Student Assembly Meeting

Thursday, September 10, 2026

• Term:
  2026-2027
• Assembly/Committee: Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Thu, Sep 10, 2026 - 4:45pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room (WSH407)/Zoom
• Agenda:

  1. Call to Order
  2. Call of the Roll
  3. Reading of the Land Acknowledgment 
  4. Approval of the September 3, 2026 Meeting Minutes
  5. Communications to the Student Assembly
  6. Consent Calendar
  7. Reports of Officers, Committees, and Liaisons
  8. Announcements
  9. Presentations
  10. Appointments and Fillings of Vacancies
  11. Public Comment
  12. Public Hearings
  13. Second Reading Calendar

  1.  Resolution 6: Solidifying Students with Disabilities’ Representation in Assembly Programming
  2. Resolution 7: Reforming Annual Anti-Bias and Transparency Training Procedures 
  3. Resolution 8: Amending the Faculty Handbook to Require Syllabus Publication on the Class Roster and Encourage Common Syllabi for Multi-Section Courses 

  14. Third Reading Calendar

  1. Resolution 2: Clarifying Practical Training Options for International Students
  2. Resolution 3: Introducing a Mechanism for Ensured Engagement & Outreach by Members of the Student Assembly
  3. Resolution 4: Approving the 2026–2027 Student Assembly Operating Budget
  4. Resolution 5: Removing Fixed SAFC Student Activity Fee Allocation Requirement

  15. Adjournment

  StudentAssemblyMeetingAgendaSeptember102026 (2).pdf (64.72 KB)
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
  September 10, 2026 SA recording.m4a (52.38 MB)
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
       a. E. Chaudhuri called the meeting to order at 4:45 PM.
  
  II. Call of the Roll
       a. Members Present: D. Addoquaye, S. Agarwal, J. Anand, S. Augustin, T. Aye, A. Ayoola, L. Blum, M. Causey, E. Chaudhuri, J. Chung (proxied), S. Dunn, C. Flournoy, T. Japal, J. Kimball, K. Krishtopa, A. Lyons (proxied), Y. Masoud, J. Orief, E. Porter, A. Sendelbach (proxied), C. Tarala, A. Vink, A. Walters, H. Watkins, K. Young
       b. Members Absent: A. Fard, D. Lee, J. Swavy
       c. Also Present: Z. deRham, M. Friedman
  
  III. Reading of the Land Acknowledgment
       a. E. Chaudhuri stated the land acknowledgement.
  
  IV. Approval of the September 3, 2026 Meeting Minutes
       a. C. Tarala motioned to amend section 8b1 to state “C. Tarala shared that the largest tweak from the resolution last year is that the assembly will not initially fund the special projects account”, no dissent.
       b. The motion to approve the minutes passed through unanimous consent.
  
  V. Communications to the Student Assembly
       a. E. Chaudhuri shared club registration updates from Student and Campus life.
       b. Erik from the Office of Assemblies shared that Cornell is undergoing its accreditation review with the Middle States Accreditation Student Engagement office and are looking for 4-5 voting members from the Student Assembly to join. He also requested members to send committee member names to him and shared he can help with making reservations for tabling on Ho Plaza.
  
