SA Annual Report 2009-10

Students’ Association Government

Annual Report

2009-10

Published March 26, 2010


Annual Report

2009-10

Published By

SA Executive Secretary Dan Wasserman ’10

March 26, 2010

”

“Richard Feldman

Mission


The Students’ Association Government at the University of Rochester primarily aims to provide for a unified student voice to influence deci-

sions of the university administration. SA Government exists to create a university environ-ment in which students can pursue their interests. It ensures that student activity fees are appropriately and fairly allocated and spent to improve student life while promoting open, straightforward, and inclusive student governance.

Dear UR Community,

As Dean of the College, I have the opportunity to witness first-hand the important role that Student Government plays on campus. I often say that learning happens both inside and outside of the classroom. Much of the learning outside of the classroom takes place within the more than 200 SA-recognized student organizations. Student Government plays a vital role in overseeing these organizations and ensuring that they have the support that they need to succeed. In addition, the College entrusts Student Govern-ment with the responsibility of allocating student activities fees to student organizations in a fair way. Student Government handles this important and difficult task each year in a responsible manner that clearly contributes to student life positively.

In addition to helping student groups run efficiently, Student Government works to better the day-to-day lives of students in the College. I regularly meet with Student Govern-ment leaders who effectively convey the positions of students on important issues. Whether it is working to expand bus service, develop a new discount taxi service or provide free newspapers to students, it is clear to me that the Student Government leadership works tirelessly to improve student life. It is this passion and dedication that truly encompasses our motto, Meliora. Student Government works to better the lives of their peers every day. I look forward to continuing the strong relationship the College and University administra-tion has had with Student Government well into the future.

Sincerely,

— Richard Feldman— Dean of the College

A MessAge FroM the DeAn oF the College

Table of Contents

Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................5

Executive Thank You ........................................................................................................................................6

Executive Branch .............................................................................................................................................................7

A Brief History and Overview ......................................................................................................................9

SA Sustainability .............................................................................................................................................10

Fill Fauver/Pack the Palestra ....................................................................................................................11

Experience Eastman .....................................................................................................................................12

Potential Future Initiatives ........................................................................................................................13

Senate ................................................................................................................................................................................15

A Brief History and Overview ...................................................................................................................16

Senate Sub-Committees ..............................................................................................................................17

Communications Committee ...................................................................................................................................19


Achievements This Year ..............................................................................................................................21


Policy & Review Committee .....................................................................................................................................25




Projects & Services Committee ...............................................................................................................................31


SA Services ........................................................................................................................................................33



Students’ Association Appropriations Committee .........................................................................................37


2009-10 Budget Information ....................................................................................................................39

All-Campus Judicial Council .....................................................................................................................................41

General Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................43

Index ..................................................................................................................................................................................44

5

students’ association government annual report 2009-10

Introduction

This is the first of hopefully many annual reports commissioned by the Executive Branch of the Students’

Association Government. Within this document, you will find descriptions of each branch and Committee of UR’s Student Government. For those new to Student Government at the University, a helpful organizational chart has been provided below. In the pages to follow, you may explore each department’s histories, successes and areas for future growth.

For more information regarding Student Government and more specifi-cally regarding this report, I encourage you to visit the Annual Report section on the SA’s website, “The Hive,” at http://sa.rochester.edu/annualreport/. There, you can find supplemental documents and timely updates of all of the information included in this report. This report is accurate and current as of March 26, 2010. Please visit the website for further updates regarding Student Government’s progress through the remainder of the academic year.

Sincerely,

— Dan Wasserman ’10— SA Executive Secretary 2009-10

BACkgrounD

Dan Wasserman


Executive Branch

PresidentVice President

Legislative Branch

SpeakerDeputy Speaker

Judicial

Chief JusticeAssociate Chief Justice

S i C i

Senate

Steering Committee

(includes representatives from all branches)

All Campus Judicial CouncilExecutive Cabinet

Senate

18 Senators

All Campus Judicial Council

9 Associate Justices

Projects &Services

Policy &Review

Communications& Public Relations

SAAC

Treasurer

Elections Club SportsCouncil

CommunityService Network

Student Organizations Club Sports

orgAnizAtionAl ChArt oF stuDent

governMent

SA Government is divided into three branches: the execu-tive, the legislative and the judicial. More information about

each branch and the committee structure may be found throughout the rest of this report.

6

intro

duct

ion

”

“Executive Thank You

Student Government would not have accomplished all that it has this year without the support of the entire organization. Speaker Kierstin Hughes and Deputy Speaker Dan Cohn: thank you for always being willing to work with us and to compromise. Chief Justice John Oakford and Associate Chief Justice Bradley Calder: congratulations on a very successful year for ACJC, leading the branch well and having always served as a resource to the entire organization.

Nobody has worked harder than our Committee Chairs, who we pushed harder than we should have, yet they always came through and went above and beyond what was re-quired of them. Projects & Services Co-Chairs Alissa Brill and Bradley Halpern: thank you for your late nights and early mornings and for tirelessly working for the good of student life on campus. You have brought your Committee to a new high, and we are excited about the Committee’s future as a result of your work. Communications Chair Harry Brookstein and Deputy Chair Scott Strenger: you have managed to completely reform both the culture of communication and transparency in Student Government and the attention to students by Student Government. We gave you an almost impossible task — to develop and publish several new methods of communication, build a new website, manage the redesign of our graphic image (to name a few) — and you achieved everything we asked and more. You and the work you have done with the Communications Committee have been invaluable to our organization and to the student body. Policy & Review Chair Kristian Brooks: you have led your committee through one of its most challenging periods; you led your committee through the stressful new Mid-Year Report process despite many frustrations in developing the new system. You further succeeded in strengthening our rules despite the kickback and appeals we received this year. Thank you for your hard work to achieve our goals in these areas. Andrew Flack and all of SAAC: you have raised the bar.

To the Senators and Committee Aides who have put their hearts into working for this organization: thank you. And to our Student Government Advisors, mentors and lifelong friends, Anne-Marie Algier and Laura Ballou: thank you for being a source of support and friendship to help us get through the good times and bad.

Dan Wasserman, SA Executive Secretary, deserves the gratitude of our entire organiza-tion for the hard work he put into compiling this professional and comprehensive report. He had a daunting task of getting each SA Government leader to pull their weight in the report as he worked on very tight deadlines, yet he pulled it off with ease and without ever letting his frustration show. Thank you Dan for your effort.

If we did not include you on this list, please know that we have not forgotten you. Please also make sure to look at the Acknowledgements on Page 45 for a comprehensive “thank you” list.

Sincerely,

— Eric Weissmann ’10 and Brittany Crowley ’10— SA President and Vice President 2009-10

SA President and Vice President

They work together to form a strong course of action, while delegating tasks

The Student Body

The Executive Branch acts as the face of Student

SA Senate and itsCommittees

The Executive Branch works with the legislative, g g

to their coordinators. The duo establishes a cohesive platform of action

for all Student Government.

Government, communicating with the student body regularly.

works with the legislative side of Student

Government to help enact its goals on behalf of the

student body.

University CommitteeAppointments

The SA President nominates students to committees such as the

SA Committee Appointments

The SA President appoints Senate Committee Chairs and Committee

Aides subject to Senatestudents to committees such as the College Curriculum Committee.

Aides, subject to Senate confirmation.

SA SustainabilityCoordinator

The Coordinator helps to establish sustainable practices

Fill Fauver Coordinators

The Coordinators help to run Fill Fauver events at UR Athletic events, which

Experience EastmanCoordinator

The Coordinator facilitates stronger ties between the Riverestablish sustainable practices

at the University by working with students and administrators.

Athletic events, which promote a maximum capacity crowd for each varsity sport

once a season.

stronger ties between the River Campus and Eastman School of Music by encouraging student groups to plan events at Eastman.

7


MeMBers

Mission

Executive Branch

The primary responsibility of the Executive Branch, led by the elect-ed SA President and Vice President, is to serve as the official represen-

tative of the student body. The President and Vice President are responsible for the imple-mentation and execution of all legislation passed by the Senate. They appoint all Committee Chairs and Aides, and work with the Senate and its Committees to ensure Student Govern-ment’s success. Additionally, in their capacity as the faces of Student Government, the Presi-dent and Vice President meet frequently with university faculty and staff on a regular basis in order to improve the quality of student services. Many SA Presidents also choose to have a Cabinet of non-elected Executive Aides and Committee Aides who work with Senators in the various Committees.

SA President: Eric Weissmann ’10

SA Vice President: Brittany Crowley ’10

Sustainability Coordinator: Megan DeWitt ’12

Fill Fauver Coordinators: Jesse Cramer ’12 and Trey Socash ’12

Experience Eastman Coordinator: Benjamin Pollack ’10

BrAnCh struCture

SA President and Vice President

They work together to form a strong course of action, while delegating tasks

The Student Body

The Executive Branch acts as the face of Student

SA Senate and itsCommittees

The Executive Branch works with the legislative, g g

to their coordinators. The duo establishes a cohesive platform of action

for all Student Government.

Government, communicating with the student body regularly.

works with the legislative side of Student

Government to help enact its goals on behalf of the

student body.

University CommitteeAppointments

The SA President nominates students to committees such as the

SA Committee Appointments

The SA President appoints Senate Committee Chairs and Committee

Aides subject to Senatestudents to committees such as the College Curriculum Committee.

Aides, subject to Senate confirmation.

SA SustainabilityCoordinator

The Coordinator helps to establish sustainable practices

Fill Fauver Coordinators

The Coordinators help to run Fill Fauver events at UR Athletic events, which

Experience EastmanCoordinator

The Coordinator facilitates stronger ties between the Riverestablish sustainable practices

at the University by working with students and administrators.

Athletic events, which promote a maximum capacity crowd for each varsity sport

once a season.

stronger ties between the River Campus and Eastman School of Music by encouraging student groups to plan events at Eastman.

8

”

President Eric Weissmann andVice President Brittany Crowley

“ex

ecut

ive

bran

ch Last March, when we decided to run for SA President and Vice President, we set out with an ambitious platform. Our pri-mary goals were to enhance student life, energize our campus community and connect students to Student Government. We believe strongly in making promises we can keep and holding Student Government accountable. As such, here are some of our accomplishments this year as organized by our platform:

Enhancing Student Life: We succeeded in improving Stu-dent Government sustainability and accountability in several ways, including the implementation of the new Mid-Year report. We formalized the role of the Sustainability Coordinator to ensure that environmental sustainability will continue to be ingrained in the SA. Further, we succeeded in establishing a trial period of weekend day-time shuttles to Riverview and we are hopeful that this will continue into the future.

Energizing our Campus Community: We continued to improve the already successful Fill Fauver/Pack the Palestra program by organizing it through student organizations who co-sponsor the events with the leadership of two appointed coordinators. We also successfully established the Experience Eastman program and dedicated funds for Eastman programs.

Connecting You to Student Government: Working alongside the Communications Com-mittee, we have helped to dramatically increase our student feedback and improved our image on campus. This year saw the complete redesign of “The Hive” website, alongside Rocky’s Report, the new monthly Student Government e-newsletter, which is sent to stu-dents, staff and faculty. We developed the new SA Press Release system, and successfully launched the Fireside Chat series, providing students an opportunity to provide feedback. In total, we have completely re-branded the SA by developing a new logo, which is ubiqui-tous in all our printed and online communication.

