cover salaries and retiree benefits, and the remaining balance covers supplies, equipment, and operating costs for the college. Our employee costs include their salary, as well as benefits package, workers compensation, social security and retiree benefits. In addition, there are automatic pay increases for our employees until they reach the top of their salary level. A major challenge to us is that health benefits have continued to rise while our budget has decreased. As a committee, we are looking at how to contain costs for the college so we can continue to serve more students. We are also leasing space at our Watsonville center and are looking at facility rentals campuswide. We all need to continue our advocacy efforts in Sacramento and continue Cabrillo Foundation Fundraising efforts to try to increase our revenue on our end. The state of California has also delayed the funds they allocated to us, resulting in us having to borrow money to supplement for the delay. Continue your advocacy at the state level, and feel welcome to attend the future Town Hall Meetings to stay up to date on this information. B. Governing Board Report Info. / Discussion J. Watkins 10 Minutes We have the largest percentage of adults attending college who will not transfer to complete Bachelors Degrees. Our governing board will be working to provide access and success to our students to set higher, ambitious goals for the future. Our bookstore is forming a taskforce on services and textbooks. Our biggest issue is that there are a lot of people unable to afford their textbooks, and a lot of people not purchasing from the bookstore because they are finding free copies of the books online. We are trying to provide services that make the books affordable to the students while increasing the revenue of the bookstore. Please let me know if you can join this committee. SCCC will be discussing at the next meeting an increase in the student health fee by $1. This meeting will most likely be held Oct. 1 or 2. Also, the horticulture department is growing fish that are fertilizing the system to grow vegetables and provide sustainable food to students on campus. It s great to see many senators attending these other meetings and I encourage you to continue with your attendance! In addition, I have a copy of the final budget as I have previously mentioned if you would like to review it. C. Clarifying Roles of Senators & Exec. Board Info. / Discussion C. Achen 10 Minutes Just a reminder that no senator carries a higher rank than another, including the executive board. You all have more power than I do, since you carry the power to vote. I don t want to hear any put-downs as they are demeaning and hurt peoples feelings. Our roles as senators is to be supportive and encouraging of each other and help each other. If you have negative opinions, keep them to yourself. We are working with an amazing team and I have never seen a group work so well together, so I wanted to mention this briefly so we can settle this issue now. We are role models for others and this pettiness makes us look bad and makes us less productive. Next semester there will be a conflict resolution workshop that everyone should be looking forward to. Student Senate MINUTES 3

Sesario advises that if you have a complaint you should consider how to handle it yourselves. You are encouraged to speak face-to-face, as email is cold and insensitive, if you have an issue with another teammate. Try to communicate amongst yourselves and deal with these issues. In addition, don t use the I m a Senator excuse to anyone, especially Faculty. This is poor representation of us, as you are elected officials here to service your constituents. Everyone should be open to constructive comments from others in the group. We all have our own issues and we are all learning and growing. We should be helping each other overcome things and treat each other like adults. Flor reminded us that there s a difference between constructive criticism and negative criticism. It is important to be sure the things you have to say are constructive. The person who ends up speaking negativiely about another person is actually the one who looks bad. Don t be offended if someone says you are doing something wrong; instead be happy that they came to you so that you are able to improve yourself. Be open to suggestions and use them as tools to grow to become a leader.. New Business A. Rescinding Wellness Fair Decision Info. / Action O.Chuiko 5 Minutes This item is up for discussion / possible action regarding rescinding the decision made on the September 8 th meeting to fund $1000.00 from the programs account for the Health and Wellness fair on the stipulation that they hold the fair in the quad. Alex met with Martha and others from the health department, who stated that although they really liked the idea of hosting this event in the quad, and will do that in the future, they feel that it is too close to the date of the event to replan it to be outdoors this year. They have already put everything into place for the event, which is to be held September 29 th. Due to the approaching of the event, they have asked to receive the money without having to move their event on such short notice. They will have people involved in the outdoor areas telling students to go to the fair in the cafeteria to try to increase attendance and awareness. Vice President Chuiko moves to rescind the decision made on