SAC Meeting Minutes
Student Advisory Committee (SAC)
Fall Meeting Minutes
Saturday, September 25, 2004, 9:30a.m. – 6:00p.m.
Gwinnett University Center
USG Campuses and Representatives in Attendance
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College- Catrina Kennedy, SGA President
Albany State University- Cassandra Lewis, SGA President
Atlanta Metropolitan College- Angela Beal, SGA President
Armstrong Atlantic State University- Gretchen Stewart, SGA President
Clayton College and State University- Gerald Heavens, SGA President
Coastal Georgia Community College- Shellie LaPradd, SGA President
Columbus State University- Rebecca Jeffords, SGA Vice President
Dalton State College- Cheri Pace, Presidents Council Representative
Darton College- Bobby Miles, SGA President
Fort Valley State University- Fredrick Sterdivant, SGA President
Gainesville College- Jay Davis, SGA Vice President
Georgia College and State University- Adam Edge, SGA Vice President
Georgia Institute of Technology- Amy Phuong, SGA President
Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston Campus- Tiffany Grady, SGA President
Georgia Perimeter College, Lawrenceville Campus- Tyson Lockhart, SGA President
Georgia Southern University- Charisse Perkins, SGA President
Georgia Southwestern State University- Nicholas Walker, SGA President
Georgia State University- Josue Heredia, SGA Vice President
Kennesaw State University- Munzir Naqvi, SGA President
Macon State College- Andrew Ollikainen, SGA President
Medical College of Georgia- Kyle Shaddix, SGA President
North Georgia College and State University- Bernex Richardson, SGA Comptroller
Savannah State University- Sheena Travis-Bell, SGA President
South Georgia College- Miguel Fuller, SGA President
South Georgia College- Samantha Nhema, SGA Representative
Southern Polytechnic State University- Kamisha Peters, SGA President
State University of West Georgia- Jason Allen, SGA President
University of Georgia- Adam Sparks, SGA President
Valdosta State University- Jason Lewis, SGA President
Waycross College- Tobey Fowler, SGA President
Clayton College and State University- Jeff Jacobs, RACSL Representative
University System Office- Tonya Lam, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
University System Office- Heather Eberly, Graduate Assistant
University System Office- Carlos Vilela, Student Assistant
USG Campuses and Representatives Registered but Not In Attendance
Georgia Perimeter College, Decatur Campus - Pamela Pressley, SGA President
Breakfast was available from 9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. The meeting began at approximately 10:15 a.m. Information packets consisting of minutes from November 8, 2003 meeting at Clayton College and State University, the agenda for the meeting, and University system publications were distributed. Introductions took place from 10:20 -11:00.
11:05 a.m. Voter Registration and Poll Workers by: Alison McCullick, Director of Statewide voter education, office of the Secretary of State
Ms. McCullick's presentation highlighted the efforts of the state's voter registration office in targeting the age group of 18-25 year olds. She distributed materials on elections and voter information. She shared information on the current statistical trends in voting across demographic lines and highlighted the lower participation of the 18-25 age group as compared to the population at large. A poll of the attendees revealed that two-thirds of the campuses conducted voter registration drives this year. She outlined requirements for holding a voter registration drive and complemented various institutions on their efforts to offer more opportunities for registration.
Ms. McCullick asked the group to encourage students to volunteer to work at the polls and to take the lead by contacting the local county registrars and offering to assist in getting recruits. She demonstrated the operation of the new voting machines and highlighted their advantage over paper ballots. She concluded with an invitation to the college day activities during the legislative session and offered the use voting machines to demonstrate to the student body, via an SGA election, how they operate.
A break for lunch was taken at 12:02 p.m.
12:35 p.m. Keynote Address - Thomas C. Meredith, Chancellor of the University System of Georgia
The Chancellor thanked the group for a warm welcome and proceeded to highlight the challenges that the University System of Georgia faced due to an increasing student population coupled with increasing budget constraints. He mentioned that the current budgetary shortfall was $68 million. He spoke of how the institutions have managed the constraints and some of the programs that institutions have cut. The Chancellor emphasized that maintaining quality was the main concern with the current round of cuts coming up.
