August 2016

August SBA Meeting

Sunday, August 28th, 2016 at 6 pm
Kelley Board Room

1. Roll Call
2. Old Business
   1. Swearing in of Nick Strafaccia and Chad LaLor (Were unable to attend April meeting)
   2. ABA Committee
      1. Update on proposed Committee structure from Nick Strafaccia
         1. MOTION (Strafaccia): Table discussion on committee until April 2017 (Seconded by Newhauser)
            1. Tabled in order to gauge interest in maintaining ABA as a separate entity from SBA—if low interest, will revisit joining ABA into SBA
            2. Motion passes unanimously
3. New Business
   1. SBA Fee Increase
      1. Before merger, Hamline paid $10 for SBA fees—fee was low because SBA was subsidized by bookstore money. MHSL does not have this.
         1. Compared to other schools, MHSL is actually on the low end of fees
      2. WMCL charged $25/semester for fees until 2014 when it was raised to $50/semester because SBA would run out of money before the school year ended due to active student orgs
         1. $50/semester was maintained for the following year
      3. Concern from LaLor that if fee is kept high, spending will be out of control; mentioned WMCL SBA being in arrears over $100,000 before merger as an example
         1. WMCL SBA had debt service of $100,000 starting around 2003—SBA borrowed money from school to create a used bookstore when Amazon was not as popular and demand was high for that Bookstore was disbanded in 2012. Whatever money was left in SBA account at end of the year would go back to the school to pay the debt service (this is how SBA funds stopped rolling over from year to year). Debt service was forgiven as part of the merger and SBA no longer makes payment on this debt.
   2. SBA Fee Refund
      1. Currently have provision in Constitution that allows for students to request a refund of SBA fees (Section B, Subsection 3)
         1. Removed part of by-laws pertaining to refund of fees in anticipation of amending the Constitution as well
         2. There is desire from some members of the Board to remove provision from the Constitution, but this requires a student body vote
         3. Of 133 schools at ABA conference this summer, NONE allowed for refund of SBA fees—SBA fees go towards an immeasurable number of events, from food to events to student organizations
      2. One student is requesting a refund based on a perceived lack of events for weekend students, the student org fair being of particular concern
         1. Cavaco: Bad practice as nonprofit, for us to allow refund of fees at any given time
            1. Difference between a donation and a membership fee—once fee is paid, it is considered services rendered and nonprofits don’t generally allow
         2. MOTION (Cavaco): Add to ballot in September, a vote on removing refund from Constitution
            1. Discussion: If someone was to petition for a refund, the petition would be decided by the treasurer, as it stands However, if we keep it in the Constitution, we can write in a different process in the by-laws
               1. Strafaccia- Allowing refund is a way for students to keep SBA in check and removing this possibility is taking away the students’ one way of saying they don’t like what SBA is doing
               2. Newhauser- WMCL did not allow for refund and Hamline did so provision came through in the There has only been one request for a refund, ever.
               3. LaLor- Odd to him that 501(c)(3) could compel membership by not allowing refund of fees that are automatically assessed
                  1. Cavaco: Belonging to SBA is like taking the bar and paying MSBA fees; you want to be lawyer so you pay the MSBA fees, you want to go to Mitchell Hamline so you pay the required students fees
               4. Kerr- Seems like if someone wants a refund of their fees, it would be because they are not happy with the programming we’ve provided—collectively we need to ensure we are providing programming for everyone, HOWEVER, nothing in the Constitution or by-laws requires an equal event to be held for each program (don’t need to have a weekday barbeque AND a weekend barbeque) or even hold comparable events, everyone just needs equal opportunity to ACCESS the student fees and that is the problem we need to solve
               5. Moos- How would we enforce consequences of someone getting a fee refund? They shouldn’t/wouldn’t be able to attend events with SBA
                  1. Ziebarth- Would honestly be a logistical nightmare; can’t walk down a hallway in school without seeing something sponsored by the SBA
               6. Strafaccia- When it comes to a vote on this, should we present information that shows exactly what fees go to, how the process works, , so that when it comes to vote, it isn’t just one clause presented with a yes or no option?
                  1. Cavaco- good idea, considering many people may not have read Constitution before
               7. Kerr- If we allow someone to get their fees back and still attend events, it creates a slippery slope of everyone reaping the rewards of the fees while not paying their own, and eventually, what is SBA left with?