We are also proud of the publishing of the first ever SA Annual Report. We implore future SA Government leaders to continue to use this model and for future members to use it in order to gain familiarity with our organization. The best way to be successful in the future is to learn from the past and we hope this report will be beneficial.

In addition to these accomplishments, we are also dedicated to continuing work on oth-er student life projects including extending Fall Break and reducing campus printing costs.

We would like to thank the numerous others who have dedicated their year to our orga-nization. Megan DeWitt: you have developed the new role of SA Sustainability Coordinator and had major accomplishments in the first year of the position. Thanks to Jesse Cramer and Trey Socash for effectively managing and improving the Fill Fauver Program, and to Ben Pollack for establishing and managing Experience Eastman.

We wish future Student Governments the best of luck and offer ourselves as resources now and into the future. We look forward to visiting and seeing the progress of our fantastic organization for the rest of our lives.

With deepest gratitude and Meliora,

— Eric Weissmann ’10 and Brittany Crowley ’10— SA President and Vice President 2009-10

9


Student Government has existed for nearly as long as the University has and the role of SA President has existed for nearly as long. In recent history, the SA President has been assisted by a Chief of Staff, appointed by the President after the election. However, in 2005, that model changed to the one we have today, in which candidates run as a ticket for SA President and Vice President. In 2005, Matt Goldblatt was elected SA President with Kath-erine DelBalso, who served as the first ever SA Vice President. Significantly, that election also marked the ratification of the new SA Constitution.

The following year, Alex Pearlman served as President with Marquis Harrison as his Vice President. The Pearlman administration developed the popular Town Hall Meeting initiative, in which, each month, students were invited to listen to a presentation on a topic of importance around campus and to ask questions of University administrators. The Pearl-man administration worked hard to expand the size and strength of Student Government, and was very effective at accomplishing this goal.

In 2007, Alvin Lomibao was elected SA President alongside Vice President Janna Gewirtz. A major initiative of their administration was the dedication of permanent funding for the Collegiate Readership Program, which, to this day, has continued to bring free news-papers to undergraduate students. Their term also marked the beginning of the University’s Master Plan and Strategic Plan development process. Lomibao and Gewirtz worked hard to ensure student voices were heard during these developments. Significantly, 2007 marked the opening of Starbucks and Pura Vida on campus. This strongly impacted campus dining operations and fostered a close relationship between Dining Services and Student Govern-ment, led by the Executive Branch.

In 2008, Eric Sansky was elected SA President along with his Vice President, Tyler Socash. Their administration was able to successfully found the Fill Fauver/Pack the Pal-estra program, which aimed to increase spirit at athletic events. Their term also marked the establishment of the Rochester Intercollegiate Council (RIC) which brings together the Student Government leaders from Rochester colleges. Sansky and Socash enthusiastically supported this initiative.

Eric Weissmann and Brittany Crowley were elected as SA President and Vice President, respectively, in the spring of 2009.

One the SA President’s on-going duties is to present the Professor of the Year awards at the Undergraduate Research Exposition (URE) each year. The Students’ Association cre-ated the URE many years ago, after UR hosted a national URE. It was established in order to promote undergraduate research and to allow students to showcase their work. Since the event was originally created, the position of College Director of Undergraduate Research was established and that person now organizes the event. Around the same time that URE was created, the Students’ Association also began the Professor of the Year awards to recog-nize faculty members that have had a profound impact on students. Students can nominate their professors, and then students vote for one “Professor of the Year” from each academic division: Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering.

A Brief History and Overview

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Mission The Students’ Association seeks to improve, innovate, and establish sustainable and environmentally beneficial practices

on campus, especially focusing on those concerning the SA Offices in the Ruth Merrill Cen-ter. The SA Sustainability Coordinator heads SA Sustainability and works with the Universi-ty Council on Sustainability and the Student Sustainability Council to enact these practices.

The Sustainability Coordinator is respon-sible for organizing and documenting the Student Sustainability Council (SSC) meetings.

It is also the coordinator’s duty to work with the administration to innovate and improve sustainable practices on campus. The Sustainability Coordina-tor must create and enforce sustainability policies regarding SA offices and meetings in order to make the group more environmentally sustainable.

There are several key accomplishments that the Sustainability Coordinator helped to establish this year:

Reducing Paper: The Sustainability Coordinator worked with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Senate to establish policies that reduce unnecessary paper use. For example, all presentations, memos and proposals brought to Senate are printed double-sided, and Senators are asked to share copies so fewer need to be printed.

Green Your Event Checklist: The Coordinator worked with the Communications Committee to develop the “Green Your Event Checklist,” pictured to the right. The checklist aims to help student organizations plan events in a sustainable way using resources that they may not have been aware of. The checklist is available online at http://sa.rochester.edu/sustainability.

SA Office Sustainability: The Coordinator worked to ensure that the SA Government offices had a recycling bin this year. Further, all computers were set to print double-sided by default. Finally, SA Government installed light sensors in both of its offices to reduce electricity usage.

There is a large area where SA Sustainability can continue to improve in the future. Potential initiatives for consideration include:

Student Group Sustainability: The Coordinator should continue to work with student groups to help provide resources for groups to hold more sustainable events. This should expand upon resources like the “Green Events Checklist,” pictured above.

Greeks Go Green: SA Sustainability should work with the Panhellenic Association to cre-ate a sustainability position in each sorority.

Double-sided printing price reduction: Research should be done regarding lowering the cost of printing on campus, with a particular focus on double-sided printing.

University Council on Sustainability: SA Sustainability and the University Council should work to improve outdoor recycling and create a revolving loan program.

SA Sustainability

sustAinABility CoorDinAtor

Megan DeWittthis yeAr

Future initiAtives

11


Mission

Fill FAuver CoorDinAtors

Created in 2008, by then SA Vice President Tyler Socash, the Fill Fauver program encourages high attendance and school

spirit at campus athletic events. Through focused publicity and planning, the program promotes maximum attendance at one game for each varsity team, challenging the student body to fill the venue and express University of Rochester spirit.

In the second year of its exis-tence, two positions in the SA were created to help further the program.

It is the job of the Fill Fauver Coordinators to organize and plan each Fill Fauver event. Since the program is still in its baby years, there is much being done by the Coordinators to help the program develop and grow. The coordinators work closely with the SA Vice President and Spirit Coordinators as well as with coaches to pick which home games would work the best for Fill Fauver.

The Fill Fauver program started to incorporate other campus organizations into the experience. For each event, the Fill Fauver Coordinators ask one or more UR organizations and student groups to co-sponsor. It is up to the Coordinators to find a co-sponsoring group for each event, and then individually meet with each to talk about their respective event.

Even as a fairly new program, Fill Fauver had already estab-lished a few “trademarks” that are common to all its events. At

most events, you will see the dandelion yellow and Rochester blue pom-pons given out to all fans who want one. There are also many different contests that fans can enter

with the chance to win a major prize. The different con-tests include a soccer shoot-out, a basketball 3-point competition, and 1.5-mile fun run, and the classic scratch off cards. Common major prizes that have been given away include digital cam-eras, iPods and iPod docks, sport watches,

and mountain bikes. Smaller prizes are often thrown into the crowd, including

t-shirts, hats, drawstring bags, water bottles, and more. Fans can also expect to get a variety of free food and drinks when they come out to a Fill Fauver event. Finally, face and body paint have become popular at Fill Fauver events.

Currently in the works is a Fill Fauver logo. It was decided that the program should have a logo to help make Fill Fauver more recognizable around campus. It will also help to unify all Fill Fau-

ver advertisements. Large Fill Fauver banners are also in development.

It will be up to future Fill Fauver Coordinators to help take this new program and turn into a strong tradition of the University of Rochester.

Fill Fauver/Pack the Palestra

Future initiAtives

Jesse Cramer and Trey Socash

this yeAr

did you know?The Fill Fauver Coordinators have recently developed a “How To” booklet, designed to help co-sponsoring groups get a better idea on how to throw a successful event.

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Mission

experienCe eAstMAn

CoorDinAtor

Launched in Summer 2009, the Experience Eastman pro-gram is an effort to more closely integrate the University

of Rochester River Campus and the Eastman School of Music. The Students’ Association believes that both campuses offer incredible events, and that the student body should be aware of and be able to take advantage of all that each campus has to offer. Thus, the Expe-rience Eastman program is especially focused on spreading awareness on the River Campus about events taking place at the Eastman School of Music. The theory behind this program relies on the idea that the two campuses may be diverse and geographically separated, but nevertheless, they belong to a united University of Rochester.

Student organizations adapt a current event or design a new program concept which meets the goals of the Experience Eastman Program. The Coordinator is responsible for ensuring a smooth linkage between the sponsoring organi-

zation and the Eastman campus. Sponsoring organizations are responsible for funding their portion (sponsorship) of the event, but may seek addition-al funding through a request to the Students’ Association Appropriations Committee (SAAC).

Within the first few months of this program, the Coordinator has developed the first SAAC e-Form where student organizations

can apply for a portion of a $2,000 supplemental fund. The form is currently online and can be accessed on “The Hive” at http://sa.rochester.edu/eastman/. The entire process, includ-ing signatures and advisor approval, is completed online.

In addition, with the support of the Office of Admissions, the Experi-ence Eastman program has developed a brochure, which highlights the driv-ing route between both campuses and includes a list of other means of trans-portation. The brochures can be found at the Common Connection or online at the Experience Eastman Website.

In collaboration with the Eastman Students’ Association, the coordinator has developed a portion of the Expe-rience Eastman page where student groups can gain insight into the best approaches to advertise events on the Eastman campus and the process sur-rounding room reservations.

Experience Eastman

Benjamin Pollack

this yeAr

The Experience Eastman Logo was created as a way to symbolize Student Government’s attempt to bridge the disconnect between the Eastman School of Music and the River Campus.

13


This year’s Experience Eastman program was

successful in that a fund was developed for assisting student organizations with cover-ing the costs of running an event at East-man. However, there is much more work to be done, and building strong relationships between the two campuses have been a challenge for many years. Future Student Government leaders should continue de-veloping new and creative ways of connect-ing Eastman and the River Campus. The SA President and Vice President believe the current Experience Eastman funding model is good, but must be tweaked and better publicized.

Much work was done this year to improve Student Govern-ment’s reputation among adminis-

trators and students. Many relationships were re-invigorated this year with various campus departments and offices that now have a stronger relationship with the Stu-dent Government leadership. Moving for-ward, it is essential for these relationships to stay strong, as we firmly believe that the success of Student Government depends on honest relationships with University deci-sion-makers, in which communication must be a two-way street. Some administrators remain nervous about working with Stu-dent Government because of its inconsis-tent track record, and thus Student Govern-ment must keep a priority on building trust.