the September 8 th meeting to fun $1000.00 from the programs account for the Health and Wellness fair on the stipulation that they hold the fair in the quad. Interclub Council Chair Sumano-Vargas seconds the motion. This item goes to discussion. Legislative Representative Avila mentions that she put the provision on the item but that her intention was to have more students participate in this. She also states she has no problem with the rescinding. Discussion about making this event more accessible for wheelchairs happened, and Sesario mentioned he will send an email to the health department to verify this be taken care of, as all campus wide events must be ADHD compliant. A Motion to approve rescinding the decision made on the September 8 th meeting to fund $1000.00 from the programs account for the Health and Wellness fair on the stipulation that they hold the fair in the quad. 16 1 0 passed B. Wellness Fair Info. / Action O. Chuiko 5 Minutes This item is for discussion / possible action regarding the approval of $1000.00 from the Account for the fall 2011 Health and Wellness Fair on September 29 th in the Cafeteria. Trustee Watkins moves to bring this item to vote; Vice President Chuiko seconds. Item brought to vote by 17 yeas, 1 nay, 0 abstains. Student Senate MINUTES 4

B Motion to approve $1000 from the programs account for the Fall 2011 Health and Wellness Fair on September 29 th in the Cafeteria. 18 0 0 passed C. Dance Conference Info. / Action J.Gomez 5 Minutes This item is up for discussion / possible action regarding the approval of $2000 from the Account for the Dance Department to attend its Spring Conference. Student dancer, Erica Price, states that this conference is one of the most prestigious conferences in the country, and that it offers things that no other program could. Erica has attended this conference two years and says that it provided more knowledge of the dance community than anything thus far at her time at Cabrillo. The head of the dance department stated that this is a great opportunity for the dance students because they get to understand the larger ideas about dance. This conference is cohosted by San Jose State University. 20 students could attend this conference, and the dance department has fundraised $3900 themselves. Discussion included reminders that groups will continue to ask for money throughout the entire year, and that it is only September and our funds are already running low. Time was extended for five minutes for continued discussion by a vote of 17 yeas, 1 nay, 0 abstain. The prerequisites were discussed for the conference, which is primarily based on students interest and their desire to advance in the field in the future. Senator O Reilly moves to approve $2000 from the conferences account for the Dance Department to attend its Spring Conference. Senator Barlow seconds the motion. It is discussed whether this particular conference s funding can be put on hold since the event does not take place until March, but we are advised the students must register now. In addition, it was determined that the Dance Department would raise additional funds if necessary, and we were reminded that the Dance Department also gets an allocation of $1500 from the school to use towards whatever they would like, in exchange for offering student discounts to events. Trustee Watkins moves to amend the amount to $1500 instead of $2000. This motion was seconded, and was approved by a vote of 10 yeas, 8 nays, 0 abstain. The motion, as amended, went to vote. C Motion to approve $1500 from the Conferences Account for the Dance Department to attend its Spring Conference. 16 1 1 passed D. Additional Funding for T-shirts Info. / Action S. Petrillo 10 Minutes This item is up for discussion /possible action regarding the approval of $300.00 from the Account in order to purchase more t-shirts given the fact that there were not enough shirts (with correct sizes) for all senators. Stephanie ordered 33 t-shirts for the Senate, which should have been the correct amount for everyone, however some members of the Senate did not receive a shirt, and some did not get the correct size. Discussion about whether people took the appropriate size and only one shirt took place. Treasurer Gomez moves to approve $300 from the Programs account in order to purchase more t-shirts given the fact that there were not enough shirts (with correct sizes) for all senators. Senator Barlow seconds the motion and it goes into discussion. Legislative Representative Avila moves to amend the amount from $300 to $150. Interclub Council Chair Sumano-Vargas seconds the motion. Some people may have taken a second shirt, and unfortunately we cannot order less than 12 shirts at a time. The shirts cost $15 per shirt. This item goes to vote. As for the amendment of $150, the motion fails with a vote of 0 yeas. The item, without amendment, goes to vote. Student Senate MINUTES 5

