Student Senate Minutes

I. General meeting of the Student Senate was called to order by Senator Gilmor at 6:00 PM.
	A. Absent from the meeting were members:
	B. Also attending the meeting was: 
II. Preliminary Items
	A. Roll Call
	B. Corrections/Approval of the minutes - 
	C. Gallery introductions/business - Daniel Poindexter, SAB VP, RHA
		- President Dixon - Spoke with Lizz at the beginning of the year and was 			willing to come speak to the body. Willing to talk about what interests the 			body. Suggests that the notes from this meeting will provide a good base 			for your first meeting with the interim President. He will need to be 			brought up to speed. This will make this meeting more focused and 			productive.
			- Esfeld - We have a lot of questions regarding your opinion of 				what the body is currently working on in addition to a few 					questions regarding your resignation.
			- Givogue - How do you feel about certain wet events on campus? 				Wet tailgating and champagne at graduation?
			- Dixon - Has mixed thoughts about it. Coming close to saying she 				would be willing to try on a slow basis. Went to an away game at 				Pittsburgh State to see how a dry campus does wet tailgating. It 				would take over a year to get everything in order. Feels Truman 				does not have a good space for tailgating. At Pitt State, the stadium 			has plenty of open space for separate wet tailgating. The biggest 				issue is how to control it on a campus where 2/3s of the campus are 			under the legal drinking age. The champagne toast could be very 				contained and a one time only event. It is the president’s 					perrogative to waive the policy for certain special occasions. The 				game last night had the highest turn out in ten years and no alcohol 				was present. Tailgating could be a liability for the university. As 				students, what would you do to help contain it? If she were to 				waive the policy, one of the first places she would think of 					allowing it would be a cash bar at an alumni event.
			- Wiley - What are your goals before you leave?
			- Dixon - Make as smooth a transition as possible. Has already 				welcomed the interim president and will work with him. Will try to 			meet with several groups/department chairs before leaving. Spoke 				with parent’s council over the weekend. There will be no 					disruption for the students.
			- Wiley - In regards to the Student Health Center, in the past year it 			seems it needs more funding and staff. 
			- Dixon - The best way to go about that is to speak with the Dean 				of Students. Could put it in the hopper as an issue to be reviewed. 
			Are the hours the right hours? Would it be better to staff the clinic 				in the evenings? You might want to meet with a member of the 				staff. They keep good records regarding who they’ve seen and the 				size of their waiting list.
			- Wiley - Last winter the waiting list was several days long. It 				should be available when students are sick and in need of care.
			- Dixon - Last year there was a real crunch. If you remember, the 				Health Center sent a mass email listing symptoms and stating that 				if you have them you should not come in. Perhaps they could 				advertise what they can and cannot help with. 
			- Wiley - There was a report released on Friday about your 					consulting fee. What will be the make up of your consulting work? 				Will it meet the needs of the university and be worth the fee of 				$205,000?
			- Dixon - This is not an unusual situation. If the Board asks her to 				do something, she will. She may be asked to work with a search 				firm and be sent on fundraising trips. It is up to the Board as to 				what they will be asking her to do.
			- Wiley - The university needs money to address things on campus. 			Do you feel this amount of money is acceptable?
			- Dixon - Understands students’ reaction but this is what was 				decided upon by the Board.
			- Hayes - What can we do with the Kirksville community to better 				relations and attract more students?
			- Dixon - There is a committee looking at this currently. 					Sometimes it appears that the community isn’t proud to have 				Truman here. We could try to help slowly get businesses to have 				some mention of Truman. Heard talk about a bike trail from here to 			the lake. The community can provide the services but cannot 				provide the money. Must figure out things that can be done jointly. 				It will take some brainstorming to come up with some out of the 				box ideas. What were your first impressions in Kirksville? What 				would have made it different? What is the community lacking?
			- Hayes - Really liked Truman’s campus. That was his ultimate 				deciding factor, however his only set back was the town. Wishes he 			could place Truman outside of Columbia. Would like to attract 				businesses that cater to college students. Need to make downtown 				Kirksville more attractive to students.
			- Dixon - Whatever is being built on the square will be something 				to attract students and community members alike. Do you know the 			history between Truman and the community? When the mission 				changed, there were people in the community were upset. When 				the academic standards were raised, less Kirksville high school 				students could go to college here. The community  has lost 					standard register and the shoe shine factory. This led to economic 				hard times. All of this coupled together led to a bit of a split 				between the community and the university. There was a 					community group went out last weekend in the rain to clean up for 				Red Barn Art Festival. Perhaps we can get more things going to 				spiff up the square.
			- Wiley - Feels there was no connection established between 				students and the community during freshmen year. When the 				forensic processing center begins bringing in students as full time 				staff, it will begin to change the Kirksville demographic. If we 				keep bringing in those types of businesses, it will keep students in 				town after graduation.
			- Dixon - It was a joint effort but was spear headed by Phil Tate 				who is in charge of Kirksville’s economic development. They were 			looking for a university town and picked Kirkville. 
			- Hayes - What could we change with our academics to make it 				more appealing to students?
			- Dixon - Curriculum is the slowest thing to change. Truman needs 			to create something distinct and different. Brown has no required 				courses. Grinell has one required course. Culver-Stockton has 				changed their semesters to include 12 weeks of regular classes and 				then three weeks of 1 class outside of their major and outside of the 			classroom. Has pushed for loosening up the number of credits that 				are require. One could argue that you aren’t constricted because of 				the number of choices you have but you are restricted within those 				choices. Would want a semester where all curriculums would 				allow a student to work a full semester away from campus doing 				something that is not standard class room work. Maybe a project 				like the bike co-op or an internship or research. It would allow you 				to put your liberal arts education to work. Provost Paino will send 				out RFPs (request for proposals) to the faculty and student initiated 			projects. They may become pilots for other people to use in the 				future. Truman has a challenging curriculum but does not give you 				enough chance to make mistakes and fix them. It could stifle your 				creativity and desire to take risks.