Continue to BuilD relAtionships with

eAstMAn

This year, the President and Vice President have attempted to raise the

profile of Student Government by increas-ing awareness on campus. Its leaders did this by better advertising SA Government’s accomplishments, re-branding the Stu-dents’ Association with a distinctive logo and graphic image, and sending out regular communications pieces to students, staff, and faculty. It is essential for the future of Student Government to continue to raise its profile by maintaining the high level of self-promotion that occurred this year. The University community should continue to hear about what SA Government is working on so that its importance to the community is better recognized.

Over the past sev-eral years, the scope of Student Government has greatly expanded. SA Government ac-complishes more

goals, develops more initiatives and works in new areas. These are all positive develop-ments for our organization, but it is neces-sary to continue recruiting many students to help accomplish that work. In addition, the leaders at the top of the organization must be comfortable delegating down to lower levels, and strong leadership must exist in all areas throughout Student Gov-ernment. While this is not an easy goal to accomplish, it is a necessary one.

Potential Future InitiativesAs a way of increasing continuity between administrations, the Students’ Association Ex-

ecutive Branch offers several recommendations to its future leaders:

iMprove sA governMent’s

reputAtion AMong

ADMinistrAtors

DeCentrAlize sA

governMent leADership

Continue to rAise the

proFile oF sA governMent

14

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One chal-lenge this year was a number of important policy changes

and clarifications made by the Dean of Students Office over the summer of 2009, prior to students returning to campus. In many instances, students offered limited or no input. As such, the Executive Branch en-courages more regular and direct commu-nication between the SA Leadership and the Dean of Students throughout the summer. This will help ensure a smooth transition at the end of the summer for the entire stu-dent body. In addition, it is encouraged that the Dean of Students send a “Back to School Update” at the beginning of each academic year, highlighting anything new from the summer.

This year, stu-dent participation in SA Government has been at one of

its highest points. Students often dropped by the offices to provide suggestions, sub-mitted hundreds of online feedback mes-sages, and sent even more e-mails to the SA President. Fireside Chats, though not strongly attended, did provide another out-let for feedback and the students who at-tended received valuable, candid responses. Students should know what Student Gov-ernment is, how it is structured, how to give them advice, and they should know that their advice is acted upon. Every student should be treated equally, and every piece of feedback should receive a well-thought-out reply and should be investigated. SA Government’s reputation with the student body must be improved by focusing on one student at a time.

work Closely with the DeAn oF stuDents During

suMMer

inCreAse stuDent

pArtiCipAtion

The SA President and Vice President implore future Student Governments to con-tinue publishing this re-

port, as it will help with the longevity of the organization. Much of the foundation is now set with the effort put into printing this first edition. An InDesign template is already in place and many problems that arise with creating a document like this have already been solved. Continuing with this initiative will help to continue a dialogue between the SA Government and all parts of the UR community. Publishing this report annually will help with SA Government’s overall ef-fort to track its history more effectively and to be more well-known to the entire Univer-sity community.

Potential Future Initiatives

Continue puBlishing

AnnuAl report

Students are seen here at the first Fire-side Chat of the year, one of the ways that the SA Government has sought feedback from the student body. In the future, the Executive Branch hopes that there will be a stronger connection between students and its representative body, facilitated by future SA Presidents and Vice Presidents.

15


”

“Kierstin Hughes and Dan Cohn

Senate

The Senate makes legislative and administrative decisions that en-hance student life, from the creation, budgeting and oversight of student

groups, to housing and dining hall policies and safety. Working closely with the Students’ Association President, Vice President, and Executive Aides, Senators work daily to serve as the link between the student body and the University administration.

Speaker: Kierstin Hughes ’10 Deputy Speaker: Dan Cohn ’12

Senators: Jon Junig ’10, Ryan Mills ’10, Lauren Sussman ’10, Ashley Haluck-Kangas ’11, April Hu ’11, Andrea Sobolewski* ’11, Dennis Nave* ’11, Carlos Tejeda* ’11, Harry Brook-stein ’12, Sneha Rath ’12, Scott Strenger ’12, Asad Arastu ’13, Rohini Bhatia* ’13, Shubho Bhattacharyya ’13, Calvin Yoon ’13, Chizoba Umesi* ’13, Kristian Brooks# ’12, JJ Gonzalez# ’11, Sylvia Guerra# ’10, Bradley Halpern# ’12, Casey Slone# ’12

* indicates part-year membership; # indicates election as an at-large candidate by the entire student body

Every year, Senate’s work boils down to the same idea: some service offered to students can always be improved. For as long as any undergraduate can remember, the Senate has worked with Dining, Operations, Parking and Transportation, Residen-tial Life, Wilson Commons Student Activities, the Dean of Stu-dents, and the list goes on. While our duty to improve student life is constant, our actual advocacy differs slightly each year.

This year was unique in several ways: we dealt with the major issue of alcohol policy changes immediately on our return to campus, re-branded ourselves and launched more ef-ficient and informative modes of communication, held ourselves accountable to an incred-ibly high degree, developed a process to hold all undergraduate student organizations ac-countable to a higher degree, made efforts to increase student sustainability, and developed our advocacy for student services to affect more comprehensive change than ever before.

This Senate’s term started in an unorthodox way, with the Speaker and all of the Sena-tors for the Class of 2010 abroad in Europe and South Africa. Three new Senators began their terms in either November or January. And as an organization, we weathered an ACJC hearing for an appeal of one of our most serious decisions.

Through all of the more difficult circumstances and decisions, the return of familiar faces and the appearance of fresh ones, and through to the positive changes and triumphs, we feel that the Senate learned to trust its members as a whole and stood together to form the best outcomes for the student body. For both of us, this year in the Students’ Association has certainly been most rewarding.

Cordially, and with the most sincere sense of Meliora,

— Kierstin Hughes ’10 and Dan Cohn ’12— Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Senate 2009-10

Mission

MeMBers

16

sena

te

16

Led by the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, the Students’ Association Senate is comprised of 18 student Senators. Each class is represented by three Class Senators (except for the freshman class, which is represented by four). Additionally, five Senators are elected by the student body at-large.

The organization of Senate was changed drastically when the current SA constitution was ratified in April of 2005. The composition of Senators changed from representation by area of residence to representation by class year. There were three Senators from each class year and six Senators who represented the student body at large. In Spring of 2007, the composition of Senate was adjusted so that representation became three Senators from each of the upperclass years, four from the freshman class, and five at-large. This adjustment also moved all upperclass elections to the Spring and made fresh-men ineligible for the at-large Senator positions. In late 2008, the Elections rules were modified to make the Elections process more standardized.

Over the last five years, Senate has had a close re-lationship with the SA Presidents and Vice Presidents, and has always supported several of the Executive’s initiatives, including spirit programs and both the Town Hall series and the newer Fireside Chats. Through collaboration between the Executive branch and the standing Committees, the Senate has endorsed several proposals and memoranda.

In 2007-2008, Senate supported Parking and Trans-portation’s decision to reinstate booting as a solution to unlimited ticketing on illegally-parked cars. In addition , it spoke out against the connection of meal plans to residence halls. In 2008-2009, Senate supported a pro-posal to add a fourth day to Fall Break. In 2009-2010, Senate has continued the support of a longer Fall Break and as well as supporting a proposal to lower printing cost and financially incentivize double-sided printing.

Senate has also completed several advocacy initia-tives, including Student Government’s biennial Walks for Light in Fall 2007 and 2009, and added a Walk for Facilities in Fall 2008 and a Walk for Sustainability in Spring 2009.

In addition to advocacy projects, Senate assists the University in celebrating the federal Constitution Day holiday. All educational institutions which receive funding from the federal government are required to honor the Constitution of the United States each September 17th. Senate has co-sponsored this event with the Of-fice of the President, the Dean of the College, and the Undergraduate Political Science & In-ternational Relations Council. For the past two years, this celebration has included a party complete with free apple pie, ice cream, and copies of the US Constitution.


Page | 1 Students’ Association Senate Minutes Meeting of February 15, 2010

Students’ Association Senate Minutes Meeting of February 15, 2010

Speaker: Kierstin Hughes Deputy Speaker: Dan Cohn

SENATORS PRESENT: Arastu, Bhatia, Bhattacharyya, Brooks, Brookstein, Gonzalez,

Guerra, Halpern, Haluck-Kangas, Hu, Junig, Mills, Rath, Slone, Sobolewski, Strenger, Sussman, Yoon

CALL TO ORDER: 9:04pm SPEAKER’S BREIFING

Speaker Hughes welcomes the Senate and moves into Open Forum.

OPEN FORUM/CONSTITUENCY REPORT Soph. Comm. Senator Strenger states that Tiernan Hall will be comprised entirely of freshmen

next year. He notes that freshmen and sophomores are still guaranteed housing, but more rising sophomores will not know there they are living until the middle of summer.

Responding to a question from Rath, Hughes comments that there are some

situations in which undergraduates can live with graduate students. SCAPE Senator Mills comments first SCAPE meeting will be this Wednesday. Transport. Senator Mills will meet with Glen Sicard this week to discuss ways to make the

Gold Line shuttles more accommodating and to improve timing. He states that incorrect signs on shuttles are a product of poor weather, not driver errors.

CCC Deputy Speaker Cohn mentions that the CCC is finalizing its draft of the official

Rochester curriculum learning objectives and that the Committee continues to discuss issues regarding the undergraduate population outgrowing faculty resources.

Pan-Hellenic Senator Gonzalez states that the expansion committee is reviewing packets to

assess which sorority will join the university community. Shortly, recommendations will be made, and a new sorority will be allowed to join the university. Hu comments that the choices have been narrowed down to three and that the new sorority will be established next fall.

ACJC Associate Chief Justice Calder from the gallery states that he and Oakford will be

holding office hours every Tuesday to discuss students’ rights and the campus judicial system.

CDR Speaker Hughes comments there is a CDR meeting February 24, 2010, and she

asks Senators to submit to her any feedback. She states that the Campus Climate Survey will be sent out the first two weeks back after spring break and

did you know?Senate meetings are free and open to the public Mondays at 9:00 p.m. Meetings take place in the Gowen Room in Wil-son Commons. If you cannot make the meetings, the Deputy Speaker posts minutes online for each Senate meeting. Ar-chives are available online at http://sa.rochester.edu/.

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steering CoMMittee

eleCtions CoMMittee

The Steering Committee acts as the Executive Board of Student Government. Steering meets once a week to set the agenda for Senate and to discuss Student Government and

campus issues. Because of Steering’s agenda-setting responsibility, this meeting is often where proposals and memoranda endorsements, bylaw changes, and controversial motions are vetted.

Steering is chaired by the Speaker of the Senate and is comprised of the Deputy Speaker, President, Vice President, ACJC Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice, the Chairs of the Standing Committees, and three Senators. Meetings are closed, though any member of the Students’ Association may present an issue or propose a motion to the Steering Committee.

2009-10 Members: Kierstin Hughes ’10, Daniel Cohn ’12, Eric Weissmann ’10, Brittany Crowley ’10, John Oakford ’T5, Bradley Calder ’10, Andrew Flack ’KEY, Harry Brookstein ’12, Kristian Brooks ’12, Alissa Brill ’12, Bradley Halpern ’12, Rohini Bhatia* ’13, Sylvia Guerra ’10, Casey Slone* ’12, Chizoba Umesi* ’13, Asad Arastu* ’13

* indicates part year membership

Each Spring and Fall, the Students’ Association Elections are run largely by a single Elections Chair. In the Spring, the Elections Chair runs the Elections for President/Vice President, Senators

for the sophomore, junior, and senior classes, and Senators At-Large. In the Fall, Elections are run for only the freshman class Senators. Both semesters, the Chair assists in the Class Council elections for all classes.

