JHU SGAThe 114th Session
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Senate Meeting #17 - 1/29/24

Minutes / Senate · 111th session · dated January 29, 2024 · updated February 29, 2024

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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.

111th JHU Student Government

Senate Meeting #17

January 29, 2024 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17

AGENDA

  1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Absentees:
      1. Excused:
      2. Unexcused:
    2. Present

  2. Convening Business (3 min)

  3. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

  4. Public Input (3 min)

  5. Reports (17 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)

      1. Student Body President - President Ryan Chou
      2. Student Body Vice President - Vice President Jackson Morris
      3. Student Body Secretary - Secretary Amy Li
      4. Student Body Treasurer - Treasurer Jenny Chen
      5. Chair of Programming - Chair Shalala Leny
      6. Director of Communications - Director Connie Weng
      7. Director of Research - Director Jason Shumsky
      8. President of the Senate - President Nasreen Naqvi
      9. Advisor Report (2 min) - Dr. Charles Norman

  6. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

    1. Spring Election Timeline Presentation- Chief Justice Luc Mazzanobile and Chair Nubaira Milki
    2. CSE Nominations- Chief Justice Luc Mazzanobile
    3. Senatorial Vacancies- President Nasreen Naqvi
    4. Academic Resources- President Stone Meng, Senator Tim Huang, Secretary Amy Li
    5. Closed Session - President Stone Meng
    6. Tabling Discussion- President Nasreen Naqvi
    7. Senator of the Week Guidelines - President Nasreen Naqvi

  7. First Reading

Academic Affair Survey Tabling Funding Bill - President Resham Talwar

  1. Second Reading

  2. Student-Athlete Caucus Bill - Senator Molly Kuzma

  3. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

    1. Attendance Check-Out - President Nasreen Naqvi

  4. Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 10:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate

MINUTES

1. 111th JHU Student Government

Senate Meeting #17

November 28, 2023 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17

AGENDA

  1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Absentees:
      1. Excused:
      2. Unexcused:
    2. Present

  2. Convening Business (3 min)

    1. None

  3. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

    1. Tabled “Chief Advisor Appointment - President Ryan Chou”
    2. Added “Academic Affair Survey Tabling Funding Bill- President Resham Talwar” to the second reading

  4. Public Input (3 min)

  5. Reports (17 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)

      1. Student Body President - President Ryan Chou
        1. He made a brief reminder that the spring retreat is in less than a week.
        2. With Jackson, he met the secretary of the board of trustees (Maureen S. Marsh).
      2. Student Body Vice President - Vice President Jackson Morris
        1. The presentation for the board is being planned.
        2. The closure of MSE will be discussed.
        3. What SGA can do to drive student engagement was discussed.
        4. Meeting in D.C.
        5. Sam? (Nasreen will send the message for accuracy)
      3. Student Body Secretary - Secretary Amy Li
        1. No significant updates.
      4. Student Body Treasurer - Treasurer Jenny Chen
        1. As of today, SGA has 8472 USD.
        2. The Finance Committee will start with the editing of the guidelines.
      5. Chair of Programming - Chair Shalala Leny
        1. Finalizing the spring events.
      6. Director of Communications - Director Connie Weng
        1. Working on brief introductions for the entirety of the Senate. SGA members should have received a message from CNC members.
      7. Director of Research - Director Jason Shumsky
      8. President of the Senate - President Nasreen Naqvi
        1. Storytelling event with President Daniels, which will happen this year. There aren’t many details yet.
        2. Retreat is this weekend. Members who won’t be able to make it to the meeting should notify President Ryan or Vice President Jackson.
        3. She wants to make sure we are maximizing our time in the meeting.
      9. Advisor Report (2 min) - Dr. Charles Norman
        1. No updates.

