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SGA-R-1718.08 - SGA Powers and Authorities Resolution

Bill / Other · 105th session · dated May 1, 2018 · updated May 8, 2019

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This document is from a previous session and is kept for the record. It may have been amended or replaced since.

Senate of the Student Government Association of The Johns Hopkins University

{ S. Resolution 17-18, 08 }

A Resolution Affirming Existing Powers of the Student Government Association and Calling for the Establishment of New and Modern Powers and Authorities Regarding of the SGA Towards the University Structure

Introduced By: Vice President AJ Tsang and considered this 1st day of May in the Year 2018

Sponsored By: Senators Aspen Williams, Lauren Paulet and Sam Mollin of the Freshman Class

President Anthony Boutros of the Sophomore Class

President Ash Panakam of the Junior Class

President Noh Mebrahtu and Secretary Rushabh Doshi of the Executive Board

Referred to the senate by THE COMMITTEE ON CIVIC ENGAGEMENT which recommends its PASSAGE by a vote of 5 to 0. Referred to the senate by THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNAL AFFAIRS which recommends its PASSAGE by a vote of 2 to 0.

Whereas the Student Government Association (SGA) is the primary representative body of the undergraduates of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the G.W.C Whiting School of Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University; and

Whereas the SGA is tasked with engaging, enfranchising, and empowering the Johns Hopkins student body, and moreover, actualizing the self-governance of the student body; and

Whereas the SGA is formally recognized as the primary voice of students by the University administration and is sometimes, but not always, solicited for feedback on issues raised by the administration; and

Whereas explicit and existing SGA privileges, powers, and authorities regarding the University include:

  1. Selection and confirmation of student representatives to the Krieger Curriculum Committee and the Whiting Curriculum Committee, including the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee;
  2. Confirmation of student nominees to the Ethics Board;
  3. Selection and recommendation of student nominees to certain University-wide entities, such as the Mental Health Task Force and Mental Well-Being Working Group;
  4. Oversight of almost 400 student groups not chartered through the Center for Social Concern, the Dean of Student Life, an academic department or Homewood Arts;
  5. Management of $20,000 in stimulus spending for student and student group ventures, projects, and funding requests;
  6. Issue monthly stimulus grants through its executive financial arm, the Student Activities Commission;
  7. The ability to deliver formal recommendations on University policy to administrators, as effectualized in the form of resolutions, public statements, meetings, and letter or email communications;
  8. Regular monthly meetings with certain administrators, such as the Dean of Student Life, and the Deans of the Krieger and Whiting Schools;
  9. Productive annual meetings with the President and Provost;
  10. Selection and provision of annual recognition awards, including the George E. Owen Teaching Award, the Staff Excellence and Leadership Award, the Student Leadership and Excellence Award, and the Emerging Student Leader Award; and

Whereas the SGA could have been consulted more thoroughly on the following matters, as well as others, over the last three years:

  1. The removal of covered grades in 2016;
  2. The closure and renaming of the Humanities Center in 2017;
  3. The private police force proposal in 2018;
  4. Which students would serve on the Second Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE2);
  5. Whether and which students would serve on the search committee for the director of the Agora Institute; no students currently serve on the search committee;

Whereas the student body could have been consulted more thoroughly on the following matters, as well as numerous others, over the last three years:

  1. Decades-long calls to review and remove Bill Cosby’s honorary degree;
  2. The free expression guidelines in Fall 2016;
  3. The private police force proposal in Spring 2018;

Whereas there still yet exist gaps in SGA’s powers and authorities in comparison to peer institutions, where student government or representative entities wield the power to:

  1. Elect young trustees to the Board of Trustees (Duke[^1]);
  2. Manage funding allocations of $30,000 or more (Duke, Harvard[^2], Stanford[^3]);
  3. Openly collaborate with faculty in guiding university policy (Harvard);
  4. Engage in legislative advocacy at the state and federal level for policy that benefits students (University of California system[^4]);
  5. Manage student services as an externally contracted 501(c)(3) entity working not for, but in control of University infrastructure (UC-Berkeley[^5]);
  6. Raise student activities fees to increase total funds available to all student groups (Duke);
  7. “Approving all dining concepts to be built on the campus” (Duke);
  8. Manage all student services through an external contract (University of California system);
  9. Manage housing cooperatives around campus, thereby lowering rent for students (UC-Berkeley[^6]); and
  10. Manage food security cooperatives around campus, thereby reducing food insecurity for students (Oberlin[^7]); among other powers.