In addition to managing the technical aspects of the voting process, the Chair assists with the campaigning process, and handles violations complaints. The Chair holds several interest meetings. In the Fall, a large Get Involved Night helps to acquaint the incoming freshmen with all aspects of elected representation on campus and includes a dinner and interest meeting. Beginning in 2007, the SA Convention was held in Hirst Lounge in the Spring. This is an opportunity where all Senate and President/Vice President candidates may meet with the student body and campaign. Immediately following the Convention is a Presidential Debate, where the candidates for SA President and Vice President promote their merits to the student body.

In late 2008, the Elections rules and procedures were updated by former Policy & Review Chair Kierstin Hughes and Elections Chair Lauren Sussman and were approved by the Senate. These new procedures were designed to make the process more efficient and to standardize violations rules in order to increase fairness to the candidates.

The Elections Chairs for 2009-2010 are Sumya Hasan ’12 (Fall) and Lauren Sussman ’10 (Spring).

Senate Sub-Committees

19

students’ association government annual report 2009-10”

“Harry Brookstein and Scott Strenger

Communications Committee

The goal of the Students’ Association Communications Committee is to act as the “voice” of Student Government. It strives to promote the ac-

tivities and publicize the accomplishments of the Students’ Association Government, while encouraging the student body to submit their feedback and concerns.

Chair: Harry Brookstein ’12 Deputy Chair: Scott Strenger ’12

Senators: Asad Arastu ’13, Sylvia Guerra ’10, April Hu ’11, Jon Junig ’10, Casey Slone ’12

Aides: Jillian Alcee ’11, Danielle Chiz ’13, Shreyas Kataria ’13, Stacy Kravitz ’12, Bridget Kruszka ’13, Varun Sehgal ’10

Over the course of this year, we have been incredibly ex-cited to see the Communications Committee mature. This year, the Committee has undertaken an unprecedented number of projects, both large and small, and we believe it has been largely successful. Our over-arching goal was to spread aware-ness of the Students’ Association, emphasizing its Projects & Services to the student body more so than has been done in prior years. We feel that we have successfully branded the Stu-dents’ Association, making Student Government a more visible part of undergraduate life.

During the summer, the Committee helped in the process of creating an entirely new graphic identity and website for the Students’ Association. Once back on campus, the Com-mittee launched two new advertising campaigns: the “Did You Know?” flier campaign and Rocky’s Report, the SA monthly e-newsletter. These campaigns were designed to inform the student body of Students’ Association activities, as well as increase SA visibility on campus.

From the start of the year, we’ve tried to make the Committee more available as a re-source for students. We started with the “SA House Call” program to assist incoming fresh-men interested in Student Government by pairing them with SA veterans. We also coordi-nated the SA President’s new Fireside Chat series, which provided a forum for students to “ask questions, hear answers, and see results.” We extended our reach by using Facebook and Twitter via the alias of “URoc” to inform students of events on campus.

We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of the Communications Commit-tee. This would not be possible without the help of our Aides and the administrators who worked with us during the year, many thanks to them. In its current state, we believe that the Committee can only continue to grow and remain a vital part of SA Government.

Sincerely,

— Harry Brookstein ’12 and Scott Strenger ’12— Chair and Deputy Chair of the Communications Committee 2009-10

Mission

MeMBers

20

com

mun

icat

ions

com

mitt

ee

20

The Communications Committee has undergone a number of changes in its organiza-tion over the past several years. This year marked the first year of consistent leadership in both semesters since the 2006-2007 undergraduate year. In 2006, the Committee ran the successful Town Hall Meeting series, which brought administrators to meet with students on important issues. However, attendance declined throughout 2008, and the program was canceled in 2009.

In Spring 2008, the Communications Committee created the Grievances Sub-Commit-tee. The group collected feedback from students at several locations around campus and followed up on specific issues. While this initiative was successful, most of the Committee’s work folded into the Projects &Services Committee during the following year.

The 2009-2010 academic year has seen a transformation of the Communications Com-mittee. The committee replaced Town Hall Meetings with Fireside Chats, an open forum with the Students’ Association President, Vice President, and other Student Government leaders where the entire student body is welcome to voice concerns, ask questions, and give suggestions.

Working closely with the three branches of SA Government, the Communications Com-mittee successfully coordinated the development of Rocky’s Report, a monthly e-newsletter sent out by the SA President. This report includes short descriptions of Student Govern-ment’s activity over the course of the past month.

One of the most challenging, yet successful, projects that the Communications Commit-tee undertook was the complete overhaul of the SA Government website, “The Hive,” avail-able at http://sa.rochester.edu. “The Hive” is now much more aesthetically pleasing, while also providing better, more updated information and is much more easily managed.

The Committee also produced a “Did You Know?” public relations campaign. This in-cluded a series of posters promoting some of the major accomplishments of Student Gov-ernment.

In addition, the Communications Committee has begun working on a series of other projects, including a “How To” series of brochures. These pamphlets include one dedicated to publicizing on campus and another dedicated to successful practices of student organiza-tions. Another project is a “Who’s Who” series: one for the University administration to help direct students to the correct administrator when it is needed and one for Student Govern-ment leadership, allowing students to learn where to direct their questions and concerns.

The Communications Committee has worked to improve its stability and functionality. In past years, one of the greatest difficulties that the Committee has faced is integrating its members into the Committee’s activities. This year, the Committee has broken down each of its responsibilities into various positions. The Chair and Deputy Chair have given more dis-cretion to carrying out these responsibilities to the Committee’s Aides. In addition to side projects that each Committee member may take on, there are continuous jobs that have been established — Rocky’s Report Coordinators, Fireside Chat Directors, Press Release Editor, “Hive” Managers, SA Spotlight Coordinators, Student Organization Outreach Coordi-nator, and URoc Manager. Since changing the nature of the Committee from one of sporadic activity without a sense of continuation to one of constant or periodic activity, this year’s Communications Committee has seriously increased the body’s efficiency and success.


21


“the hive”

sA grAphiC iDentity

Over the summer, Wilson Commons Student Activities, the SA Executive Branch and the Communications Committee

worked together to completely redesign the SA website. The result was “The Hive,” which now constitutes the SA website, the new Campus Club Connection, and the new Student Organization Calendar. The SA website was made more aestheti-cally pleasing, but more importantly, was made with students’ ease in mind. The information is now more clearly presented in an easier-to-access way and is more encompassing of students’ needs.

Part of “The Hive” project was a redesign of the SA graphic identity, namely the SA logo. The logo is now a dandelion over a Rochester blue background with the letters “sa” in the center and “University of Rochester Students’ Association” around the dandelion. The Committee decided that the dandelion, as the school’s flower, was the most appropriate symbol to use in its logo. Since the Students’ Association encompasses all issues of students’ lives, not just academics, the Committee believed it important that the logo avoided the University’s most noticeable landmark, Rush Rhees Library. Thus, the dandelion symbolizes the entire school.

Rocky’s Report is the Students’ Association Government’s monthly e-newsletter that is prepared by the Communications Committee and sent out by the SA President. It is a resource for

students to refer to in order to see what major activities, projects, and services are being planned by the SA Govern-ment. It was a major step in the Committee’s goal to improve Student Government’s commu-nication with the student body.

Achievements This Year

roCky’s report

The Communications Committee created the new-look SA website, “The Hive,” which features the new SA logo. It is located at http://sa.rochester.edu.

Administered by the SA Office of the Executive, Rocky’s Report is a monthly e-newsletter sent to all undergraduates. This initiative is coordinated by the Communications Committee. Archived issues are available online at http://sa.rochester.edu/president/.

22

com

mun

icat

ions

com

mitt

eeDiD you

know? poster CAMpAign

The “Did You Know?” campaign was an effort of the Communications Committee to present the major achieve-ments of the SA Government in poster form to let students know what it is doing for them. The entire series of “Did You Know?” posters is available online at http://sa.rochester.edu/communications/.

The SA House Call program was a project the Communications Committee started during Orientation week. At the Move-In Day Tech Expo, the Committee had a sign up sheet for freshmen that were interested in learning more about the Students’ Association Government. For those that were interested, the Committee paired them up with an SA “veteran”, so that the freshmen could gain more information about the various aspects of SA Government.

The SA Fireside Chats are the Students’ Association’s way of holding an open forum meeting for any University of Rochester

student to attend and voice their concerns about the school, offer suggestions for Student Government, and ask questions about the SA and UR. The Committee takes minutes at each meeting, posts them on the SA website, and uses that feedback to focus future efforts.

SA Spotlight! is a developing Communications Committee program. The Committee chooses an SA-recognized student orga-

nization and blogs about their current practices and future plans. While this program is still evolving, it is a resource for student groups to get more recognition and publicity.

The Communications Committee has also began to work on press releas-es about major projects and updates

from the Students’ Association. Press releases are sent out to a subscription list. Anyone may sign up to join the subscription list via “The Hive.”

Additionally, the Communications Committee developed URoc, a Facebook fan page and Twitter account. These were es-tablished to help University of Rochester undergraduates become

well informed about campus events, issues, and activities in real time. Pictured to the left is the Committee’s logo for its URoc program.

Achievements This Past Year

FiresiDe ChAts

sA spotlight!

online CoMMuniCAtion

sA house CAlls

23


The Com-munications

Committee is planning to purchase a new Students’ Association Banner to help adver-tise Student Government events in particu-lar. This banner will drape over the fourth floor of Wilson Commons, a visible location for anyone moving around UR’s under-graduate student union. Pictured above is a mock-up of how the banner will look.

The Commit-tee is planning on placing a number

of suggestion boxes throughout the campus in order to solicit feedback for Student Gov-ernment. This is supplemental to the online feedback form that students have access to through the SA website.

The Commit-tee is planning to create a brochure,

based on the Mid-Year Report grading, that publicizes positive traits of student organi-zations on campus. Communications hopes that this will promote these trends and help weak or less successful organizations bet-ter themselves by adopting these positive traits.

BAnner

suggestion Boxes

points oF priDe

The Committee is working on a list that enumerates the ac-

complishments of the SA over the past four years. This list, called Points of Pride, is a project for both internal and external use.

Internally, it will allow Student Govern-ment to have a neatly compiled list of the projects worked on over the last few years, and reinvigorate ideas for future projects based off of past experiences.

Externally, Points of Pride will be a tool to advertise on campus, demonstrating the range of activities that Student Government has undertaken throughout the last few years.

Potential Future InitiativesAs a way of increasing continuity between administrations, the Communications Commit-

tee offers several recommendations to its future leaders:

proMotion oF group suCCess

In addition to promoting group success on the Com-mittee’s SA Spotlight! feature on “The Hive,” the Communications Committee plans to highlight positive attributes of student groups in a printed brochure.

