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Senate Meeting #18

Minutes / Senate · 111th session · dated February 6, 2024 · updated July 20, 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 #18

February 6, 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. Office of Student Affairs Presentation
  4. Confirmation of Chief Advisor - Vice President Jackson Morris, President Ryan Chou

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

  6. Public Input (3 min)

  7. 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

  8. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

  9. New Senator Confirmations- President Nasreen Naqvi
  10. Survey on Time Investment- Director Jason Shumsky
  11. SGA Retreat Feedback/Reflection- President Nasreen Naqvi
  12. Major Fair Promotion/Recruitment- Senator Tim Huang
  13. SGA Merch Interest Form- Senator Jenny Tang Cabrera
  14. Closed Session- Sophomore Class Council https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15_yyYZSlab-IOIzOP705YtfwdjqTWv7ZqM3QbUQWxdg/edit#slide=id.p
  15. Closed Session - BoT Presentation and Storytelling - President Ryan Chou

  16. First Reading

  17. Second Reading

  18. Academic Affair Survey Tabling Funding Bill - President Resham Talwar/Senator Tim Huang
  19. Senator of the Week Funding Bill- President Nasreen Naqvi
  20. Student Initiative Funding Bill -Treasurer Jenny Chen

  21. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

    1. Senator of the Week- President Nasreen Naqvi
    2. Attendance Check-Out - President Nasreen Naqvi

  22. 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. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

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

  2. Convening Business (3 min)

  3. Office of Student Affairs Presentation
    1. Vice provost Dr. Hernandez introduced herself
    2. Dr. Brown (AVP Student Engagement & Dean of Students) introduced herself
    3. Points of discussion: 10 for 1, student affairs overview
    4. Student Affairs has accountability for maintaining a positive on campus experience
    5. Basically went through slides
    6. Everytime they create a program, they make sure it supports all the goals: student success, student experience, student development, student belonging
    7. Goal is to make sure even people who graduated get to experience HSE or Master Plan for Residential Life
    8. Encouraged students to participate in Blue Jay Tuesdays
    9. Explained the definition and meaning behind “10 for 1”
    10. Explained “Blue Jay Corridor”: centralizing student resources
    11. Talked about the relay pathway between student complaints and enhancements across campus
    12. Moved into 10 minute Q&A:
      1. Senator Tim Huang: basically, how to enhance communication between affairs and SGA? Vice Provost Hernandez: satisfied with the current communication stream but whatever works for us would suit them — Charles might be a first point of contact.
      2. Senator Shruti Tyagi: What expanding leadership training for organizations looks like? Dr. Brown: wants an integrated feedback loop where students are really integrated into the “decision/planning/brainstorming” processes.
      3. Senator Jaden Williams: Challenges of integration with different communities & diversity (focused on goals 3 and 10) due to the university history? Dr. Brown: talked about how they approach communities for benefits from both ends (community benefits & Hopkins benefits — mutually beneficial) + Dr. Hernandez added the importance of integration and authenticity because we all live in Baltimore and across cities
      4. Senator Tyler Turner: 1st goal asked about how they access and teach learning. Vice Provost Hernandez replied with a brief answer on how they’re always striving to enhance the undergraduate teaching experience — no explicit answer.
      5. Senator Divine Madubike: Current gaps in student experience and how they’re working on it? Vice Provost Hernandez: could talk for days, mentioned student identity and the library + talked about the importance of providing a stronger foundation to help student engagement + talked about reducing advising:student ratio!
      6. Freshman Class President Vishnu Dontu: Asked if they are working towards free printing? Dr. Hernandez doesn't have a quick answer but talked about how they’re working towards it.
    13. Talked about the library events Feb 14 & Feb 27
    14. Paused for 5 minutes
  4. Confirmation of Chief Advisor - Vice President Jackson Morris, President Ryan Chou
    1. Jackson: talked about how they can be more productive if they had a person who can help them.
    2. The chief advisor nominee is Ritvik Pulya.
    3. Motion to table confirmation of chief advisor many abstentions → moved to 5 minute moderated caucus
      1. Senator Jennifer Tang Cabrera: Question TBA but Jackson replied with the importance of having a person and made a point that this appointment was not due to the lack of support from the senate.
      2. Senator Mufasa Cruz Moreno: Asked why we need to have the new position and why should the P and VP not take the lead? Jackson replied with a point of personal privilege & why he directly chose Ritvik. Jackson referred to the constitution in terms of roles of the VP.
    4. Motion to extend by 5 minutes passed.
      1. Senator Tarini Basireddy: asked about the sustainability of this position. Jackson replied with the importance of having a better skeleton in the SGA.
      2. Senator Danial Nabizadeh: shed light on how it’s not a matter of size, instead it’s a matter of roles and duties. President Ryan Chou replied by saying that the executive branch is under constant pressure.
      3. Chair of Programming Shalala Leny: Asked if this is the role of the chief of staff? President Ryan Cho didn’t have time to reply.
    5. Senator and Parliamentarian Jaden Garcia: motion to move tabling chief advisor confirmation to another meeting… Moved to a roll call vote → 52 % voted for, so it is tabled.