Whereas the Johns Hopkins News-Letter, in its 2018 SGA Executive Election op-ed, asserted that the student body demands that the SGA wield more tangible powers and authorities across the University, including such influence as appointing a trustee on the Board of Trustees, controlling student services and provision, and approving or vetoing academic decisions à la European student unions[^8]; and

Whereas it is critical for the SGA to wield influence over University decision-making in the face of decades of University precedent and practice wherein student leaders were afforded considerable power to approve or deny University decisions;

Whereas, in 2002, the alumni council selected Class President Stephen Goutman to the Board of Trustees because he was “heavily active in the student government,” [^9] during his time as an undergraduate, highlighting SGA’s prominence as a decision making body to the highest level of Johns Hopkins;

Whereas, in 2002, the Johns Hopkins News-Letter, and by extension the student body, declared that SGA’s most important responsibility is “to conduct and implement policy issues that affect campus life;”[^10]

Whereas it is even more critical for the SGA to hold such power over University decision-making in light of the fact that undergraduates represent a key constituency of the University who pay for a considerable proportion of its operating income, will be future alumni and donors, who constitute the future of academia, the private sector, civil society and government, and the country at-large; and

Whereas the Johns Hopkins University — if it seeks to amend its longstanding culture of decentralization, restore and improve the student body’s trust and faith in the University, and build interdivisional coalitions to achieve its long term objectives, like the Ten by Twenty goals — should re-invest in the powers and authorities of the Student Government Association; and

Therefore, Be It Resolved that the Johns Hopkins Student Government Association affirms its retention of existing powers and commitment to retaining said powers, and formally calls for the addition of these new powers and authorities to its purview, and by extension, the purview of the student body:

  1. In regards to the Board of Trustees:
    1. In line and expansion with the decades-long tradition, the restoration of three Young Alumni Trustees to the Board of Trustees such that the SGA possesses the ability to select and appoint one rising alumni to the Board of Trustees each year, with each Young Alumni Trustee granted a term of three years alongside all the voting privileges and responsibilities of a normal Trustee;
    2. The addition of two current undergraduates, selected and appointed by the SGA, to a one-year term on each of the Board of Trustees subcommittees;
  2. In regards to the University’s decision-making and administrative promotion processes:
    1. The authority of the SGA to appoint student representatives to the committees, task forces, working groups, commissions, search committees or steering committees of any University body whose work shall impact the student body;
    2. The ability to conduct binding referenda of confidence or no confidence in University decisions or administrators, as well as the ability to suggest promotions for those administrators who do follow through on student demands and support student activism;
  3. In regards to the powers of the SGA in long-term University decision-making bodies:
    1. The annual placement of the SGA Executive President and Vice President on the Public Investment Interest Advisory Committee (PIIAC) as full voting members;
      1. The addition of the SGA Executive President and Vice President to the list of University administrators notified and consulted on University crises, inclement weather, and student emergencies;
    2. The annual placement of the SGA Treasurer, onto the Parents’ Council Leadership Giving Circle;
    3. The annual placement of the Chair of the SGA Academic Affairs Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Homewood Academic Council (HAC) as a full voting member;
      1. The annual placement of two members of the SGA Academic Affairs Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Homewood Ethics and Conduct Board as full voting members;
      2. The placement of a member of the SGA Academic Affairs Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto any entity tasked by the University to review the existence or “worth” of an academic department;
    4. The annual placement of the Chair of the SGA Civic Engagement Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Agora Institute Steering Committee and the Center for Social Concern (CSC) Advisory Board;
    5. The annual placement of the Chair of the SGA Health, Safety, and Sustainability Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Counseling Center Advisory Board;
      1. The annual placement of a member of the SGA Health, Safety, and Sustainability Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Residential Advisory Board (RAB) and the Community Advisory Board (CAB);
    6. The annual placement of the Chair of the SGA Student Services Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Alumni Council as a full voting member and as a direct student representative to the Alumni Council Executive Committee;
      1. The annual placement of a member of the SGA Student Services Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Residential Advisory Board (RAB) and the Community Advisory Board (CAB);
    7. The annual placement of the Chair of the SGA Finance Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Parents’ Council Leadership Giving Circle;
    8. The annual placement of the Chair of the SGA Student Organizations Committee, or the committee’s successors, onto the Parents’ Council Leadership Giving Circle;
  4. In regards to representative bodies across the University:
    1. The annual of two representatives of the SGA, selected by the SGA, onto each of the following entities, in addition to any additional SGA members who independently apply or are selected for membership:
      1. The Diversity Leadership Council (DLC);
      2. The Homewood Council for Inclusive Excellence (HCIE);
      3. The Women Faculty Forum (WFF) (successor to the Committee on the Status of Women);
  5. In regards to the connection of the SGA to the administration on a daily basis:
    1. The joint direct advising of the SGA not only by DOSL and its subsidiaries but also by the Vice Provost for Student Affairs for all of JHU, Kevin Shollenberger;
  6. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Executive Board (or other designated SGA representatives) and:
    1. The Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Kevin Shollenberger (monthly);
    2. The Dean of Student Life, as identified in summer 2018 (monthly);
      1. The Associate Dean of Student Wellbeing, Toni Blackwell (monthly);
      2. The Associate Dean of Student Conduct, Tammy Saunders or her Ethics Coordinator, Dana Broadnax (monthly);
    3. The Dean of Academic and Student Services, Andy Wilson (monthly);
    4. The Secretary to the Board of Trustees, Maureen Marsh (semesterly);
    5. The Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, Daniel Ennis (semesterly);
    6. The Vice President and General Counsel, Paul Pinneau (semesterly);
    7. The Vice President for Communications, Susan Ridge (semesterly);
    8. The Senior Advisor to the President for Policy, Steven Ruckman (semesterly);
    9. The President of the Board of Trustees, Jeff Aronson, or his successor (semesterly);
  7. In regards to each committee of SGA and its connection to the administration[^11]:
    1. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Academic Affairs Committee and:
      1. The Assistant Vice Provost for Education, Janet Shreck (semesterly);
      2. The Assistant Vice Provost for Financial Aid, Tom McDermott (semesterly);
      3. The Assistant Dean of Academic Advising, Jim Fry (semesterly);
    2. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Civic Engagement Committee and:
      1. The Vice President for Government and Community Relations, Thomas Lewis and his special advisor, Jeanne Hitchcock (semesterly);
      2. The Vice Provost for Institutional Equity (OIE), Jeanine Hayes (semesterly);
      3. The Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Fenimore Fisher (semesterly);
      4. The Director of the Agora Institute, when named by its search committee (monthly);
      5. The Director of the Center for Social Concern (monthly);
    3. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Health, Safety and Sustainability Committee and:
      1. The Vice Provost for Institutional Equity (OIE), Jeanine Hayes (semesterly);
      2. The Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate, Robert McLean (semesterly);
      3. The Vice President for Security, Melissa Hyatt (semesterly), and the Director of Homewood Safety and Security, Christina Presberry (monthly);
      4. The Office of Sustainability (monthly);
    4. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Internal Affairs Committee and:
      1. The Vice President for Institutional Research (OIR), Ratna Sarkar (semesterly);
      2. Special Advisor to the Vice Provost for Student Affairs Jennifer Calhoun (semesterly);
    5. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Finance Committee and:
      1. The Vice President for Investments and the Chief Investment Officer, Jason Perlioni (semesterly);
    6. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Student Services Committee and:
      1. The Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, Fritz Schroeder (semesterly);
      2. The Director of Residential Life, Alison Avolio (monthly);
    7. The establishment or re-establishment of regular meetings between the SGA Student Organizations Committee and:
      1. The President of the Alumni Association, David Yaffe (semesterly);