25


”

“

Policy & Review Committee

The Policy & Review Committee serves as the internal regulatory body for the Students’ Association Government. The Committee ad-

dresses all internal and external policy issues in the student body, assisting student groups as well as handling SA policy creation and maintenance. Policy & Review assists new stu-dent groups on campus through every step of the process towards Students’ Association recognition. The Committee also strives to be a helpful resource to existing student groups by working in conjunction with Wilson Commons Student Activities.

Chair: Kristian Brooks ’12 Assistant to the Chair: Dan Cohn ’12

SAAC Representative: Leah Dougherty ’09 (Fall ’09), Joseph Eckert ’12 (Spring ’10)

Senators: Lauren Sussman ’10, JJ Gonzalez ’11, Andrea Sobolewski ’11

Aides: Primi Ranola ’12, Marina Isaacson ’12, Kaitlin Carragher ’12, Jason Yoo ’12, Rodney Chau ’12

This year has been among the busiest in memory for Policy & Review, and significantly, we have made progress in a number of important areas.

With a growing focus on the diminishing resources available to student organizations, the Committee made a conscious effort to follow the criteria for approving new groups much more closely. As a result, more potential organizations were denied for preliminary status than in years past. Along with the increased number of denials came an increased interest in appeal-ing Policy & Review’s decisions to Senate. Because each decision is made with the utmost of prudence, it is my hope that the Senate will think carefully about over-riding the resolutions made by its standing Committees, including Policy & Review.

One of the Committee’s greatest successes, the Mid-Year Report, was also its greatest challenge. We faced initial frustration in writing one report to accommodate our diverse ar-ray of student organizations. While only four groups failed to submit a report, there were is-sues that arose throughout the process. Yet we are extremely pleased by the overall results, and the Committee has already begun work to improve the Report for next year.

I would like to thank the devoted members of the Policy & Review Committee, whose unwavering dedication and thoughtful decisions have truly benefitted the campus com-munity. In addition, I would like to thank Kierstin Hughes for offering guidance and advice from a former Policy & Review Chair’s perspective. I would also like to thank Dan Cohn for his generous assistance. Finally, I would like to thank our advisors in Wilson Commons Student Activities for providing sage counsel and for equipping us with the tools to make judgments that benefit the campus community and its student organizations.

Meliora,

— Kristian Brooks ’12— Chair of the Policy & Review Committee 2009-10

Mission

MeMBers

Kristian Brooks

26

polic

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omm

ittee

In past years, the most formal purpose of the Policy & Review Committee was to write, maintain, interpret, update, and uphold the Students’ Association’s governing documents: the Constitution, Bylaws, and Policy and Procedure Manuals. Although Policy & Review continued to be charged with this task and with completing the remaining Policy and Pro-cedure Manuals for each branch, the Committee began to strengthen its relationship with student organizations in recent years. Under the leadership of Chairs Charlene Whitman ’08, Gregory Meditz ’08, and Kierstin Hughes ’10, the Committee took on a greater role in student organization management. Throughout their tenures, from 2006-2008, the process for approving or denying new student organizations was formalized and clearly developed. The Committee also developed the process for organizations wishing to change their consti-tutions or internal structures. These processes have continued to evolve to match the needs of students, Wilson Commons Student Activities, and the Students’ Association.

In 2008, the Committee, led by Chair Dennis Nave, granted Students’ Association recog-nition to 14 student organizations, and granted preliminary Students’ Association recogni-tion to 9 more student organizations. Since a solid foundational process for the creation of student organizations was in place, Nave was able to further expand the role which Policy and Review plays in managing organizations. He and his Committee implemented a Group Review Process for all funded and non-funded SA-recognized organizations. In previous years, only funded groups were required to submit an Annual Report to the Students’ Association Appropriations Committee (SAAC) along with the group’s budget. Realizing the need to evaluate all student organi-zations, representatives of the Policy & Review Committee met with executive board members from funded and non-funded groups with advisors in Wilson Commons Student Activities and the Rochester Center for Community Lead-ership.

Because of the informal, interview nature of the Group Review Process, the data collected from each student orga-nization was difficult to compile and evaluate. As a result, the Policy & Review Committee implemented the Mid-Year Report Process in 2009. The Mid-Year Report was cre-ated in an effort to gather organized data from funded and non-funded student organizations, and to evaluate it using an objective rubric. Another transformation the Policy & Review Committee underwent in 2009 was a greater focus on the exhaustion of University resources such as space, advi-sors, and money available to student organizations. When evaluating potential new student groups, the Committee, under the leadership of Chair Kristian Brooks, began to follow the already-set guidelines for approving student organizations more stringently.


did you know?Over two-dozen groups have appeared before Policy & Review this year. Of these groups, five have been granted SA Recognition: UR Cooking Club, Louvre Performance Ensemble, Refugee Student Alliance, Solar Splash, Women’s Club Squash. In addition, three clubs, Engineers without Borders, Mariachi Meliora, and Young Americans for Liberty, have gained SA Pre-liminary Status.

27


upDAteD new orgAnizAtion registrAtion

e-MAil notiFiCAtion

Policy & Review revamped the process through which groups apply and gain preliminary status by adding Part 1 of the New Organization Registration Forms. This form is based off of the Seven Principles of Student Organizations: clear and

focused mission, membership, inclusion, Programming, Publications, Activities and Collabo-ration (PPAC), uniqueness, future leadership development, and evaluation.

Organizations seeking preliminary status must submit Part 1 to the Committee Chair, who then distributes it to the rest of the Committee for review as the first step of the pro-cess. By adding this step, groups have an opportunity to organize the information they wish to present to the Policy & Review Committee. It is also beneficial for the Committee, as this allows Committee members to familiarize themselves with the organization’s mission and plans before they appear before the Committee. This saves introductory time in meetings, allowing more time for thoughtful questioning and allows the submitted Part 1 of the New Organization Registration Forms to serve as a reference point.

The Policy & Review Committee Chair now notifies groups seeking preliminary status or Students’ Association recognition via e-mail up to two business days after the meeting at which the

group appeared. This is in contrast to the method used in previous years when the Chair asked the group to step out of the room while the Committee discussed and voted, then call-ing the group back into the room to deliver the decision. By allowing groups to leave after their presentation, the Committee does not waste groups’ time while deliberating. This modification also allows the Committee to thoroughly and thoughtfully discuss each group without the pressure of the group representatives waiting outside.

The Policy & Review Committee amended the Constitution Template to include an article devoted to the organization of standing Committees within organizations. This amendment provides structure to the Committees under parent organizations, and consistency among all organizations with Committees.

Other amendments included the required definition of active membership, and modi-fied wording in the article pertaining to finances. The latter amendment effectively removed Policy & Review’s right to determine an organization’s funding status. That power was intended to remain solely with the Students’ Association Appropriations Committee. This amendment to the Constitution Template demonstrates a return to the intended distribu-tion of powers within the Students’ Association Senate.

The Policy & Review Committee amended its Policy and Pro-cedure Manual to include the Seven Principles of Student Organi-zations, which are used as criteria for granting preliminary status

and Students’ Association recognition. The Policy and Procedure Manual was also amended to reflect the new process of submitting Part 1 of the New Organization Registration Forms and the chair’s e-mail notification to groups seeking preliminary status or Students’ Asso-ciation recognition. These amendments demonstrate an effort to constantly reevaluate the Committee’s policies and procedures, and to ensure consistency in the Committee’s deci-sion-making process, and the practices and procedures by which it abides.


ChAnges to Constitution

teMplAte

ChAnges to poliCy MAnuAl

28

polic

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revi

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CoMMunity serviCe

network ForM

network Constitution

teMplAte

The Policy & Review Committee created a new form for organizations seeking preliminary status and recognition under the Community Service Network. This form mirrors the process used by the Club Sports Council. It has streamlined the

process for Community Service organizations, and increased communication between the Policy & Review Committee, the Community Service Network and their advisor, and Wilson Commons Student Activities.

The Policy & Review Committee created a Network Consti-tution Template, which will serve as a governing document to existing and future networks. The Community Service Network adopted this template in the fall of 2009, which aided them in

achieving enhanced organization and understanding within the Network.

The Policy & Review Committee instituted a new annual re-port process this year: the Mid-Year Report. The Mid-Year Report is based on the Seven Principles of Student Organizations. For

budgeted groups, the Mid-Year Report replaced the Annual Report used for budgeting. Now all organizations with advisors in Wilson Commons Student Activities and the Rochester Center for Community Leadership are required to complete a report process.

The Mid-Year Report serves as a way for Policy & Review to hold student organiza-tions accountable. It is also a way for student organizations to evaluate themselves each year, which is essential for growth and continued success in student organizations. Each student organization receives a score of “Meets Expectations” or “Does Not Meet Expecta-tions” along with helpful feedback from the Policy & Review Committee. Each organization is expected to save their report, feedback, and PPAC forms for the use of future leadership development.


MiD-yeAr report

Pictured above is an excerpt regarding group uniqueness from the Mid-Year Report. All student groups were required to fill out the Report this academic year, and return it to the Policy & Review Committee. In this section, groups must demonstrate to the Committee that they serve a purpose on campus that is not matched by any other group. If it is determined that multiple groups have similar goals, then the Policy & Review Committee will work with the similar organizations to reach an agreeable solution.

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This year, the Commit-tee created a new form that

helped to establish new network organiza-tions. It believes that the creation of more networks in the future will be beneficial to the student body, and should be encour-aged. Specifically, an engineering network and a human rights network should be reviewed for approval.

One of the ma-jor problems that groups tend to

face is co-sponsorship. Many times, groups will need a few extra dollars or more man-power to help get an event together, but those groups are unsure of who may be able to assist them. At times, this results in mass e-mails being sent to the entire list of stu-dent groups, but this is inefficient. With the advent of the new Campus Club Connection, the Committee believes that a logical exten-sion is to include an online co-sponsorship discussion forum on “The Hive.” This would allow groups to connect more effectively and painlessly with other organizations in an effort to organize strong events.

Internally, one area that the Policy Commit-tee can help Student Government is with

the creation of more Policy and Procedure Manuals. Specifically, the Committee should assist the Communications Committee and the Projects & Services Committee in writing their manuals. These documents will help these bodies to function more ef-fectively in the future. Once written, these documents will help them to run efficiently on a year-to-year basis.

inCreAsing network

orgAnizAtions

Co-sponsorship AssistAnCe

Now that the Mid-Year Reports have been released, it has become appar-

ent that there are several changes that can be made to the system. While the spirit of the Reports should remain consistent in the future, there are several technical changes that can be made that will better accommo-date the wide variety of student organiza-tions that exist on campus. The Committee believes that the final rubric for assessing groups, in its current state, is minimalistic and does not accurately portray the high ex-pectations the Policy & Review Committee holds for student organizations. This should be addressed before the next wave of Mid-Year Reports is released.

The Commu-nications Commit-tee has done an excellent job this

year, having collaborated effectively with all branches of Student Government. This should, undoubtedly, continue. Specifically, Policy & Review should work with Commu-nications to develop specific resources for students that can help groups to function more effectively.