               8. Cavaco: Would like to amend first motion to table issue until 2017
                  1. After talking about logistics of an election, decided on moving the issue to a committee
            2. MOTION (Ziebarth): Table issue to the Ways and Means Committee (Seconded by Strafaccia)
               1. Passes unanimously
4. Officer Reports
   1. President
      1. Monthly Constituent Emails
         1. Reps should have gotten constituent lists by 8/28
         2. Each rep must send out an email to constituency within 10 days of August meeting (Sept. 7th) (later amended via email to 9th to account for Labor Day weekend)
            1. Emails are protected by FERPA so DON’T SHARE THEM
            2. Will use ABA policy on emails—if it is relevant, it can be included
      2. ABA Annual Meeting Update
         1. A lot of SBA presidents are having problems we aren’t having—lower enrollment, decrease in funds, etc.
      3. SBA Retreat Brainstorming Session Recap
         1. Tabled- a lot of issues and questions are Ava will send out written documentation of questions and answers when we get answers
            1. EDIT: sent out via email on Sept. 5th. Some questions are still unanswered so if you know the answer, let Ava know!
      4. Tri-School Mixer
         1. UMN president and VP contacted us about a tri-school Details will be forthcoming; will be asking SBA for some as yet undetermined amount of money for event
   2. Vice President
      1. Student Org Update/Retreat Update
         1. Video of retreat is up on Vimeo
         2. 37 orgs are registered, 3 more are expected
            1. Trying to get each org a dedicated 365 account to access calendar/events/etc.
         3. If you know of any “dead orgs” that want to be revived, let Ziebarth know
   3. Treasurer
      1. Budget/Funds update
         1. Update is that there is no update
         2. Ongoing battle with Finance to determine exactly how much SBA is entitled Finance swept up over $14,000 from SBA that will not be reallocated to us with no warning or explanation
         3. Expecting 1,000+ enrollment which should still leave us with a healthy budget this year
         4. Several orgs were allocated money and never spent it last year—We WANT orgs to spend money
      2. SBA Committee Budgets
         1. Committee budgets due 5th to Ava for review
      3. Org Printing
         1. IT and Multimedia are working to get org printing set up to student ID cards for members of Exec boards of each Is currently set up for SBA Exec Board
            1. Printing budget should be figured into budget proposals for committees if possible—not of the utmost importance
   4. Secretary
      1. MOTION (Kerr): Approve July meeting minutes (Seconded by Newhauser)
         1. Passes with one abstention from Gutnik who was not in attendance at April meeting
      2. Committee Chair/Rep updates for future meetings
         1. Bylaws call for secretary send out agenda 7 days in advance of meeting
            1. Committee Chairs/Reps therefore need to have agenda items sent to Secretary a MINIMUM of 8 days in advance of each meeting
   5. At-Large
      1. Student Org Fair Recap
         1. Vast improvement on last year’s org fair
         2. 47 Orgs in attendance
         3. Moos- Org Fair for weekenders?
            1. There is something in the works but having it the same weekend as the first one did not make much sense for the orgs, considering they were asked to also be on campus on Sunday for the Org Retreat
            2. LaLor- Over lunch would be best (11:30-1)
            3. Moos- Sunday lunch would be preferable for 2Ls and in looking at 1L schedule, it appears Sunday would work best for them
            4. Masood- If we made time for a weekend fair, would there even be interest?
               1. Moos- People who travel wouldn’t likely travel for it and don’t seem to have significant interest in being involved in things on campus but doesn’t think it would hurt to plan an event.
            5. Newhauser- Leave it up to orgs to attend either Saturday or Sunday and require them to have materials available at the other day?
               1. Strafaccia- As an org leader, requiring something at two separate days is a stretch. Pick one and stick to it.
            6. Ziebarth will look into room availability and keep in touch with Moos and LaLor to plan an event that works
         4. The student org fair was held on the day it was held because it was the ONLY day that both cohorts were on campus, 1Ls didn’t have class, and evening students didn’t have night Weekend wouldn’t have worked because Cohorts didn’t overlap on weekend and not to mention weekday students wouldn’t already be on campus.