The Chancellor also discussed his plan, that in order to make up the shortfall, he would propose a tuition increase of 10% and 1,700 layoffs. He would present his proposal to the full board during the October meeting of the board. He thanked the group for their time and stated that he would welcome every opportunity to speak with the group in the future.
The Chancellor proceeded to take questions for the proceeding 20 minutes.
1:20 p.m. University System updates- Tonya Lam, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Ms. Lam presented an overview of the organization of the Board of Regents (PDF 1.7mb), the mission of the SAC and detailed policy 409, the official recognition of the group.
She discussed the rise in identify theft among college students and the System's plan for supporting campuses in their efforts to move to using a generic campus ID and discontinuing the use of the SSN identification system.
She highlighted the new Multi-institutional Functionality (MIF) initiative geared to facilitate transient student education and lower costs to the students. She explained that the testing phase would begin in spring of 2005.
Ms. Lam continued with a discussion of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) pertaining to their organizational structure, and some of their programs namely, the academic common market.
Ms. Lam proceeded to take questions on board meeting attendance and presentation policies and the MIF initiative.
2:30 p.m. Roundtable: University of System of Georgia issues and ideas
The discussion was facilitated by Mr. Tyson Lockhart, which was divided into four major parts as follows:
- Parking
There was a discussion about problems with parking for SGA members at the different institutions. To insure that students will not park in these spots so suggestions were made: label the SGA spots as faculty and staff so students are less likely to park there, towing cars, and giving the SGA members decals to put in their cars. - Public Safety
Students were having problems if there was an emergency on campus and the services were closed to help them at the time of an incident. Some suggestions were made: have a public safety commission on campus to address these issues with trained members in CPR, and work with campus health services. - Event Planning
Discussion was held about problems with planning at the universities. Ideas from universities were suggested such as making t-shirts that say the event on specific days as a way to advertise. - Budget
Adam Sparks and Amy Phuong from UGA and GA Tech facilitated this portion of the discussion. They highlighted that students are the only people that can make a difference on this issue and we need at least one voice on each campus. There was a proposal to approach the governor on October 8th, 2004 with petitions signed by students at the universities in the University System of Georgia. The goal is to have as many people show up at the capital as possible and to have as many signatures at possible.
3:55 p.m. Luminis Portal Demonstration - Jason Lewis, SGA President State University of West Georgia
Mr. Lewis spoke of the student portal system that is currently operating at State University of West Georgia. He highlighted the scheduling system and email system that the portal provided. He spoke of the current events section of the system. Ms. Lam informed the group that the State University of West Georgia was one of the first institutions to go live with this technology, but that other institutions are being encouraged to develop the application. The students were advised to speak to their institution's chief information officer for more information on how they might bring a Luminis portal to their campus.
4:40 p.m. Support Role of Office of Student Affairs - Carlos Vilela, Student Assistant for the Department of Student Affairs
Mr. Vilela discussed the role of the Office of Student Affairs and what tools are available to the group. Particular attention was placed on the listserv and the webpage that can be accessed at www.usg.edu/sac/. Mr. Vilela highlighted circumstances where the University System Office can help and how to seek resolution to a problem at the campus level.
Student Affairs at the Board of Regents presentation (PDF, 60k)
5:15 p.m. Roundtable: Campus issues and planning for the next meeting
Discussion led to the conclusion that there is a need for a meeting in November in the hopes of achieving more discussion about the issues at hand. It was voted on and passed that there would be a meeting on November 13th, 2004 at Macon State. Topics suggested for the next meeting included Budget, Textbooks, Food Outsourcing, policies and procedures in regards to admissions and drop-add process.
Dinner to go was served at 6:00 p.m. the meeting adjourned on or about 6:15 p.m.