Since there are many things for new members to learn about serving

on the Policy & Review Committee, it can be difficult for them to get involved right away. The Committee would benefit from an internal leadership development process in which new members of the committee pair up, and meet regularly with seasoned members. This process would allow new members to feel comfortable and capable of contributing to the work of the Committee.

Potential Future InitiativesAs a way of increasing continuity between administrations, the Policy & Review Committee

offers several recommendations to its future leaders:

CollABorAting with

CoMMuniCAtions

poliCy AnD proCeDure MAnuAls

strengthening MiD-yeAr reports

Future leADership

DevelopMent

31

students’ association government annual report 2009-10”

“Alissa Brill and Bradley Halpern

Projects & Services Committee

The Committee is charged with overseeing the operations of various departments that provide student services, and work to continually im-

prove their quality, while enhancing all aspects of student life and the campus environment, through assessment and improvement of undergraduate-related programs and policies. It also maintains and funds initiatives such as the DVD Library and Winter Bike Storage.

Co-Chairs: Alissa Brill ’12 and Bradley Halpern ’12

Senators: Rohini Bhatia* ’13, Shubho Bhattacharyya ’13, Ashley Haluck-Kangas ’11, Ryan Mills ’10, Dennis Nave* ’11, Sneha Rath ’12, Calvin Yoon ’13, Chizoba Umesi* ’13

Aides: Drew Alessi ’10, Kirstin Barry ’10, Kaitlin Carragher ’12, Aini Chen ’11, Joe Ciminelli ’13, Kevin Ewer ’11, Ana Garcia ’13, Alexis Ginsberg* ’11, Kindred Harris ’12, James Jeng* ’13, Tim Kuchman ’13, Dale Levine* ’11, Julia Liston ’12, Justin Lukoff* ’13, Nishi Mehta* ’T5 , Lalita Mov-va ’13, Sonja Page ’13, Daniel Peng ’12, Jen Roach* ’11, Leah Spungen ’12, Tiffanie Tam ’13, Micah Telegen ’12, Robert Valdovinos ’12, Yoon Suk Yi ’13, Krishna Upadhyaya* ’10, Yujia Zhai ’13

* indicates part-year membership;

When applying to be Projects & Services Chairs, we knew wanted to progress along the solid infrastructure set in place by former Co-Chairs Eric Weissmann and Kirstin Barry. With a Committee of 25 Senators and Aides, we knew it would be very important for us to maintain constant communication with all of them, providing direction while allowing for flex-ibility with each of the projects.

This year has been a whirlwind of Senate meetings, meet-ings with administrators, and office hours. Though at times running the Committee has drained us both of energy, the many accomplishments made it worthwhile. We encountered difficulties with the sometimes slow speed of bureaucracy and in communicating with some less enthusiastic administrators to our suggestions, but ultimately, most were inter-ested in working with us to strengthen UR. Looking back, many of our original goals have been accomplished, and tremendous progress has been made in a multitude of areas.

The experience of chairing the Projects & Services Committee has been eye-opening and educational for us both. We have learned a great deal about the inner workings of the University and we have renewed faith that change actually can happen with a bit of hard work. We couldn’t have done any of it without the dedication of our amazing Aides and the assistance from campus administrators; thank you so much!

Sincerely,

— Alissa Brill ’12 and Bradley Halpern ’12— Co-Chairs of the Projects & Services Committee 2009-10

Mission

MeMBers

32

proj

ects

& s

ervi

ces

com

mitt

eeWhile the Projects & Services Committee is traditionally the largest standing Committee

of the Senate, it is the newest. Until 2005, two separate Committees existed: Projects, and Services, each chaired by separate leadership. The combination of the two Committees has since allowed for closer collaboration, and better communication.

SA Services are resources available to students, provided by this Committee. The many offerings range in scale, from holiday break shuttles, to a semesterly bike storage program. Over the years, perhaps the most easily identifiable SA Service is the DVD Library in the Multimedia Center. The Projects & Services Committee commits funding to purchasing new releases and popular DVDs annually, available for undergraduates to check out free of charge at any time.

Easily the largest SA Service is City Cycles. Since its founding in 2004, the program has become an integral part of life for many students. This year alone, almost 2,500 bicycles were loaned to more than 700 students. The program has expanded rapidly, spawning a new Winter Bike Storage service in 2009, and full time summer staffing for those on cam-pus year-round. While new services are always starting, they tend to be static programs that are maintained for many years.

SA Projects are initiatives designed to strategically facilitate the improvement of student life in all support areas that the University offers, including Dining, Transportation, Facili-ties, Information Technology, and Residential Life. While many issues continue to arise yearly, most projects come and go frequently, as goals are achieved, and desired results are realized.

That said, many ideals never change. Running every other year since 1985, the Walk for Light is the Students’ Association’s longest standing project. WFL was founded as an analy-sis of campus lighting and safety as it pertains to Security and late night comfort. Recently, the program has also taken on a new spin of electrical sustainability at late night hours. The program has served as a model for several other projects over the years.

The Projects & Services Committee is ever-evolving to better address the unique needs of Rochester’s student body. Not only has P&S been seen as a strong advocate for student life independently, it continues to assist the Dean of

Students Office in representing student views on their Committees. While the goals of the Committee may change over time, the drive to improve student life in any means possible remains the same.


did you know?As a part of this year’s Walk for Light, the Projects & Services Committee found 17 problematic areas around campus that it marked as needing urgent attention. These problem areas included burned out lighting and the need for additional lighting and blue light phones in specific areas. The full report is available online on “The Hive” at http://sa.rochester.edu/projects/.

33


A Students’ Association Service is an initiative that was started and is managed by Student Government, through the Projects & Services Committee. More details regarding SA Services is available online at http://sa.rochester.edu/projects/. These initiatives currently include:

The DVD Library is a free DVD rental program co-spon-sored by the Students’ Association and the Multimedia Center.

Any student can visit the Multimedia Center (located just down the hall from the IT Center in the tunnels) and use a valid URID to check out a DVD. Each semester, the Students’ Asso-ciation provides the Multimedia Center with a list of suggested new titles to purchase with SA funds.

The Collegiate Readership Program is the University’s free newspaper program, featuring free copies of the New York Times, USA Today and the Democrat and Chronicle. Papers are available every weekday at four locations across campus:

Douglass Dining Center, Danforth Dining Center, Wilson Commons (outside Starbucks), and Gleason Library. The Collegiate Readership Program is jointly funded by the Parents Coun-cil, River Campus Libraries and the Students’ Association, and is administered by the SA Projects & Services Committee.

City Cycles is the University of Rochester’s free bicycle lend-ing program. Co-sponsored by the Students’ Association and

UR Athletics, City Cycles aims to promote bicycling as an attractive and sustainable mode of transportation for the University of Rochester community. The program accomplishes this goal by providing high-quality cycling equipment and services and by encouraging off-campus exploration and experiences. Students and members of the Goergen Athletic Center can rent bikes at the front desk to the athletic center during regular business hours. The program is jointly administered by the Projects & Services Committee and Beverly Buscemi, the Ticket and Transportation Coordinator for Wilson Commons Student Activities.

Free shuttles to and from the airport at the beginning and end of Thanksgiving break are offered for undergraduates. Projects & Services pays for this service and advertises shuttle

times to students when it is offered.

Free storage for bikes is a new service that was established this year over the winter as a way for students to keep their bikes secure and protected from the elements. Developed with

UR Security, Projects & Services staffs and manages this service.

The Committee sponsors free or subsidized transporta-tion and accommodations for Yellowjacket fans to attend out of town Varsity post season finals or championship matches

when they occur. This year, Projects & Services sponsored coach busses and hotel at Yale for Squash Nationals in February and in Bloomington, Ill. for the Women’s Basketball Final Four in March.

SA Services

DvD liBrAry

CollegiAte reADership progrAM

City CyCles

thAnksgiving shuttles

winter Bike storAge

post-seAson spirit support

34

proj

ects

& s

ervi

ces

com

mitt

ee

tAxi progrAM Beginning with a proposal that was written last year to fix the taxi program’s current form, this year the Committee has

spent countless hours analyzing and perfecting plans for a completely new Sponsored Taxi Program with the help of University Parking and Transportation and Wilson Commons Stu-dent Activities. The program is designed to serve as a discount means of transportation, a cheap holiday travel option (to the airport, Amtrak station, Greyhound bus station), an easy way of getting to medical appointments, and a safe ride home. It also costs the University nothing annually, which replaces the six digit price tag of the current program. The Commit-tee looks forward to hopefully having the program launching for a pilot this summer.

In 2009, Co-Chair Bradley Halpern researched for and wrote a detailed URWireless proposal for expansion and improvement

of wireless coverage across campus. Information Technology has called it “the missing link” in getting the entire River Campus wireless. This proposal led to Douglass gaining wireless coverage at the start of the undergraduate year. Ever since the initial proposal, Projects & Services has held regular meetings with IT since to strategize further expansion as soon as possible. The Committee has worked all year to ensure that more expansion will be made this summer.

A comprehensive PowerPoint presentation was created by an Aide of the Committee and has been presented to many of the IT administrators on campus outlining what the Committee feels are the positives and shortfalls of technology on this campus. This presen-tation is now available in a slide cast.

Last year, Projects & Services planned the first successful Walk for Facilities, to analyze campus buildings and outdoor spaces. Several significant changes have been made this year in

response to the Committee’s 10-page report, such as the paving of the alley between Rush Rhees and Douglass, relaying or repaving of several staircases, creation of new sidewalks, renovation of the 4th floor of Rush Rhees, and this coming summer, renovation of the Wil-son Commons patio. It is an ongoing process that continues to be followed up on by several Committee Aides.

This year, the Committee worked to create a free Winter Bike Storage option. Students were able to register their bikes with

Security simultaneously, as part of a new joint bike theft Security initiative, and Projects & Services will also be providing tire refilling when students remove their bikes in the spring. Separately, the Committee helped to attain new bike racks on campus, placed based off of a proposal created by several Committee Aides. The Committee hopes that more bike racks will be added to campus in the near future.

The Committee proposed several suggestions to how Resi-dential Life currently advertises the housing lottery, and how the actual lottery is run. Projects & Services hopes that this proposal

will help Res Life to better inform students about the process and to help alleviate several issues that currently exist in the housing lottery.


teChnology

wAlk For FACilities

Bike storAge

resiDentiAl liFe

This year, the Committee made

major strides in working together with students who have special dietary needs, holding a focus group during Fall semester. The notes from that meeting have been passed along to Christina Hoh, the dietetic intern for University Dining Services. Already some of the suggestions have been imple-mented, and as a result of discussions with a Committee Aide, soy ice cream was added to the Corner Store.

In addition, fine dining at the Meliora was established in order to create an off-campus experience, on-campus. In the Fall, there was one dinner per month, each with a different theme and 3-course cuisine. This venture was mildly suc-cessful, but the Committee really wanted to see it flourish, so it proposed several changes to the program. This Spring, the Committee helped to establish a weekly dinner in the month of Febru-ary only, which was hugely successful. It included a set á la carte menu with weekly specials. Based on statistics and feedback from this pilot pro-gram, Projects & Services will hopefully be in dis-cussion to continue dinner at the Meliora weekly all year in 2010-2011.

