Committee Name: Administrative and Financial Affairs

Chair: Chelsea Loane

Vice Chair: Jalen Stubblefield

Mins: Jalen Stubblefield

Date: March 15, 2016

Name: / Attendance / Appointment:
Nada Alabbar / Appointment:
AmmaraKhrusheed / Appointment:
Pablo Ramirez Uribe / Bill #18: A Bill to Allocate Funds for the 2016 Patriots in Action Week of Action Video Campaign / Bill #19: A Bill to Allocate Funds for Holi Moli / Bill #20: A Bill to Allocate Funds for BIG Event 2016
Chelsea Loane © / P / A / A / A / A / A / A
TJ Caver / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Ryan Cook / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Ben Ellison / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Danni Gonyo / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Caleb Kitchen / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / A
Ben Olsen / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Nathan Pittman / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Steven Pitts / EA / XXX / XXX / XXX / XXX / XXX / XXX
Ryan Powers / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Leila Raminpour / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
ImanRehmatullah / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Jalen Stubblefield / P / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Kayla Vaughn / EA / XXX / XXX / XXX / XXX / XXX / XXX
VOTE / 12/14 / 11-0-1 / 11-0-1 / 11-0-1 / 11-0-1 / 11-0-1 / 10-0-2

In Attendance: Geoffrey Colaizzi, Rondene Grinam

Meeting Commenced: 4:30PM

  • Call to Order/Roll Call
  • Chairwoman Loane called the meeting to order at 4:30PM.
  • Vice Chairman Stubblefield took the roll at 4:30PM.
  • Chair Report
  • Loane: We have 3 bills and 3 appointments today
  • Loane: I have an update from Sara. She forwarded me an email from Provost Wu. He’s announcing the associate vice president of entrepreneurship.
  • Ellison: How will we access that contact information?
  • Loane: I will forward you the email
  • Loane: I wanted to thank everyone for the town hall and ask if there was any feedback?
  • Caver: It was a really informative. But I was hoping it would be a Q and A session as opposed to lecture style.
  • Olson: Overall I think it was a well-done event. A lot of people came. My only recommendation is that there was a mix up in the catering.
  • Ellison: I completely agree they may have talked too much and not allowed enough question time. We get lectures everyday, it needs to be brief and maybe include a handout.
  • Gonyo: They needed to focus on the point. They could’ve done a dollar amount instead of a percentage.
  • Kitchen: There were some questions they were not willing to talk about. The Cabrera question was blown off very well.
  • Stubblefield: A reminder the day of
  • Ellison: I thought advertisements were great
  • Raminpour: Did the door hangers get distributed?
  • Loane: a little late, but yes. They did get out before the event.
  • BUDGET REPORT
  • Loane: $7,295 in the account prior to our funding the academic advising expo. We have 3 bills remaining and the total of the 3 bills today are just over $3000. If they pass today we will have just over 3,000 remaining. It doesn’t seem like much but there’s only a few weeks left and not a lot is coming through. Upcoming are distress fest, the city council dinner, and a diversity banquet.
  • Gonyo: How much money is usually around at this point in the year?
  • Loane: it varies but it’s usually about this amount
  • Genoese-Zerbi: Is money left over carried over?
  • Loane: We start with 20,000 dollars and at the end of the year we give whatever we have left back. Use it or lose it.
  • Pittman: We saved 2,000 not funding Mason Day
  • Caver yields his time
  • Kitchen: Does the starting number vary each year?
  • Loane: We get the same amount every year, but we could be subjected to cuts?
  • Kitchen: Does Student involvement appropriate it?
  • Loane: they give us the money
  • Ellison: Did we get money back from the buses at Mason Lobbies?
  • Loane: Yes we did
  • Appointment: Nabbar
  • Candidate Statement
  • International student. Interested in joining because there’s no international students. Lack of activities on campus. Need to get international students involved and mixed with one another. Would want to expand on Diversity. “The School is very diverse but we don’t involve it”. I would want to create a connection between international and regular.
  • Questions
  • Gonyo: What year are you and what’s your major
  • Nabbar: I’m a Senior and Government and international politics major
  • Ellison: Are you graduating this May
  • Nabbar: I’m not graduating
  • Ellison: Will you run in the Spring elections
  • Nabbar: I plan on running
  • Genoese-Zerbi: Have you been to the Arab Student Association?
  • Nabbar: Yes. (She’s working on an event with them)
  • Gonyo: Do you have any other initiatives?
  • Nabbar: No, but I could find things to be interested in.
  • Powers: Have you thought about what committees to join?
  • Nabbar: Diversity and University Life
  • Genoese-Zerbi: Do you have any specific ideas on how to bring the international students together?
