Student Senate Meeting
January 13, 2016 – 8:00 pm, Farnworth Pavillion
I. Call to Order --8:04pm
II. Roll Call
III. Approval of Minutes --approved
IV. first, we have two amendments. one will move the SA Member of the Month under the secretary responsibilities. the other will remove the Rice in A Box project from the Historian duties. They will be emailed out and we will vote on them in two weeks
V. Attendance Issues: Annabelle--Will Rice Senator has class that overlaps with SA. Is there a motion to pardon them (on attendance records) for being late? Yes.
VI. Baker Senator motioned to pardon her as well for being late to Senate because of class. Motion passed.
VII. SA State of the Union:
There are 101 appointed or elected members. Of the 101, 10% are seniors. If you think about that, it means the more time you spend at Rice, the less likely you are to get involved with the SA. We said a year ago that the goal of the SA was to create the new generation of Rice leaders. Do y’all feel we’ve done this this year?
What have we done this year?
We’ve gone a massive internal restructuring with an emphasis on teamwork and recognition.
We’ve rebranded the SA--”Every student has as voice” lanyards, phone stickies, improved visibility on campus.
Emphasis on improving future at Rice.
External and Internal Initiatives: the short version (queue massive list): this is a massive list that came from y’all. I believe this is the most impressive project list we’ve had in a while. we’ve had very passionate presidents, senators and committees this year.
Sai: been working with blanket tax
campus calendar project that we’ll see a
Hannah : meeting with H&D about the survey they’ll be releasing on friday to help gain more responses from upperclassmen. We want answers that speak to what the students want, so they’ve been working on concise questions.
Sara: Environmental Committee: working on an OWeek focus projects. Working to create an online first look book.
Also been working to put the numbers for REMS and RUPD numbers on the back of ID cards to reduce handouts we get with the numbers.
Navya (Campus Appreciation): working on H&D Appreciation dinner coming up in February.
Griffin: will be meeting with his task force this semester.
Rice Wellbeing App: has 5 main features: list of local/national mental health resources, night escort, mobile blue button. Hoping to roll out by end of January/early February.
Personal Experience: this has been the most important leadership opportunity I’ve had. even though I might be biased, I think this is the best SA Term I’ve seen since I’ve been at Rice. I think if we start getting credit for the work we’ve been doing all these years, it gets more people interested in the SA and gives us more legitimacy on campus.
What are students looking for?
-support for students initiatives (internal and external)
-increased access to leadership roles
-it’s difficult to be a student, have a job, and be involved on campus
-we want to look into ways to credit students for taking on these roles. if we can address this, it will change the whole SA.
VIII. Director of Elections(Sai): elections start next week
some positions which will be available on the ballot have special requirements
if you’re planning on running for any of the executive position, I highly recommend reaching out to the people currently in those roles so you’re aware of what’s expected of you and of the time committment.
If you are running for treasurer, talk to Sai--you have to meet certain requirements --Sai can help you with that.
Petitions will be available next Monday and online(January 18) -- will also be available outside the SA office which is downstairs in the RMC across from pub. petitions will be due february 1, candidate interest meeting at february 10. Elections will be 15-19.
IX. Announcements
Peter: You don’t change over until 2 weeks after spring break (right before beer bike)
Jazz: there will be a student spaces forum on Thursday, January 21 at 5:30 pm where you can input your opinions on student spaces here at Rice and what changes you’d like to see (student center, other places on campus)
X. Adjournment --8:29pm