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

    1. Motion to move the video from student services to next week

  6. Public Input (3 min)

  7. Reports (17 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)

      1. Student Body President - President Ryan Chou
        1. Wonderful spring retreat
        2. Upcoming closed session
      2. Student Body Vice President - Vice President Jackson Morris
      3. Student Body Secretary - Secretary Amy Li
        1. No significant updates
      4. Student Body Treasurer - Treasurer Jenny Chen
        1. No updates
      5. Chair of Programming - Chair Shalala Leny
        1. No updates
      6. Director of Communications - Director Connie Weng
        1. No updates
      7. Director of Research - Director Jason Shumsky
        1. No updates
      8. President of the Senate - President Nasreen Naqvi
        1. Passing around candy when someone speaks
        2. Concerns from last week: Concerning bias during the senator nominations
        3. She apologized for any bias that might have come off and said that it wasn’t her intention
      9. Advisor Report (2 min) - Dr. Charles Norman
        1. Updated us on leadership week
        2. Aspirations awards soon
        3. Thanked Ryan for Saturday’s retreat

  8. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

  9. New Senator Confirmations- President Nasreen Naqvi
    1. New senators have been confirmed.
    2. For the FSL Senator position, Yashas Mallikarjun was elected.
    3. For the Civic Engagement and Service Senator position, Daarian Rouhani was elected.
  10. Survey on Time Investment- Director Jason Shumsky
    1. For anybody who wasn’t at the retreat, he mentioned that some other SGAs in other universities offer stipend to students who engage in student government. He asked everyone to fill the “Anonymous SGA Financial Burden Form” so JHU SGA members can also get stipends.
  11. SGA Retreat Feedback/Reflection- President Nasreen Naqvi
    1. SGA members reflected positively regarding the spring retreat. They mentioned that:
      1. They had fun
      2. Got to meet with more SGA members
      3. Feel motivated to take action
  12. Major Fair Promotion/Recruitment- Senator Tim Huang
    1. He asked people to sign up for the time slots to volunteer and asked everyone to tell their friends about the event
  13. Video from Student Services- President Nasreen Naqvi
    1. Tabled to next week
  14. SGA Merch Interest Form- Senator Jenny Tang Cabrera
    1. SGA members were asked to fill it out
  15. Closed Session- Sophomore Class Council
  16. Closed Session- BoT Presentation and Storytelling - President RyanChou

  17. First Reading

  18. Second Reading

  19. Academic Affair Survey Tabling Funding Bill - President Resham Talwar
    1. Approved
  20. Senator of the Week Funding Bill- President Nasreen Naqvi
    1. Senator Tim asked Treasurer Jenny how much money we have left in the budget, to which Jenny replied 8400 USD.
    2. Motion to Discharge - Approved.
    3. Passed.
  21. Student Initiative Funding Bill -Treasurer Jenny Chen
    1. Motion to Discharge - Approved.
    2. Passed.

  22. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

    1. Senator of the Week- President Nasreen Naqvi
    2. Attendance Check-Out - President Nasreen Naqvi

  23. 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