D Motion to approve $300 from the programs account in order to purchase more t-shirts given the fact that there were not enough shirts (with correct sizes) for all senators. 2 15 0 Not passed E. Supplies for Economically Disadvantaged Students Info. / Action J. Watkins 5 Minutes This item is up for discussion / possible action regarding the approval of $300.00 from the Account to purchase supplies for economically disadvantaged students. This item has been tabled. F. Additional Funding for Pictures Info. / Action F. Chacòn 5 Minutes This item is up for discussion / possible action regarding an additional $150.00 from the Account to purchase pictures that will hang in the SAC East hallway and also in the Senate Meeting Chambers. We are short some money to finish printing pictures for the new senators in the SAC hall, plus we need to purchase doubles for the fillers inside the room as well. They cost about $7 each to print the photos. Legislative Representative Avila moves to approve $300 from the supplies account to purchase pictures that will hang in the SAC East hallways and also in the Senate Meeting Chambers. Senator Barlow seconds the motion. This item goes into discussion. This item then goes to vote. F Motion to approve $150 from the supplies account to purchase pictures that will hang in the SAC East hallways and also in the Senate Meeting Chambers. 13 1 1 passed G. Additional Funding for Business Cards Info. / Action F. Chacòn 5 Minutes This item is up for discussion / possible action regarding an additional $200.00 from the Account to purchase business cards. The reason for the additional amount is for 20 senators, it will cost $743.60 and we only approved $600.00. This money would come from the supplies account. Senator Barlow moves to approve $200 from the supplies account to purchase business cards. Interclub Council Chair Sumano-Vargas seconds the motion and it moves to discussion. This is an opportunity to offer business cards at conferences and events, and allows us to provide direct information to people. In addition, it looks great to attach a business card onto resumes in the future. This item goes to vote. G Motion to approve an additional $200 from the supplies account to purchase business cards. The reason for the additional amount is that for 20 senators, the total cost will be $743.60 and we have only approved $600. 14 4 1 passed H. Fax Machine for the Library Info. / Action J. Collins 5 Minutes This item is up for discussion / possible action regarding the approval of $300.00 from the Account to purchase a fax machine for the Library. This would be for student s use. This item has been tabled. I. New Furniture for SAC East Info. / Discussion A. O Reilly 10 Minutes This item is up for discussion regarding purchasing furniture for SAC East. The idea of getting new furniture is not for the Senate area, but more in the club area which is good for us to help encourage more people to hang out in this area, and hopefully become more involved in the student programs. This new furniture will allow the SAC east to become a more inviting area. Sesario explains that in Student Senate MINUTES 6

the past a previous senate approved a big budget to complete this task, but no senators worked on it. So Sesario suggested to the staff for them to work on it, but they too became over-tasked and were unable to spend any time on it. Sesario urges us to actually make a move on this. He thinks $15000 may be an appropriate amount, and reminds us that it is very expensive to purchase furniture. Flor reminds us that by approving the amount, we do not have to spend the amount in full, or even at all, and that the approval just allows this item to move forward. Discussion concluded stating that this item will return to the next agenda, and that a committee should be formed to discuss more details. Laura will chair this committee, which will include Arthur, Alex, Ivan, Joseph W. and Darwin. J. Dropbox Info. / Discussion O. Chuiko 10 Minutes This item is up for discussion regarding the use of the free online service Dropbox for senate use. All agendas, minutes, etc would be placed here so that it is all in one place. Most of us have used Dropbox already, but we viewed a short video explaining the ease of this service, which will allow us all to use a shared folder to access minutes, agendas, bylaws, and other pertinent information. You will be able to access this Dropbox service from your phone, computer, tablet, or any other source that allows you to connect to the internet and a browser. This is a super simple program, and if you need assistance using it or have any other questions, speak with Vice Preseident Chuiko. IX. Reports (Every other name is Bold for Easy Reading) 3 minutes ea. Executive Officers, Senators, Advisers report on Senate Activities. A. Executive Officers President: Charlotte Achen : Thank you for being here! Vice President: Oleksii Chuiko : I love you all guys; you re the best! Treasurer: Jospeh Gomez : no report Legislative Representative: Gaby Avila: I appreciate comments when we are talking about a motion, remember the words are I move to amend and not I motion. Remember that if you are in charge of an internal committee you need to submit your reports to Alex by the end of the month. Also, don t forget your contracts! Student Trustee: Joseph Watkins : I want to reiterate make sure you research your agenda before you get here so we don t have to waste time asking questions about things we could have already learned about. The governing board is going a great job; keep it up! Inter-Club Council Chair: Ivan Sumano-Vargas: The ICC is going great and about 3-5 more clubs want to be charted. There is a great student presence this year! Watsonville Representative: Joshua Riparetti: no report Scotts Valley Representative: Stephan Venegas: I am pretty available on Fridays and Saturdays to help you re your committee. Just shoot me an email and we can discuss this further. B. Senators-at-Large