  • Nabbar: Creating a few events and making sure that students get the information
  • Ellison: How often do you talk to the other international students?
  • Nabbar: that’s a common misconception that we all know each other, but I know few. They have classes, dorms, and food all on the outskirts of campus. They have no reason to socialize.
  • Ellison: How would you try to encourage them to come to the other parts of campus?
  • Nabbar: They need an event that capitalizes on culture. They won’t come if its only one or two of them
  • Raminpour: What else are you involved in?
  • Nabbar: I was an undergraduate research assistant researching sexual assault; I previously researched the Iraq war.
  • Discussion and Debate
  • Olson: I think that she’s very well qualified for the position and she’s an international student, which can help us to accommodate the entirety of the student body.
  • Ouf: I’ve known her a few years. She’s ridiculously intelligent. Involved on campus despite taking 21 credits one semester. I highly encourage you to vote yes for her, she can learn the procedure of the senate
  • Ellison: International students do feel disconnected. They just do their time here and then look to get out. We need to try to serve them.
  • Cheema: Diversity is looking at different initiative and she might be disappointed.
  • Ouf: She’s a very strong candidate and a very intelligent person. Just because she’s got an initiative that doesn’t outline with the Diversity committees, isn’t a reason to vote her down.
  • Olson: When I got here I wanted to join but I didn’t have an initiative. She just has to find her place in student government.
  • Pittman: I agree with Heidi. We’re not appointing her for Diversity. We’re appointing her to the Senate. It’s not a one trick type deal. She’s qualified beyond being an international student. And I move to vote.
  • Pittman moves to vote
  • The motion is properly seconded
  • The committee moves into voting procedures
  • Appointment: Ammara Khursheed
  • Candidate Statement
  • Khursheed: I’m a freshman community health major and minor in conflict resolution. I’m a diversity enthusiast. I like Nutella and Netflix.
  • Questions
  • Caver: What makes you want to join SG?
  • Khursheed: There are many students that don’t feel completely included in the university. I want to create a safe space for them to feel comfortable and get involved and share their ideas.
  • Powers: What ideas do you have?
  • Khursheed: I want to get SG involved with more student organizations
  • Pittman: What student organizations are you involved in
  • Khursheed: BSA, MSA, Student Power
  • Gonyo: What committees would you want to sit on?
  • Khursheed: Diversity and academic affairs
  • Discussion and Debate
  • Cheema: I know her personally and think she would make a great candidate. She’s very quiet so you all will have to get to know her.
  • Ellison: She didn’t’ seem prepared and I wonder if she has the time management skills to balance all that she is involved in.
  • Gonyo: I think she’d be a great voice for senate. Very involved.
  • Colaizzi: She’s in this office a lot. She hangs around a lot of us. And has shown a continued interest in student government. A time commitment is not a reason to vote no.
  • Moore: I just wanted to echo that point on time management, she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t have the time.
  • Raminpour: I wanted to point out she’s a freshmen. But she’s involved in a lot.
  • Olsen moves to vote
  • The motion is properly seconded
  • The committee moves into voting procedures
  • Appointment: Pablo Ramirez Uribe
  • Candidate Statement (read by the chair)
  • "My name is Pablo Ramirez Uribe, a Language Arts for Education major, and junior. I was honored to serve the Student Senate last year, but did not run for reelection since I went on the Oxford Semester Abroad this past semester. Now that I've returned, I'd love to once again be part of Student Government. Aside from SG, I am also part of the Forensics Team, as well as a member of the Honors College. I would most likely wish to return to the Senate to keep helping the students. WDYWW were some of my favorite events by virtue of speaking directly with the students, and being in the Diversity committee, including helping the first Patriots In Action committee, allowed me as a Latin-American and disabled student to elevate the voices of the diverse student body Mason has to offer. I would love to once again be part of the Senate and make an impact for the students."
  • Questions (directed at the chair)
  • Kitchen: Will he be in Senate on Thursday?
  • Loane: He will
  • Ellison moves to discussion and debate.
  • Discussion and Debate
  • Ellison: Pablo is an outstanding person and he has done a lot for this organization. It is great to see him back. I encourage everyone to support this candidate.
  • Genoese-Zerbi: He’s in it for the right reasons, and really wants to help make the University a better place.
