Student Assembly Meeting

Thursday, September 12, 2024

• Term:
  2024-2025
• Assembly/Committee: Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Thu, Sep 12, 2024 - 4:45pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room (WSH407)/Zoom
• Agenda:

  1. Call to Order
  2. Reading of the Land Acknowledgment
  3. Announcements
            1. Introduction of Assembly Clerk Kennedy Young and Recognition of Acting
               Assembly Clerk Anthony Wang
  4. Open Microphone
  5. Approval of the Minutes
  6. Consent Calendar
  7. Presentations
  1. Introduction to the Legislative Process
  2. Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure
  8. Second Readings
            1. Resolution 6: Creating an Ad-Hoc Committee to Improve Student Wages and Employment
  9. Third Readings:
            1. Resolution 5: Approving the 2024-2025 Student Assembly Operating Budget
  10. Appointments and Vacancies Calendar
  11. Adjournment
   

  Student Assembly Agenda 9.12.2024.pdf (118.05 KB)
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
• Minutes:

   

  1. Call to Order

  • Z. deRham called the meeting to order at 4:45 p.m.
  • Members Present (25): R. Acharjee, S. Almosawi, L. Berinde, S. Chan, E. Chaudhuri, Z. deRham, D. Donovan, K. Everett, C. Flournoy, E. Galperin, D. Gekman, G. Gonzalez-Mulattieri, N. Hite, C. Kim, J. Lederman, K. Liu, F. Meng, S. Razzak, I. Rezaka, J. Silverman, D. Suarez, C. Tarala, A. Vinson,
    E. Yao, S. Zhuang
  • Members Absent (1): M. Scali

  • Also Present: E. Kalweit, K. Young, A. Coleman, N. Maggard

     

  2. Reading of the Land Acknowledgment

  • Z. deRham stated the SA’s acknowledgment of the Cayuga Nation.
     

  3. Announcements

  • E. Kalweit introduced Assembly Clerk Kennedy Young and recognized acting Assembly Clerk Anthony Wang
     

  4. Open Microphone

  • None

     

  5. Approval of the August 29th Meeting Minutes

  • Z. deRham moved to amend the minutes to correct misspellings of her name. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  • S. Almosawi moved to amend the minutes to correct her attendance. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  • Z. deRham moved to amend the minutes to correct misspellings of A. Vink’s name. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  • R. Acharjee moved to amend the minutes to correct a misspelling of his name. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  • K. Liu moved to amend the minutes to correct her attendance. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
  • E. Kalweit suggested for members with corrections to suggest to come find him after the meeting

   

  6. Consent Calendar

  • There was nothing on the consent calendar.

     

  7. Presentations

  • Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure

  • A. Coleman gave a presentation on parliamentary procedure, noting that more information can be found in the SA’s charter and bylaws and a document she shared. She and Z. deRham then answered questions on the types of motions, speaker precedence, and the standing rules. A. Coleman emphasized that the rules exist to make the SA fairer and more productive.

  • Introduction to the Legislative Process

  • In the interest of time, Z. deRham postponed her presentation on the legislative process to the September 19th meeting.

     

  8. Second Readings

  • Resolution 6: Creating an Ad-Hoc Committee to Improve Student Wages and Employment

  • D. Donovan and E. Galperin introduced Resolution 6, noting that the university is “behind … peer institutions” on student wages and opportunities. E. Galperin stated that the Student Workers Committee plan to organize a job fair event.
  • J. Lederman asked for more information on how the university is uncompetitive with peer institutions. D. Donovan stated that more information is in last term’s committee report and that the committee compared Cornell to other Ivy League and regional schools on minimum and living wages.
  • C. Flournoy asked about the resolution’s second clause on the makeup of the committee. Z. deRham asked for clarification on the resolution’s language. D. Donovan stated that the resolution allows double-counting of Assembly members and current or former Cornell employees, and that there
    is no minimum number of committee members. Z. deRham asked for the clause to be clarified before the next reading.
  • C. Tarala asked about the feasibility of increasing wages. D. Donovan stated that although the committee lacks the power to raise wages, it can communicate with the administration. E. Galperin added that the administration is also more open to other parts of the resolution, like job fairs.
  • J. Silverman asked about the resolution’s points on the accessibility of job postings, noting that as a former student employee she had no issue seeing job postings on Workday. D. Donovan stated that there are a lot of “dummy” postings on Workday inaccessible to most students and that the resolution seeks to add clarity to those listings.
  • F. Meng asked about last term’s Student Workers Committee’s results after submitting its report and the committee being ad hoc. D. Donovan stated that she is open to making this year’s committee a continuous one, rather than an ad hoc one. D. Donovan also stated that last term’s committee met with Cornell’s human resources leaders, who were largely unreceptive, but that the recent UAW strike changes conditions.
  • S. Almosawi asked about the scope of the committee. D. Donovan stated that the committee plans to execute on last term’s plans, but that it would be open to exploring other new recommendations.
    viii. K. Everett moved to close debate. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

   

  9. Third Readings

  • Resolution 5: Approving the 2024-2025 Student Assembly Operating Budget

  • N. Hite stated that the resolution has not changed since the second reading.
  • K. Everett asked about the small size of the Summer Experience Grant allocation. N. Hite stated that Summer Experience Grants receives funding from the Financial Aid Review Committee’s multi-million dollar budget. Z. deRham added that the Financial Aid Review Committee also has about $800K saved from previous SA contributions and that Resolution 5 only deals with the SA’s allocations.
  • E. Galperin moved to the previous question. Hearing dissent, Z. deRham called for a vote on the motion. The motion passed by a majority vote.
  • I. Rezaka moved to reconsider the previous motion. Z. deRham called for a vote on the motion. The motion passed by a majority vote, closing debate.
  • Resolution 6 passed, 22-3-0.

   

  10. Appointments and Vacancies Calendar

  • Z. deRham first appointed uncontested committee chairs:
  • Z. deRham appointed D. Gekman to be Campus Pulse Committee chair.
  • Z. deRham appointed D. Gekman to be Student Health Advisory Committee chair.
  • Z. deRham appointed E. Galperin to be Dining Services Committee chair.
  • Z. deRham appointed A. Vinson to be Environmental Policy and Planning Commission chair.
  • Z. deRham appointed R. Acharjee to be Financial Aid Review Committee chair.
  • Z. deRham moved on to statements of intents and internal elections for Academic Policy Committee, City and Local Affairs Committee, International Students Affairs Committee, and Infrastructure Fund Commission chair positions. The SA moved into executive session to conduct elections.
  • S. Razzak was elected Academic Policy Committee chair.
  • S. Razzak was elected City and Local Affairs Committee chair.
  • K. Liu was elected International Students Affairs Committee chair.

  • F. Meng was elected Infrastructure Fund Commission chair.

     

  11. Adjournment

  • The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

  
  Respectfully Submitted,
  Anthony Wang
  Clerk of the Assembly

  SA Minutes (9-12).pdf (109.77 KB)