  6. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

    1. Spring Election Timeline Presentation- Chief Justice Luc Mazzanobile and Chair Nubaira Milki
      1. CSE shared details regarding the upcoming spring elections.
      2. Timeline can be found in the presentation.
      3. Motion to move into moderated caucus.
        1. Senator Mufasa was glad they could extend the timeline. Last year, they didn’t have enough people running for some positions, so there was a special election. Did the CSE do anything to get prepared for this?
          1. Nubaira said that they are working on it, yet they will see how the elections will go. The possibility of hosting a special election still remains if such an occasion takes place.
        2. Programming Chair Shalala asked about their plan to increase engagement to the Meet and Greet.
          1. Nubaira said that they are trying to arrange the Meet and Greet at Breezeway instead of LaB as it might be more accessible.
        3. President Nasreen asked if they can encourage the candidates to attend a GBM so they can see what they are getting themselves into and there are less vacancies?
          1. They are organizing an information session that they hope will solve this problem.
    2. CSE Nominations - Chief Justice Luc Mazzanobile
      1. CSE nominations were decided considering the online applications of the candidates followed by interviews.
      2. Jessy Cao, Irene Sung, Jasmine Lafita, and Emily Hong have been chosen as the new members of the CSE.
    3. Senatorial Vacancies- President Nasreen Naqvi
      1. Secret ballot system will be used to fill the senatorial vacancies. The candidates were introduced through a presentation featuring their experiences and the goals they aspire to achieve if they are elected.
      2. For the FSL Senator position, Yashas Mallikarjun was elected and he will be invited to the next GBM.
      3. For the Civic Engagement and Service Senator position, Daarian Rouhani was elected and he will be invited to the next GBM.
    4. Academic Resources- President Stone Meng, Senator Tim Huang, Secretary Amy Li
      1. Starting Spring 2024 IClickers are for free
      2. There are other resources that could be targeted like: Achieve, Chem21labs to reduce or eliminate student payments
      3. A 5-minute moderated caucus was started.
        1. Suggestion 1: having JHU pay for online books (ebooks)
        2. Suggestion 2: target Achieve fast because many more courses are starting to use it
        3. Suggestion 3: allow students to borrow/rent calculators
        4. Suggestion 4: target python C-books
        5. Suggestion 5: get interactive textbooks (like from VHL) that students cannot access freely like the PDF versions
        6. Suggestion 6: “free” canva for students
    5. Closed Session - President Stone Meng
    6. Tabling Discussion- President Nasreen Naqvi
      1. Reminded us about the approved Feb 14 tabling
      2. SGA still does tabling (even though less than before) and SGA isn’t very engaged in tabling
      3. Encouraged SGA members to join the conversation
      4. Nasreen asked for suggestions on how to improve the tabling procedure especially that SGA money is being spent on it.
      5. Point of Information: Tim believes that the main reason behind why SGA members aren’t encouraged to join events is to ramp up the scheduling process and earlier notice. Believes that the incentives aren’t that encouraging
      6. Motion for 5-min moderated caucus (1 min speaking) approved. Points discussed:
        1. Feel that tabling isn’t very impactful
        2. Physical location might not be very convenient (especially outdoors)
        3. Believe that the dates of proposed tablings - especially during holidays - aren’t very convenient.
        4. Mufasa argued that he actually has conversations with the students who visit the table
        5. Mufasa argued for better communication among the SGA members on teams & commitment to joining the tabling
        6. Suggestion: try to make SGA tabling more engaging and informative to students on the current endeavors/projects of SGA
        7. Proposed requiring SGA members to join at least 1 SGA tabling
        8. EXTENDED FOR 5 MINUTES - APPROVED
        9. Tim proposed having each committee handle a tabling event… needs more thought in terms of committee size
        10. Nasreen shared story about her freshman tabling
        11. Importance of having advance notice for tabling: helps SGA members register and students ot know more about the tabling event
        12. Nasreen credited Shalala with organizing the events/tabling.
        13. Proposal to open a new channel for Tabling
    7. Senator of the Week Guidelines - President Nasreen Naqvi
      1. Went through the presentation. All points mentioned are on the slides.

  7. First Reading

  8. Academic Affair Survey Tabling Funding Bill - President Resham Talwar
    1. Want survey to be filled on the spot to get an incentive
    2. Motion to move it ot the finance committee - PASSED

  9. Second Reading

  10. Student-Athlete Caucus Bill - Senator Molly Kuzma
    1. Bill still the same
    2. Motion to approve athletic caucus - APPROVED

  11. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

    1. Attendance Check-Out - President Nasreen Naqvi

  12. Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

*Tim made an announcement about major fair.