Be It Further Resolved that this resolution requests a series of meetings with Provost Sunil Kumar, Secretary to the Board of Trustees Maureen Marsh, and any other University affiliate heading the aforementioned entities or bodies, to start no later than Friday, July 27th, 2018, to discuss the implementation of these necessary and pressing requests by Fall 2018.

Be It Further Resolved that this tasks the incoming 2018-2019 SGA Executive Board with striving to fulfill the demands of this resolution, to the best and highest of their abilities.

Be It Further Resolved that a variant of this resolution will be provided to each and every successive year of SGA for consideration of passage, should certain clauses not be effectualized.

Be It Further Resolved that this resolution be transmitted to:

  1. The Board of Trustees;
  2. President Ron Daniels;
  3. Provost Sunil Kumar;
  4. Secretary to the Board of Trustees Maureen Marsh; and
  5. Vice Provost for Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger.

The Resolution hereby PASSES by a vote of 23 to 0 with 0 abstentions.

Upon adoption, we have hereunto set our hands and caused the seal of the Senate to be affixed to this resolution indicating the senate’s assent and thus officially designating the resolution’s adoption as the position and is will of the Senate and the Student Body of The Johns Hopkins University.

Signatures of Enactment:

__________________________________ AJ Tsang President of the Senate Executive Vice President of the Johns Hopkins SGA

__________________________________ Noh Mebrahtu Executive President of the Johns Hopkins SGA

__________________________________ Rushabh Doshi Executive Secretary of the Johns Hopkins SGA

__________________________________ Mi Tu Executive Treasurer of the Johns Hopkins SGA

Signatures of Ceremony:

__________________________________ Aspen Williams Freshman Class Senator

__________________________________ Lauren Paulet Freshman Class Senator

__________________________________ Anthony Boutros Sophomore Class President

[^1]: http://www.dukestudentgovernment.org/documents

[^2]: https://uc.fas.harvard.edu/about-us/constitution/

[^3]: https://associatedstudents.stanford.edu

[^4]: https://ucsa.org

[^5]: https://asuc.org

[^6]: https://www.bsc.coop

[^7]: http://osca.wilder.oberlin.edu

[^8]: http://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2018/04/our-sga-needs-real-influence-over-university-decisions

[^9]: Valdez, Jessica. "Board of Trustees Selects New Members." The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. September 5, 2002. Accessed April 30, 2018. http://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2002/09/board-of-trustees-selects-new-members-75634.

[^10]: Porter, Steven. "Now Is Time for "A" Change." The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. April 18, 2002. Accessed April 30, 2018. http://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2002/04/now-is-time-for-a-change-63958.

[^11]: https://www.jhu.edu/assets/uploads/2016/01/org_chart.pdf