  • Colaizzi: He’s competing internationally in the Forensics team. He’s also an international student. He was essential to the first patriots in action. HE’s been a big help in several different initiatives including the emergency contact cards on IDs.
  • Ellison moves to vote
  • Motion is properly seconded
  • Committee moves into voting procedure.
  • Bill #18: A Bill to Allocate Funds for the 2016 Patriots in Action Week of Action Video Campaign
  • Author’s statement
  • It’ll be a substitute amendment to change the prices. I’ll give an opening statement then.
  • Questions
  • Ellison: Can we use the microphones again?
  • Stubblefield: We’re renting them
  • Ellison: How many flyers will
  • Discussion and Debate
  • Move to amend the bill with a substitute bill
  • Author’s statements
  • Stubblefield: Yield to Iyer
  • Iyer: This is the exact numbers for how much we’ll need for different things; the previous one was just an estimate.
  • Questions
  • Ellison: I love that we’re saving money, but do we really need to spend $75 on flyers?
  • Iyer: For our last PIA events, we had an average attendance of 2. We need flyers to give to people to tell them about the events. We’re going to be giving some to WAVES and CAPS to give out to people; these flyers are absolutely necessary. It is vitally important that all 8 organizations participating in PIA have flyers distributed.
  • David (?): Is the microphone still included in the bill?
  • Iyer: Yes, it’s the wireless receiver.
  • Ellison: How many flyers are we getting exactly?
  • Iyer: However many we can get with $75.
  • Kitchen moves to consider
  • Stubblefield offers a substitute amendment
  • Ellison moves to vote
  • Stubblefield moves with unanimous consent a voice vote
  • The amendment passes via voice vote passes
  • Ellison moves to vote
  • The motion is seconded
  • Bill #19: A Bill to Allocate Funds for Holi Moli
  • Author’s statement
  • This is an event done in the past. It costs less in total because we don’t have to pay for Events production.
  • Questions
  • Ellison: Do you know where we’re getting the pizza? And can we get it for less?
  • Webb: They’ve used Dominos in the past and they have student discounts
  • Gonyo: Do we get a mass-ordering discount?
  • Webb: We will but I don’t know what it will be. This is the maximum we will spend.
  • Ellison: Have we allocated money for a delivery guy?
  • Webb: I don’t know that we’ll be having it delivered.
  • Caver moves to consider
  • The motion is seconded
  • Committee moves to discussion and debate
  • Discussion and Debate
  • Ellison: It is one of the best events. It is a multicultural event. It’s free food and throwing stuff at other students. I encourage everyone to support this bill and I move to vote.
  • Ellison moves to vote, motion is seconded, committee moves into voting procedures.
  • Bill #20: A Bill to Allocate Funds for BIG Event 2016
  • Author’s statement
  • Elherazy: The big event is a service event we have on April 2nd. It’s also mandatory. We need to allocate money for T-shirts, transportation, and breakfast and lunch. I will be making an amendment to the bill. It is pricey but it’s for a lot of people.
  • Questions
  • Kitchen moves to consider
  • Discussion and Debate
  • Elherazy moves to amend the bill
  • Elherazy: It was 4,000 last years. It’s 110 people to 7 different locations. Some of it might come back. Fairfax, Falls Church, Chantilly, Springfield. We have to buy lunch and breakfast. Just juice and bars for breakfast. Lunch will be later. And lastly we will be buying T-shirts. 40 extra for faculty and others. (Opening Statement)
  • Ellison: Does that include tip?
  • Elherazy: They’re giving us a deal, but it includes the tip.
  • Kitchen: What was transportation last year?
  • Elherazy: Last year we didn’t have it, but the year before that $1,158.
  • Powers: How many will we have in the budget after that?
  • Ellison calculates it for him
  • Powers: What else do we need to pay for this year?
  • Loane: We have to have money for de-stress and GCR city council dinner.
  • Gonyo: How much is distress fest?
  • Pittman: under $1000
  • Elherazy: We have already confirmed the event and all the locations.
  • Gonyo moves to vote
  • The motion is properly seconded
  • Loane calls for a voice amendment
  • The amendment passes by voice vote
  • Ellison: This is how we give back to Fairfax and I encourage my colleagues to vote yes.
  • Kitchen: It doesn’t make sense that we have to pay so much for transportation when the price of Gas is down literally 50% since 2014.
  • Olsen: This is a great way for students to engage with the Fairfax community?
  • Elherazy: It’s not about gas, just about the cost of renting a bus. We’re hoping that we won’t use that entire amount.
  • Ellison moves to vote
  • The motion is seconded
  • The committee moves into voting procedures
  • Announcements/Adjournment
  • Elherazy: Sign up for the BIG Event
  • Stubblefield: GMU Baseball is Saturday.
  • Gonyo moves to adjourn
  • The motion is properly seconded
  • Chairwoman Loane adjourns the meeting at 6:07PM

Meeting Adjourned: 6:07PM