A.S. University Council

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

JANUARY 28, 2015 – COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CONRAD PREBYS AZTEC STUDENT UNION – 3:30 PM

I. CALL TO ORDER:

Vice President of University Affairs Corey Polant called the meeting to order at 3:32 PM.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

III. ROLL CALL:

A. Voting Members Present: Corey Polant, Maxwell Louie, Dustin Pina, Dominic Bilotti, Austin Dean, Nick Wright, Keeler Johnston, Jose Muguerza, Lance Brooks, Megan Sealy, Jason Taresh, Kelsey Moss, Kalani Perez, Ahmad Sanatyar, Osama Alkhawaja, Owen Burton, Jane Kwon, Jaynie Lee, Shawn Tenny, Maneet Deol, Alexandria Johnstone, Jonathan Cole, Kevin Hancock, Alex Padua.

B. Voting Members Absent: Emmanuel Uwakwe, Kristina Brown, Josh Drayer.

C. Ex-Officios (non-voting) Present: Randy Timm (for Christy Samarkos), Dr. Cezar Ornatowski, Clarice Mendoza, Christina Brown.

D. Ex-Officios (non-voting) Absent: None.

E. Visitors Present: Patty Masengale, Jordan Marahaj, Hassan Abdinur, Ryan Smith, Emily Carper, Vanessa Girard.

IV. MODIFICATIONS TO AGENDA:

It was moved and seconded to approve the agenda of January 28, 2015.

DEOL/JOHNSTONE

J. Cole made a friendly amendment to add an Aztec Mentorship Program presentation under University Reports and Presentations as Item C with a time certain at 4 PM. Kevin made a friendly amendment to add an Aztec Dance Marathon presentation under Items for Consideration as Item E with a time certain at 3:50 PM.

The agenda was approved as amended.

V. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES:

It was moved and seconded to approve the previous minutes of November 19, 2014.

HANCOCK/KWON CARRIED

VI. PUBLIC COMMENT:

A. Hassan Abdinur, Student, reported:

1. Please take the time to understand the issue of divestment, as a resolution will be making its way to University Council again this semester. An open forum about divestment will be held on Monday, February 2 at 3:30 PM in the SDSU Center for Intercultural Relations, second floor of the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union.

VII. UNIVERSITY REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS

A. University Senate Designee, Dr. Cezar Ornatowski, reported:

1. An impressive number of SDSU applications were received for the fall 2015 semester.

2. SDSU Georgia has begun this year. SDSU competed for and received a grant that would send selected professors and a dean to teach in the Republic of Georgia.

3. Lowering class sizes are being discussed by a taskforce. Classes that are priority for size reduction will be impacted classes such as communication and rhetoric and writing studies.

4. The Course Evaluation Taskforce created a report last year, which has proposed a unifying 5-10 questions that would be common among all academic departments as well as a change in the rating system. In addition, a mid-semester evaluation may be created.

B. University Vice President for Student Affairs Designee:

1. None.

C. Aztec Mentorship Program – Laura Bowden, Aztec Mentorship Program Coordinator, and Kathleen Self, Career Development Manager, reported:

1. The Aztec Mentorship Program has many more spots for junior and senior Aztecs interested in one-on-one mentorships with established alumni and professionals in the San Diego county and surrounding areas. The deadline to apply is Friday, February 13. More information can be found at http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/career/amplandingpage.aspx.

IX. ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION:

A. General Consent Report: (Information)

The General Consent Report was reviewed via electronic copy. For further reference please request a full agenda copy from the Government Secretary.

B. Fall Semester Goals: (Discussion)

The college council representatives received goals they had written down at the A.S. Government Retreat last August and reflected on the progress they had made throughout the fall semester.

C. Goal Setting for the Spring: (Discussion)

The college council representatives created unified goals for the spring semester and discussed how they will achieve them.

D. Aztec Dance Marathon: (Information)

More than 250 universities host and participate in dance marathons across the nation. Proceeds to the marathon will be going to the Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Registration for the event will be $12 and will be from Friday, March 6 to Saturday, March 7 from 8 PM-8AM. If you don’t want to register, but still want to participate, volunteers are needed. 3-12 people can be on one team. The goal of the marathon is to raise $45,000 with 250-300 student participants.

Promotional video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc9G0KHbjKs.

X. INTRODUCTION OF NEW LEGISLATIVE MATTERS:

None.

XI. REPORTS OF UNIVERSITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:

A. Corey Polant, Vice President of University Affairs:

1. The Student Research Symposium will be in the Union in early March.

2. The trailer for the Hunting Ground, a Sundance nominated film documenting the heinous handling and attitude towards sexual violence in certain college campuses, was shown to the college council representatives. It can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBNHGi36nlM.

B. J. Cole, President:

1. Register for the Aztec Mentorship Program at http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/career/amplandingpage.aspx. It is recommended for current juniors and seniors.

2. The voter turnout goal for this year’s elections is 20%. Encourage all your peers to run or apply for the many elected and appointed positions. More information will be posted in late February at https://as.sdsu.edu/govt/elections/index.php.

3. The Aztec Culture Project will be focused on this semester. J. Cole will be meeting with Seth Mallios and David Camper to discuss the initiative.

4. J. Cole will be working with the Provost and SDSU administration to increase sexual violence education and prevention in the Greek community. All allegations of sexual violence last semester involved alcohol. The Agents of Change program has already started.

C. Kevin Hancock, Executive Vice President:

1. The Triple A’s will be held on the evening of Thursday, April 23. Doors will open on 4:30 PM and the program will run from 5-6:30 PM. The Board of Directors has been challenged to nominate at least two people for the many awards available. Nominations can be made at https://as.sdsu.edu/aaa/ and are due by March 2nd.

2. Spring Retreat is this Saturday, January 31. See you all at 9 AM in Templo Mayor.

D. Jacqueline Karczewski, Vice President of External Relations:

1. External Relations Board will be working to increase interest and support in SDSU’s efforts against sexual violence, by looking at how other universities handle this hot topic. The Board meets every Monday at 1 PM in the Visionary Suite.

2. Please follow Associated Students at as_sdsu on its various social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and now Snapchat!

3. Applications to be the new student trustee for CSSA are available until March 27 at 5 PM. Visit http://www.csustudents.org/index.php/who-we-are/student-trustees/ for more information.

4. The Student Involvement & Representation Fee (SIRF) has been approved by the Board of Trustees officially today. CSU Students will be directly paying for their university’s membership in CSSA. SDSU students will begin to see an opt-out option when paying for their student tuition.

E. Alex Padua, Vice President of Financial Affairs:

1. $300 is available in the college council unallocated budget. $4,000 is available in general activities. $9,200 is available for travel requests.

F. Christina Brown, Executive Director:

1. It is impressive to see the university-wide effort put into the prevention of sexual violence on campus. Great work to the Sexual Violence Taskforce for all their efforts.

2. Over winter break, A.S. staff underwent sexual violence training and how to be an advocate against potential allegations.

3. A.S. is making active strides in making their facilities more accessible for transgender students. Future trainings for full-time and part-time A.S. employees may be put in place.

4. Conversations have moved forward concerning the conversion of Lot W into a recreational field space.

5. More than 1,300 students responded to the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union survey, conducted over winter break.

6. Please come and visit the A.S. Office! It is your space to work, discuss, and collaborate.

XII. ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded to adjourn the meeting.

KWON/ALKHAWAJA CARRIED

Vice President of University Affairs Corey Polant adjourned the meeting at 5:51 PM.