			- Hemmelgarn - Could you share reservations with signing the 				President’s Climate Commitment? Signing this would make 				Truman different and boost enrollment. How can it become a 				reasonable proposal for future president’s to sign?
			- Dixon - Received reccomendation from environmental 					committee. It was well written but did not go into enough detail. 				She could not determine the impact it would have and could not 				sign it not knowing if Truman could fulfill it. 
			- Hemmelgarn - Done research on cost effectiveness. It would be a 				significant cost up front but would be a great investment in the 				long run.
			- Dixon - Not sure it would make Truman distinct. If we took it 				beyond climate commitment and required each course to include 				something about the environment.
			- Hemmelgarn - Building renovations to make them LEED 					certified is something a lot of students are looking for in a 					university. Programs like the compost crew and recycling center 				attract students.
			- Dixon - We cannot make our current buildings LEED certified 				but new constructions could be. 
			- Hemmelgarn - Will it become feasible in future years?
			- Dixon - Sure. Look into what other institutions are doing 					regarding this.
			- Hemmelgarn - 15 of 24 institutions have signed the President’s 				Climate Commitment.
			- Dixon - First, we need to get students interested in the idea of 				sustainability. 
			- Hemmelgarn - The Commitment is something solidified with a 				vision as opposed to grass roots movements.
			- Hogan - The Arts and Sciences study has already been mentioned. 			The present challenges of the University are not lost on us. How 				have the challenges to the University evolved since you first came 				here?
			- Dixon - The challenges were fundraising and enrollment. 1997 				was the high point in enrollment and trickled down from there. 				When she came in 2000, enrollment was at its lowest. Since then it 			has stabilized. Overall enrollment this year is even with last year. 				Stabilizing enrollment will continue to be a challenge. Other 				challenges included what it means to be a public liberal arts 				college. Some faculty felt Truman should have a highly selective 				body with a large general education. Faculty need to ask what is the 			difference between a public and private liberal arts university other 			than the cost. We have a responsibility to supply the state with 				students prepared for certain professions. Thinks enrollment will 				be biggest challenge along with state funding.
			- Index - How do you feel about the diversity on campus? How can 			the university increase diverse enrollment?
			- Dixon - It is hard. Part of our public responsibility is to reach out 				to diverse students. Most of our aid goes to merit based aid. 				Research shows there is a correlation between economic status and 			ACT scores. If Truman is going to reach out, we need to continue 				targeting certain areas. Attracting diverse students requires taking 				several students from the same places. One student with a  good 				experience will attract more students. Our international students 				add a great deal to the campus community. We need them to 				educate us as much as they are here to receive an education. 4% of 				our freshmen class are international class and 80% are from 				Missouri. It will not be easy to diversify this community. 
			- Esfeld - Thanks President Dixon for coming to speak with 				Senate. We have always had a fabulous experience working with 				you. We wish you well with the rest of your experiences. 
			- Dixon - For the first time in 40 years, she does not know what she 			will do. This has been a wonderful place to work. She receives a 				lot of criticism for not spending enough time with students. Does 				not feel this is true. The pleasure of being a president is that she 				gets to interact directly with the students. Thanks the students for 				being who they are. It has been a pleasure to be here.
	D. Guests of Honor
	E. Membership Issues
	F. Appointments/Administration of the Oath
	G. Changes/Approval of the agenda
III. Executive Reports
	A. Secretary
	B. Treasurer
	C. President
IV. Auxiliary Reports
	A. Faculty Advisor
	B. Staff Advisor
	C. BOG
	D. Speaker
V. Committee Reports
	A. Academic Affairs
	B. External Affairs Chairwoman
	C. Student Affairs
		i. Campus Diversity
		ii. Campus Environment
	D. Technology
	E. Other Reports
		i. Historian
		ii. Communications Director
		iii. Webmaster
		iv. Ethics Justice
		v. Recruitment
		vi. Legislative Director
		vii. Constitutional Review
VI. Old Business
VII. Money Motions
VIII. First Readings
IX. Discussion Items
	A. Esfeld - Discussion on elections
	B. Wiley - Discussion on Campus Health
		- Wiley - There have been glaring reports about the health center. Hopes 			you have talked to students and have feedback. What are your thoughts?
		- Schutter - Spoke with one of her friends who cut himself on a Friday and 			was told that if he was still bleeding on Monday to come back in then.
		- Hogan - Spoke with one person who had fallen down and skinned her 			knee. She needed two band-aids to cover the cut and they would only give 			her one. 
		- Givogue - Have talked to people who are deeply unsatisfied with the 			health center’s hours. There are students who get their insurance through 			the University. You must see the health center before you go see another 			doctor. If you cannot get an appointment first, you are charged extra 			money.
		- Wiley - Did they also suggest night hours?
		- Givogue - They mainly discussed the walk-in hours.
		- Menown - Mostly students are the reception staff. The first encounter 			students have is with the receptionists. Feels they are not organized and are 		not competent. This could have an effect on service and making 				appointments and such.
		- Hladky - The big issue is the number of hours especially during the 			winter.
X. Other New Business
XI. Announcements

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Piel on