In November, the 24th biennial Walk for Light was held, where administrators and students came together

to assess campus facilities and safety. Vice President and General Secretary of the Univer-sity Paul Burgett said this was the most successful WFL in all of his years at the school. As a result of the walk, a comprehensive report has been compiled which outlines immediate fixes as well as long-term prioritized needs to make our campus a more safe environment.

As a result of student feedback, the Committee successfully convinced Residential Life to fund Gold Line weekend after-noon shuttles for Riverview Students. This was initiated as a

pilot program, implemented at the start of the Spring semester that ran until Spring Break. Based off of ridership, the Committee will begin to discuss with University Parking and Transportation and Residential Life as to whether this should be a permanent addition to the Gold Line schedule for the future.

35


CAMpus Dining

wAlk For light


pArking AnD trAnsportAtion

did you know?Projects & Services helped to estab-lish Thursday night dinners at the Meliora Restaurant throughout the 2009-10 academic year. Pictured above is the menu from the first Din-ner in October, featuring “A Taste of Mexico.”

36

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ects

& s

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com

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ee

City Cycles is a great pro-

gram started by a Rochester students, but it has grown to a size that cannot be dealt with appropriately provided the manpower behind running the program. There is also confusion of what exactly the responsibili-ties of organizing the program are, as well as what, if any, Wilson Commons Student Activities staff involvement should be. Therefore re-organizing the set-up of how City Cycles is coordinated, involving a hired individual for the summer months, and involving Committee Aides working under a singular coordinator during the year, is a future initiative to ensure a smoothly run-ning program. In addition, re-negotiating the contract for maintenance with Towpath Bike is a priority. This will hopefully be par-tially done by the summer, with the hopes that a summer position will be created for somebody to really work on re-organizing the program.

Recently, the Committee

received a lot of response from students regarding the insufficient hours of opera-tion of Dining Services during finals period. Students feel that they should be able to use their meal plans to the best of their ability, and this includes having food accessible to them when they are studying for finals. Given this, the Committee is looking at all of the dining hours of service for the future, with the hopes that there will be increased hours of operations in places like Hillside Café and breakfast hours on the weekend as well as increased hours during finals week and during break times.

The Commit-tee has received

a lot of feedback from students about the accessibility to dorms, specifically regard-ing the inability of students to access dorms

City CyCles

Dining

that they do not live in after midnight. This can hinder the ability of a student to enter a dorm as a safe haven if someone feels unsafe on a walk home. However, the Com-mittee has received mixed feedback from Security regarding increased swipe access to dorms. Therefore, Projects & Services placed a survey in Rocky’s Report about the potential of increased swipe access to dorms. Based off of the results from the online survey, the Committee will plan ac-cordingly on how to proceed to Security and Residential Life about the potential for increased ID card swipe access to dorms.

The Projects & Services Committee will continue to investigate

a possible replacement for Blackboard. The Committee hopes to work with University Information Technology to work out cur-rent issues with the Blackboard application on http://my.rochester.edu and find long-term solutions. While the vision for a single portal to all student resources is excellent, recent desires have revealed that Black-board does not provide all of the functional-ity or aesthetic customization that students need. Eventually, a new portal, designed and written by individuals at the University, would allow for the unprecedented custom-izability that the Committee would love to see. While Blackboard is a great solution for managing courses, it can be clunky when used for something as broad as a Universi-ty-wide portal.

Potential Future InitiativesAs a way of increasing continuity between administrations, the Projects & Services Com-

mittee offers several recommendations to its future leaders:

seCurity

stuDent portAl

37


”

“

Students’ Association Appropriations Committee

The mission of the Students’ Association Appropriations Committee (SAAC) is to manage the finances of the Students’ Association in a way

that is both fiscally responsible and in the best interest of the University of Rochester stu-dent body. The Students’ Association budget is funded entirely by the Student Activities Fee that each student contributes as part of their tuition. For this reason, it is vitally important to keep vibrant student life as our top priority.

Treasurer: Andrew Flack ’KEY

Deputy Treasurer: Leah Dougherty ’09 (Fall ’09), Joe Eckert ’12 (Spring ’10)

Senators: Dennis Nave ’11 (Fall ’09), Jon Junig ’10, Kristian Brooks ’12, Sneha Rath ’12, Lau-ren Sussman ’10 (Spring ’10)

Accountants: Alex Atikinson ’10, Mihir Buch ’10, Kevin Ewer ’11, James Grotke ’10, Jessica Lam ’10, Miriam Mull ’KEY (Fall ’09), Kenisha Smith ’12, Alex Hunstand ’11, Yi Wang ’11

This year has been very exciting for the Students’ Association Appropria-tions Committee. With the addition of the Experience Eastman Supplemen-tal fund, we have developed a streamlined system for submitting requests through “The Hive” that has promising implications for the future of SAAC. Since this process has seemed to work so well, we hope that we will be able to expand and remove the need for paper requests.

I’d like to thank the Student Accountants for all of their hard work this year. I think that we have had some very insightful discussions during the SAAC meetings that have really helped us to make educated funding decisions. This year, the Accountants have made a special effort to reach out to their Business Managers and de-velop relationships, which I believe is a vital part of maintaining strong lines of communica-tion between the Appropriations Committee and the student groups that we serve.

The development of “The Hive” by the Communications Committee has made a major improvement to the transfer of information between Business Managers and the Appropri-ations Committee, providing a centralized location for important information, supplemental forms, and contact information. Throughout the year, we have had very few problems with paperwork, supplemental requests, or interaction with Business Managers, which speaks volumes about the effectiveness of communication through “The Hive.”

I hope many of our Accountants who will not be graduating continue to keep up their hard work and dedication to the Appropriations Committee in the years to come.

Sincerely,

— Andrew Flack ’KEY— Students’ Association Treasurer 2009-10

Mission

MeMBers

Andrew Flack

38

stude

nts’

ass

ocia

tion

appr

opria

tions

com

mitt

eeThis year, SAAC added a new option for groups called the Experience Eastman Supple-

mental Fund. $2,000 was allocated to the Experience Eastman fund to be used primarily for transportation to and from events at the Eastman School of Music. The process for applying for this funding is slightly different from the other supplemental funds with a new online submission form. The online submission form streamlines the application process by e-mailing a copy of the request to the Treasurer and the group’s advisor, which can then be e-mailed to the Appropriations Committee rather than printing multiple forms.

Several small changes were made to the budgeting process this year. These changes should make the process easier for student groups, and allow the Appropriations Commit-tee to make more informed decisions during final budgeting. First, each Student Accountant was asked to submit a short report summarizing their interactions with each of the groups that they work with. In these reports, the Accountants commented on various factors that are considered during budgeting, such as communication with the Business Manager, timeliness with paperwork, fiscal responsibility, and ability to meet income requirements. Further, SA groups were no longer required to include an Annual Report when submitting their budgets, which has been replaced by the Mid-Year Report developed by the Policy & Review Committee. Removing the Annual Report should make the process of developing a budget easier for student groups. Finally, a comprehensive Budgeting Information Packet was distributed at the budgeting workshop that should serve as a good reference for Busi-ness Managers.

Many of the most commonly used Appropriations documents were given an update and face lift this year, including the Business Managers Manual, Program, Equipment, and Conference Supplemental Request forms. The Business Managers Manual was expanded to make it significantly more comprehensive, providing important information to Business Managers, especially if they are new to the role. The Program Supplemental Request Forms were updated to reflect the clean, unified new image of the SA, developed by the Commu-nications Committee. The Equipment Supplemental Request Form was extended slightly to include questions that focus more specifically on questions of care, storage, and security of the equipment requested by a group. The Committee felt that it was important to ask these new questions, because equipment purchased through supplemental funding is the prop-erty of the Students’ Association and should be cared for appropriately. Finally, the Confer-ence Supplemental Request Form was updated to more clearly articulate the requirements for receiving supplemental funding for conferences. Starting this year, a group may request Conference Supplemental funding only once every other year to cover entrance fees for up to $100 for up to four attendees.


39


In total, the Students’ Association provided $858,040.34 to student organizations during the academic year via the budgeting procedure. These funds are raised from a yearly student activities fee as well as left over funds from previous years. Provided below is a chart displaying the percent of the total budget divided by group category.

Future InitiativesAs a way of increasing continuity between administrations, the Students’ Association Ap-

propriations Committee offers several recommendations to its future leaders:

Through the end of this semester, SAAC will allocate funding to SA Funded groups during the budgeting process. The budgeting process will be improved this year with the addition of both the Mid-Year Report and the Student Accountant Reports for each group. Further, the Appropriations Committee is performing an informal survey of SA groups that have phones in their offices. Office phones are a significant monthly expense for the Students’ Association, but the Committee is finding that many groups do not use them often. After compiling the results of these surveys, SAAC may be able to remove a few office phones if the groups feel that they do not need them. These savings would allow the Com-mittee to reallocate this money in a more productive way.

The Appropriations Committee hopes to make slight changes to the Program Supple-mental Form for future use. The Committee hopes to add a few questions to the form that will be answered by the group’s advisor. The goal of the additional questions will be to get a better understanding of the advisor’s involvement with the planning of the program or event and allow the advisor to write a few notes. Currently, the advisor merely signs the form, so the Committee has no way of knowing how much involvement the advisor actually had in the planning process.

2009-10 Budget Information

Percent of Total Budget 2009 10

Cultural5%

Performance1% Issue Awareness

2%Publications

3%

Cultural

Performance3%

Governing Organizations30%

Issue Awareness

Publications

Programming41%

Intercollegiate

Other6%

Programming

IntercollegiateIntercollegiate12%

Intercollegiate

Other

GoverningOrganizations

did you know?Detailed information regarding the budget is available online in a supplement file, available at http://sa.rochester.edu/annualreport/.

41


All-Campus Judicial Council

The All-Campus Judicial Council (ACJC) is the Judicial Branch of the Students’ Association Government. The Council serves both as the Students’ Association highest court and as a hearing panel, authorized by the University, to address alleged violations of the Student Code of Conduct and Academic Honesty Policy. Fundamental to each of these

roles is that the Council provides a hearing panel of one’s peers and provides an outlet for student governance in the University Judicial System.

The Council is comprised of eleven undergraduate students. Each of these students were selected after participating in a series of two interviews, conducted by a selection Committee of current ACJC Justices and SA Senators. Each year, this Committee selects a final list of candidates whom they believe are qualified to serve on the Council, and the SA Senate must confirm each of these candidates before they officially assume their role as an ACJC Justice. Plainly, ACJC is comprised of undergraduates who have been selected by their peers; administrators are not involved in the selection process.

The Council’s motto is Audiatur et Altera Pars, “May the Other Part Also Be Heard.” ACJC is committed this perspective, and believes an impartial Judicial Council is imperative to maintaining a vibrant University Community, guided by ideals of student governance.