5. Committee Reports
   1. Alumni Relations
      1. Planning 3 Meet The Lawyers events each semester
         1. Criminal, Litigation/Solo Practitioner, and Family/Estate Planning in the Fall
      2. Working with Tina on Off the Record events
         1. Will eventually be available through Symplicity
   2. Budget
      1. SBA Budget Process
         1. Org budgets due 8/31
         2. Budget hearings Sept. 14th from 5-7pm and Tues. Sept. 20th from 7:45-9:30pm
         3. Entire SBA Board will review budget at September 25th meeting
         4. Appeals due by 7th, SBA will review appeals at Oct. 9th meeting
      2. MOTION (Newhauser): Move 25th meeting to 4:30pm to accommodate expected length of budget meeting (Seconded by Masood)
         1. Passes unanimously
      3. MOTION (Newhauser): Approve four budget request forms totaling $5,000 from ABA conference and a couple events on campus (Seconded by Masood)
         1. Hybrid breakfast, ABA meeting (x2), Diversity event
         2. Passes with one abstention from Guevara
   3. By-Laws
      1. New by-laws approval follow up
         1. Ava is sending out bylaws and posting them on SBA website
            1. Sean Felhofer is dedicated staffer for SBA page
   4. Communications
      1. Committee members should look for email from Craig about future meetings
   5. Culture and Diversity
      1. Black and Blue
         1. Equity and Justice panel with NAACP President and SPPD police Chief
         2. 300 people will be invited; for CLE credit
         3. Asking for $250-300 for event for snacks and refreshments
            1. Request is coming from Multicultural Office, NOT SBA committee
            2. Kerr- That is a lot of money to ask for if 300 people are invited who are NOT students; SBA purpose is to serve students
            3. Newhauser- Constitution and bylaws prevent us from actually providing funds for anything but Would be one thing if partnered with student org or SBA group but its completely another for the event to benefit attorneys
            4. Humphrey- Has no problem with the funding if students are guaranteed spaces but there is no telling how many students could attend
            5. MOTION (Guevara): Table vote to email vote pending information from Sharon about where funds would go, how many students benefit, etc. (Seconded by Newhauser)
               • Passes unanimously
      2. Multicultural Reception
         1. Sept 16th from 4-6pm in KBR
      3. Multicultural Email List/Other concern
         1. People who are multicultural are not receiving emails, people who aren’t are getting emails
         2. Some students who identify as multicultural do not have that information listed on their profile and in order to change that, the student needs to physically go into Colleen Clish’s office and fill out a form and tell her how they identify to get their information
      4. MNAPABA Table
         1. Table at Gala is $1000
         2. MOTION (Strafaccia): Provide $250 for MNAPABA Table (Seconded by Moos)
            1. Passes with one abstention from Newhauser
      5. MABL Table
         1. Discussion tabled pending more information from Sharon
   6. Elections and Membership
      1. Cohort 2L Election update
         1. No applications
         2. Need to adjust number of signatures required for Hybrid students to be proportionate to number of students in cohort
            1. Bylaws amendment tabled to email vote pending calculations of proportions
   7. Facilities and Safety
      1. 24/7 Library
         1. Building security is number one concern but cost for that hasn’t been budgeted
         2. School is planning to offer 24/7 access during final exam period—zero details are available but making sure people utilize it is important!
      2. Trash
         1. Student Orgs should email facilitiesdept@mitchellhamline.edu if they are expecting large amounts of trash/odd shaped trash
      3. Student Chambers
         1. Replacing lockbox so that SBA BOG has access and can unlock the door if it is not unlocked
      4. Refrigerators
         1. Refrigerators WILL BE CLEANED every Sunday after 6pm
         2. Mass Cleanout Labor Day Weekend
         3. SBA will provide labeling materials for those who put items in the fridge
      5. Parking Warning Citations
         1. Do not roll over from year to year, citations run from August-May
   8. Health and Wellness
      1. Health and Wellness Week is October 15th-19th
   9. Social
      1. Bar Review
         1. Every other week, alternating Thursday and Saturday
         2. Social Committee will reimburse orgs for up to $100 for apps
      2. Whiteacre
         1. Possible location for Whiteacre is The Muse in Minneapolis
            1. We’ll get both levels
            2. DJ is locked down
            3. Alice in Wonderland theme
            4. Nov. 12th
6. Representative Reports
   1.  4L
   2. 3L FT
      1. Uneasiness about bar application. Will school be providing info?
         1. Yes, before finals
      2. Commercial Law Survey class time was changed the day before class started with no notification or input from students
   3. 3L PT
   4. 3L Weekend
   5. 2L FT
      1. Administration absolutely dropped the ball on OCI process this year
   6. 2L PT
      1. Were told they wouldn’t be ranked against full-time students but ended up being ranked against all full-time anyway
   7. 2L Weekend
   8. 1L Section 1
   9. 1L Section 2A
   10. 1L Section 2B
   11. 1L Section 3A
   12. 1L Section 3B
   13. 1L Section 4
   14. Hybrid Cohort 1
   15. Hybrid Cohort 2
   16. Hybrid Cohort 3
   17. ABA
       1. Once again did automatic enrollment
       2. Percentage off at Brooks Brothers, Hertz and Hilton
       3. Premium Membership for $25/year
          1. Gets you coupon for BARBRI bar prep of $250
          2. Buy books through West Academic and you get $25 every purchase over $50
             1. Buy each book individually
          3. If Student Org holds new event, can get reimbursed through ABA for up to $1000
7. Adjournment
   1. MOTION (Kerr): 8:40 (Seconded by everyone)