  VI. Reports of Officers, Committees, and Liaisons
       a. H. Watkins shared that the Executive Cabinet will be happening this Saturday at noon in 100 Mann Library and will drop committee assignments into the box. He added that Resolution 86, revising the SAF, was returned by the president last year with instruction to work with Dean Love, so there will be a meeting next Friday.
       b. Y. Masoud shared that as part of the DEI Committee, she wanted to do something in response to the Trump administration’s new rule that could revoke tax-exempt status from any school that’s offering support to minority students. The meeting will be somewhere around the 19th.
       c. J. Kimball shared that the Dining Committee will be having its first meeting at 4:45 PM on Monday in the Rose House Common Room.
       d. A. Walters shared that the Communications Committee meeting will be this Saturday at 2 or 2:30 in Goldwin Smith. He added that the Academic Policy Committee doesn’t have a set meeting time because he’d like more people to join.
       e. C. Tarala shared that the Finance Committee will be meeting on Sunday around 2-4.
       f. S. Augustin shared that while speaking with Jennifer Wickham from the Financial Aid Review Committee, they’re looking to meet with the people who applied to join the committee and would like more people to join.
       g. L. Bloom requested committee chairs to schedule a time to meet with her, office house next week at 5-6 in Olin Library, encouraged members to table, and that she attended Environmental Committee and SAIFC Committee meetings.
       h. S. Agarwal shared that SHAC is waiting for Julie, the Director of Cornell Health, to confirm their first meeting time.
  
  VII. Announcements
       a. E. Chaudhuri requested members to inform him of absences or conflicts ahead of time and that the assembly will be voting on one member who exceeded their absences. He added that the Student Assembly was at ClubFest and J. Anand tabled at EcoFest, resulting in 272 sign-ups. He further shared that members must table once a month and asked Cornell Sun to publish the assembly’s shared calendar.
  
  VIII. Appointments and Fillings of Vacancies
       a. Parliamentarian.
            i. Hoin Lee shared a brief introduction.
            ii. The assembly entered a brief Q&A to clarify some details.
            iii. C. Tarala motioned to approve the parliamentarian, no dissent.
            iv. Hoin Lee has been appointed as the parliamentarian.
       b. Co-Director of Office of Student Advocate
            i. Aryan Batada shared a brief introduction.
            ii. The assembly entered a brief Q&A session
            iii. C. Tarala motioned to approve the nomination, no dissent.
            iv. Aryan Batada has been appointed as the Co-Director of Office of Student Advocate.
  
  IX. Public Comment
       a. None.
       b. K. Young motioned to suspend the rules and move the Third Reading Calendar above the Second Reading Calendar, dissent.
            i. The assembly entered debate.
            ii. A. Vink motioned to close debate, passed by a vote of 22-0-3.
  
  X. Third Reading Calendar
       a. Resolution 2: Clarifying Practical Training Options for International Students
            i. J. Orief shared that no changes were made from last week and that the resolution will have Cornell will have ongoing communications regarding practical training, alternative options for F1 visa holders with optional practical training, and for Career Services to communicate with international students.
            ii. C. Flournoy motioned to close debate, no dissent.
            iii. The resolution passed by a vote of 28-0-0.
       b. Resolution 3: Introducing a Mechanism for Ensured Engagement & Outreach by Members of the Student Assembly
            i. A. Walters shared that historically, members have a hard time doing things outside of the 4:45-6:30 meeting time block and the resolution will likely be a publicly available spreadsheet to keep each other held accountable.
            ii. A. Abisoola noted a missing amendment from the file in the box.
            iii. J. Kimball motioned to amend line 41 to “no more than 2 points may be earned in one week for the respective activities of tabling and/or distributing flyers”, dissent.
                 1. The assembly entered debate to talk about variation and consistent engagement.
                 2. J. Kimball withdrew the amendment.
            iv. A. Vink motioned to close debate, no dissent.
            v. The resolution passed by a vote of 27-0-1.
            vi. E. Chaudhuri ceded the chair to H. Watkins.
       c. Resolution 4: Approving the 2026–2027 Student Assembly Operating Budget
            i. E. Chaudhuri shared that all committees are now listed on the budget and that the assembly will fund Initiatives and Special Projects Fund equally.
            ii. The assembly entered debate to discuss comments that were made previously and the rationale behind changes made to the Office of Elections, Student Government Relations and SUNY SA.
            iii. L. Blum motioned to end debate, no dissent.
            iv. The resolution passed by a vote of 24-0-0.
            v. H. Watkins ceded the chair to E. Chaudhuri.
       d. Resolution 5: Removing Fixed SAFC Student Activity Fee Allocation Requirement
            i. C. Tarala shared that no changes were made since the previous week. He added that SAFC currently has a 35% minimum they must receive from SAF and that SAFC and Kotlikoff agree this is too much.
            ii. H. Watkins motioned to close debate, no dissent.
            iii. The resolution passed by a vote of 24-0-0.
  