Stephanie Petrillo: no report Jennifer Venegas: no report Sharon O Connor: no report Arthur O Reilly: no report Kathybelle Barlow: no report Laura Hunerberg: no report Summer Maiorino: no report Darwin Constantino: The External Bookstore meeting is next Monday at 3pm in room 804A; I would like someone else to go because I am unable to attend. I recommend everyone come to the next Thanksgiving committee meeting; I booked a choir and a piano club! I sent everyone who doesn t have a bio or pic on the website an email so I can update the site Chris Steele: The next SAC meeting is Monday at 1:30pm. Archeology night is coming up on October 27 th at the horticulture building. Jesse Collins: I would like to ask anyone who took more than one shirt to return it to Stephanie so we can try to work this out; you can remain anonymous if you would like to. Sage Goncharoff: absent James Williams: I am available Tuesdays and on weekends and would like to help within those times if there is more committees that need help; please contact me. C. Advisors 5 minutes ea. Student Senate MINUTES 7

Sesario Escoto: The furniture idea is exciting because I like to see students using this center-. As I mentioned before, if you can t get everyone in your committee to attend your meeting, still host the meeting and go with what you get. You heard Mario come talk about transfers and I also advise you to make an appointment with a counselor; don t assume you have what you need. Dropbox sounds really exciting and I hope you will be careful to make the website your priority for sharing documents because it has never been correctly up to date. As for the photos in the hallway; I got a lot of comments and you guys are really cute and it s a great presentation because you want to be inclusive of the entire senate. Flor Chacòn- The pictures we really inexpensive! You asked constituents to fundraise for their conferences when you spend way more and don t fundraise and then don t even show up. Keep this in mind and consider what are you doing to fundraise yourselves? Remember we have to get a contract every week and we need 5 each. Remember it s good to fundraise, and have a great weekend! X. Agenda Building 3 minutes XI. Adjournment 5:10 pm Student Senate Executive Meeting Agenda (To be held after the Student Senate Meeting) XII. Call to Order at 5:15 A. Roll Call A. Roll Call Executive Officers President: Charlotte Achen- Present Vice President: Oleksii Chuiko- Present Treasurer: Joseph Gomez- Present Trustee: Joseph Watkins- Present Legislative Representative: Gaby Avila- Present Watsonville Representative: Joshua Riparetti- Absent ICC Chair: Ivan Sumano-Vargas- Present Scotts Valley Representative: Stephan Venegas- Absent XIII. XIV. XV. Advisors Sesario-Present Flor-Present Adoption of the Executive Agenda Approval of the Executive Minutes Regular Business A. Attendance from Last Meeting 10 Minutes Stephan had to go to work and wasn t able to stay due to Watsonville meeting starting at 3:30 when he thought it started at 3pm. It is discussed whether this excuse should be valid considering we are all given our agendas ahead of time and should always know what time our meetings are at. This is called to question by Trustee Watkins to excuse Stephan s tardy. The item goes to vote, and the tardy is excused by a vote of 4 yeas, 2 nays. B. Our Role as an E.Board 10 Minutes No discussion C. Discussion of Meeting 30 Minutes Joseph Gomez: I hate to bring this up, but when you look at the agenda you should read it carefully. If you pay attention there is separate presentation time and Q&A time for items. Gaby Avila: We need to be strict because people are not paying attention and reading things carefully ahead of time. I also suggest that the chair invite the new senators to sit in front. Sesario: Almost all administrators will open the floor to questions during a presentation; if you would like them to do it differently please advise them; maybe say something like this presentation will begin, please hold your questions until. You are more structured than the faculty senate and other committees and if you want them to follow a structure, give everyone a reminder and let the speaker know to hold the questions into the end. Charlotte Achen: Today s meeting went really well Joseph Gomez: I think today s meeting went great Kathybelle: Maybe we could ask people to speak up a little louder to allow all seats at the table to hear clearly. Student Senate MINUTES 8

XVI. Advisors Reports 5 Minutes ea. Sesario Escoto: I want to tell you that I was standing up taking pictures because one of your constituents asked me to because they want to update the website, but then I put the camera down and told the senator they needed to get permission from your president to take pictures. Flor Chacòn: What s up with the contracts? I am really worried; you need to push your senators because we have no contracts. Is your revenue not a concern to you? You re the leaders; if you are not collecting the contracts yourself how do you expect your senators to do that? The deadline is next week. Sesario: At least in your reports state that you went to a business even if you didn t get a contract. Flor: Email and phones are another option; you don t just have to go physically to a business. Please try to push this and talk to your senators and teammates about this. XVII. Executive Agenda Requests Adjourned meeting at 5:33pm Student Senate MINUTES 9