Chief Justice: John Oakford ’T5 Associate Chief Justice: Bradley Calder ’10

Associate Justices: Lior Benjamin ’10, Olivia Cohn ’12, Siddhartha Das ’11, Erin Dick ’11, Sara Gotthelf ’11, Ezra Mechaber ’11, Tess Petersen ’12, Samantha Roblin ’10, Sumir Shah ’10

MissionAnD

DesCription

MeMBers

All individuals involved in the case are

ACJC hears testimony from witnesses who have been called upon by the

The Respondent

introduced and admonished to provide truthful testimony to the Council.

p yUniversity. After each witness presents his or her testimony, both the Council and the Respondent have the opportunity to

ask questions of each witness.

ppresents his or her account of the event-in-question.

ACJC hears testimony from witnesses who have been called upon by the

Respondent. After each witness presents his or her testimony, both the Council and the Respondent have the opportunity to

The Respondent makes a closing

ACJC deliberates as to whether or not the

Respondent is “Responsible” or “Not Responsible” for the charge(s)-in-question and the Respondent have the opportunity to

ask questions of each witness.statementcharge(s) in question and renders a decision.

JuDiCiAlheAring proCess

For a full explanation of the hearing process and for more general information about ACJC, head online to: http://sa.rochester.edu/acjc/

42

”

John Oakford and Bradley Calder

“al

l-cam

pus

judi

cial

cou

ncil This academic year has been an exciting one for the All-

Campus Judicial Council (ACJC)! During this time, the Council welcomed five new Justices to the table and worked closely with Dean Levy to improve ACJC’s disciplinary hearing pro-cess and transparency.

Olivia Cohn ’12, Siddhartha Das ’11, Sara Gotthelf ’11, Ezra Mechaber ’11, and Tess Petersen ’12 were confirmed as Asso-ciate Justices by the SA Senate and assumed their roles on May 17, 2009. The unique insight that each of these students share has helped Council better serve the University Community as a dynamic and diverse hearing panel.

As a peer-review board, the Council feels strongly about fostering a hearing process that serves the needs of our University both as a community and as individuals within this com-munity. As such, the Council worked with Dean Levy to introduce a pre-hearing outreach program as part of ACJC’s hearing process. This outreach is designed to reinforce restor-ative elements of the conflict resolution process and ensure that students are familiar with ACJC’s hearing process prior to their participation.

To increase transparency of ACJC’s roles within Student Government, the Center for Student Conflict Management, and the Board of Academic Honesty the Council introduced weekly office hours this year. During this time, the Council encouraged anyone with ques-tions regarding ACJC’s function in these roles to come visit us.

The Council is very thankful to work with the advisement of Sean Hanna; Mr. Hanna works continuously to ensure that the Council achieves its full potential as peer-review board and we are all very grateful for the long hours that he spends in this endeavor! The Council also thanks Deans Levy and Burns, Dean Algier, and Professor Givens for their cooperation in facilitating ACJC’s work with the Center for Student Conflict Management, Student Government, and Board of Academic Honesty, respectively.

The Council is eager to continue serving the University Community and excited about prospects in the year to come!

Genuinely & On Behalf of the Council,

— John Oakford ’T5 and Bradley Calder ’10— Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice of ACJC 2009-10

43


The Office of the PresidentPaul Burgett, Vice President and General Secretary of the • UniversityLynne Davidson, Deputy to the President• Ralph Kuncl, Provost and Executive Vice President of the • UniversityLamar Murphy, Deputy to the President• Sue Niggli, Executive Assistant to the President• Joel Seligman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the • UniversityCarol Shuherk, Senior Associate Provost• Kim Truebge, Administrative Assistant•

The Office of the Dean of the CollegeOvide Corriveau, Senior Operations Officer for the Dean of • the CollegeRichard Feldman, Dean of the College• Myra Henry, Executive Assistant for the Dean of the College• Peter Lennie, Senior Vice President and Dean of the College • Faculty

The Office of the Dean of StudentsAnne-Marie Algier, Associate Dean of Students, Director of • Wilson Commons Student Activities and Advisor to Student GovernmentMatthew Burns, Dean of Students• Glen Cerosaletti, Director of the Rochester Center for Com-• munity Leadership, and the entire RCCL faculty and staffMorgan Levy, Assistant Dean of Students•

Wilson Commons Student ActivitiesLaura Ballou, Assistant Dean of Sophomores, Associate • Director of Wilson Commons Student Activities and Advisor to Student GovernmentBeverly Buscemi, Coordinator of Transportation and Ticket • SalesLydia Crews, Assistant Director• Stacey Fisher, Assistant Director• Debbie Gaudet, Students’ Association Accountant• Jeremy Mravlja, Special Projects Coordinator• Sue Nielsen, Office Manager• Jon Penn, Senior Graphic Artist• Jon Poon, Strong Auditorium and Assistant Event Support • ManagerSaundra Peters, Reservation Coordinator• Cindy Robinson, Spirit Coordinator• Melissia Schmidt, Associate Director• Lynn Stork, Event Support Manager• Kathy Webster, Business Manager and Staff Accountant• Elliot Zenilman, Graduate Assistant•

University ITLisa Brown, Assistant Director• Mat Felthousen, Assistant Director• Eric Fredericksen, Associate Vice Provost for Academic and • Research Technology

University CommunicationsStephen Dow, Assistant Director of Public Relations• Melissa Greco-Lopes, Assistant Director of Public Relations• Bill Murphy, Vice President for Communications• Mike Osadciw, Graphics Coordinator• Lori Packer, Assistant Director of Public Relations•

General Acknowledgments

Academic SupportMarcy Kraus, Dean of Freshman and Director of the College • Center for Academic SupportEleanor Oi, Director of Undergraduate Orientation• Vicki Roth, Assistant Dean of Learning Assistance and Dean • of SophomoresNancy Speck, University Registrar•

University Dining ServicesBonnie Buonomo, Event Coordinator, Meliora Catering• Molly Chamberlain, Marketing Manager• Al Culbertson, Dining Services Director of Douglass• Dan Fernandes, Director of Meliora Restaurant, Faculty Club, • and Catering OperationsBob Fox, Dining Services Director of Danforth, Hillside, Pura • Vida, and ConnectionsChristina Hoh, Nutritionist• Mary Locke, Director of Operations• Tim MacTurk, former Resident District Manager• Tony Pignogrande, Executive Chef• Cam Schauf, Director of Dining Services & Auxiliary Opera-• tionsThomas van Pelt, Dining Services Director of Wilson Com-• mons

University FacilitiesTara Anacker, Administrative Assistant• Pat Beaumont, Director of Facility Support Operations• Bob Bennett, Crime Prevention Specialist for University • SecurityJeff Foster, Director of River Campus Facilities and University • PropertiesMonica Gayton-Tanksley, Administrative Assistant• Alena Johnson, Assistant Director of River Campus and East-• man School of Music Security OperationsWalter Mauldin, Director of University Security• Barry McHugh, Assistant Director of Facility Operations• Eris Oleksyn, Trades Supervisor and Area Manager• Richard Pifer, Associate Vice President for University Facili-• ties and ServicesGlen Sicard, Director of University Parking• Andrea Walton, Administrative Assistant• Kathy Winthrop, Administrative Assistant•

MiscellaneousMark Cavanaugh, Director of Environmental Health and • SafetyLaurel Contomanolis, Director of Residential Life and Hous-• ing ServicesNora Dimmock, Multimedia Center Librarian• Jim Driggs, Club Sports Advisor• Linda Dudman, Associate Director of UHS, Health Promotion• Maria Ferrante, Store Manager, Bookstore• John Givens, Associate Professor of Russian and Chair of the • Board of Academic HonestySean Hanna, Associate Director of College Advising and ACJC • AdvisorSteve Manly, Professor of Physics and Director of Undergrad-• uate Research in the CollegeBrian Marricco ’10, President Club Sports Council• Carol Mott, Copy Center Liason • Parents Council• Kris Shanley, Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation•

The Students’ Association Government would like to thank many University administra-tors, faculty, and staff for their dedication to helping the student body over the past year. While there are undoubtably hundreds of individuals who fit this category, the SA Govern-ment would like to specifically recognize the following members of the University for their assistance:

44

inde

x Index

A

Academic Honesty 41, 42Academic Support 43Admissions Office 12All-Campus Judicial Council 15, 41–42Annual Report 5, 8, 14Athletics 33

B

Blackboard 36

C

Campus Club Connection 21, 29Center for Student Conflict Management 42City Cycles 32, 33, 36Club Sports Council 28Code of Conduct 41Collegiate Readership Program 9, 33Common Connection 12Communications Committee 19–23, 29, 37, 38Communications Office 43Community Service Network 28Connecting You to Student Government 8Constitution Day 16Constitution Template 27, 28

D

Dean of Students Office 14, 15, 32, 42, 43Dean of the College 2, 16, 43Did You Know? Campaign 19, 20, 22Dining Services 9, 15, 32, 35, 36, 43DVD Library 31, 32, 33

E

Eastman School of Music. See Experience EastmanElections Committee 17Energizing our Campus Community 8Enhancing Student Life 8Executive Branch 7–14, 16, 21Experience Eastman 12, 38

F

Facilities 32, 43Fill Fauver/Pack the Palestra 9, 11Fireside Chats 14, 16, 19, 20, 22

G

Get Involved Night 17

Graphic Identity. See LogoGreen Your Event Checklist 10Grievances Sub-Committee 20

H

Hive, The 12, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 37How To Brochure 20

I

Information Technology 32, 34, 36, 43

J

Judicial Hearing Process 41Judicial System 41

L

Logo 13, 21

M

Meliora Restaurant 35Mid-Year Report 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 38, 39Multimedia Center 32, 33

N

New Organization Registration Forms 27

O

Operations 15Organizational chart of Student Government 5Organizational chart of the Executive Branch 7

P

Panhellenic Association 10Parents Council 33Parking and Transportation 15, 16, 32, 34, 35Points of Pride 23Policy and Procedure Manuals 29Policy & Review Committee 25–29, 38Post-Season Spirit Support 33President’s Office 43Press releases 22Professor of the Year awards 9Projects & Services Committee 29, 31–36

R

Residential Life 15, 32, 34, 35, 36Housing lottery 34

River Campus Libraries 33

Riverview 35Rochester Center for Community Leadership 26, 28Rochester Intercollegiate Council 9Rocky’s Report 19, 20, 21, 36

S

SA Convention 17SA House Call 19, 22SA Projects 32SA Services 32, 33SA Spotlight! 22, 23SA Sustainability 10Security 32, 33, 34, 36Senate 15–17, 25, 41Seven Principles of Student Organizations 27, 28Steering Committee 17Student Organization Calendar 21Students’ Association Appropriations Committee 12, 26, 27, 37–39Student Sustainability Council 10Suggestion boxes 23

T

Taxi Program 34Thanksgiving Shuttles 33Town Hall Meetings 9, 16, 20Towpath Bike 36Twitter 22

U

Undergraduate Political Science & International Relations Council 16Undergraduate Research Exposition 9University Council on Sustainability 10URoc 19, 22URWireless 34

W

Walk for Facilities 16, 34Walk for Light 16, 32, 35Walk for Sustainability 16Who’s Who 20Wilson Commons Student Activities 15, 21, 25, 26, 28, 33, 34, 36, 43Winter Bike Storage 31, 32, 33, 34

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SA Annual Report 2009-10

Documents

Transcript of SA Annual Report 2009-10