  XI. Second Reading Calendar
       a. Resolution 6: Solidifying Students with Disabilities’ Representation in Assembly Programming
            i. S. Dunn shared that the resolution would amend the bylaws around specific rules involving inclusion of representatives into the Campus Pulse Committee. Currently, the Students with Disabilities representatives are not mandated onto the Campus Pulse Committee, but women’s issues representatives and LGBTQIA representatives are. The resolution would ultimately add the Students with Disabilities Representative to be included in the official composition of the committee.
            ii. A. Vink motioned to close debate, no dissent.
            iii. The resolution has been moved to the Third Reading Calendar.
       b. Resolution 7: Reforming Annual Anti-Bias and Transparency Training Procedures
            i. Y. Masoud shared that in the bylaws, the Campus Pulse Committee is responsible for creating and administering anti-bias training or DEI training,  but the resolution would transfer the responsibility to the DEI Chairs. The resolution would give the training to the committees at their first meeting and the minutes would be checked to ensure the training was completed.
            ii. K. Young motioned to close debate, no dissent.
            iii. The resolution has been moved to the Third Reading Calendar.
            iv. E. Chaudhuri ceded the chair to H. Watkins.
       c. Resolution 8: Amending the Faculty Handbook to Require Syllabus Publication on the Class Roster and Encourage Common Syllabi for Multi-Section Courses
            i. E. Chaudhuri shared that despite the differences between professors, classes on transcripts get treated the same. The resolution would bring up the changes to the Faculty Senate.
            ii. A. Walters motioned to close debate, dissent.
            iii. The motion to close debate failed by a vote of 10-12-2.
            iv. The assembly entered debate to discuss TAs and grade weights.
            v. A. Ayoola motioned to amend line 76 to strike “and weights”.
                 1. The assembly entered debate to discuss the meaning of that line, flexibility to choose classes, departments choosing syllabi, equity, students choice, staffing differences, and syllabus changes.
                 2. A. Vink motioned to close debate, dissent.
                 3. The motion to close debate passed by a vote of 14-6-4.
                 4. The amendment passed by a vote of 11-8-7.
            vi. The assembly reentered debate to discuss language of the amendment.
            vii. S. Augustin motioned to reconsider the amendment, passed by a vote of 19-3-2.
                 1. The assembly reentered debate on the amendment.
                 2. E. Chaudhuri motioned to amend the amendment to add “weights” and remove “common”.
                      a. The assembly reentered debate.
                      b. E. Chaudhuri withdrew the amendment to the amendment.
                 3. E. Chaudhuri motioned to amend the amendment to “to adopt a syllabus covering the common course description, common learning outcomes, common required materials, and the common categories, and weights used to design the final”.
                      a. C. Flournoy motioned to close debate, no dissent.
                      b. E. Chaudhuri withdrew the amendment to the amendment.
                 4. C. Flournoy motioned to close debate, no dissent.
                 5. The amendment failed to pass by a vote of 9-10-4.
            viii. The assembly reentered debate to discuss the Faculty Senate, Academic Policy Committee, bureaucratic policy, and students’ opinions.
            ix. The Chair smiled favorably upon a motion to extend the meeting time to 7PM, no dissent.
            x. C. Flournoy motioned to end debate, no dissent.
            xi. The resolution has been moved to the Third Reading Calendar.
  
  The meeting was adjourned at 6:27 PM by unanimous consent.
   

  StudentAssemblyMeetingMinutesSep102026 (1).pdf (163.87 KB)