Meeting Minutes: Regents Advisory Committee on Student Life (RACSL)
Spring Meeting
Monday, May 16, 2005 - 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Georgia College and State University
In attendance:
- Jeff Jacobs, Clayton College and State University, RACSL Chair
- Angela Avery, Clayton College and State University
- Al Harris, Armstrong Atlantic University
- Garrett Burgner, Dalton State College
- John Spranza, Georgia Highlands College
- Heath Roger - Georgia Highlands College
- Rich Steele, Georgia Tech
- Kathy Alday, Kennesaw State
- Alicia Caudill, Gainesville College, RACSL Secretary
- Janea Johnson - GPC - Decatur
- Michael Stewart, Macon State
- Carlie Strong - Macon State
- Ron Lunk - GC&SU
- Tom Miles - GC&SU
- Sean Thomas, Southern Polytechnic State University
- Iris Shanklin - Atl Metropolitan College
- Stacie Morgan - Darton State University
- Eddie Howard - Augusta State University
- Tonya Lam, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Services, USG
- Erin Tucker, Graduate Assistant, University System Office
- Jennifer Jenkins - Jen-Tek Graphics
- Dr. John Thomas - Allied Healthcare Clinics
University System Office Report
Tonya Lam - Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Erin Tucker,
Graduate Assistant, System Office
SAC - Student Advisory Council
- A handout was distributed outlining the topics covered at the SAC meeting in April
- Not all payments have been received from students who attended this meeting, please see Erin if you have not paid
- Please encourage students to complete the evaluations from this meeting (only 6 are completed so far)
- Minutes from the SAC meeting were distributed
- Jeff Jacobs summarized the change in SAC format that occurred about two years ago - and asked if there was continuity among SAC and if SAC is effective?
- Tonya Lam indicated that the Board of Regent's provides support for SAC, but working with the students should come from the RACSL group
- A good example from the past year were the students working together to create a voice for improvements across the system (e.g. students protesting the mid-year tuition increase)
- The BOR perspective of SAC has changed and members are more open to being involved with this group
- Michael Stewart summarized the April SAC meeting held at Macon State - the group created goals for the next year, they want to keep momentum going and suggested holding a summer workshop/training session to "jump start" the year
- Discussion was also held regarding the timing of the meetings - final suggestion was a summer retreat, a fall meeting, an early spring meeting and an April meeting for outgoing and incoming officers
- Participation in SAC still involve one representative from each institution (SGA president or designee) except for the April meeting
- The format of SAC meetings should be varied to be more effective and engaging for the students - small groups and other formats should be included
- Some advisors shared feedback from their students who attended SAC - students suggested - changing from the lecture format, giving the students more direction, and focusing on big picture/system issues not campus specific issues
- Overview of meeting topics for the year
- Summer retreat - training, goals, teambuilding
- Fall business meeting
- January/February business meeting
- Later spring meeting for outgoing/incoming officers including a potential awards/recognition ceremony for SAC student members who have participated fully in the past year
- Goal of SAC clarified - to be an advisory council to the BOR - introduce the purpose of group at summer training and identify goals - use a task force approach
- A suggestion was also made to consider having a "Best Practices" competition for SGAs to showcase events/programs happening on their campuses
- Other questions raised were -Why is there a charge for students to attend? And Who owns the issued raised at SAC?
- It was also determined that the representatives to SAC don't necessarily have to be SGA president's, but could be appointed members or other members who apply for the opportunity, but would remain one rep per campus.
- Final decision was that Erin Howle would arrange a conference call with those interested in helping to plan and implement a fall retreat.
- Potential retreat locations were discussed and Erin was to follow-up after doing research on the sites.
Ideas for Topics the SAC Retreat
- History of the Board of Regents
- Organizational Structure
- Legislature
- Political Climate
- Goal Setting
- SWOT analysis
- Divide students into diverse groups
- Help students become familiar with different missions of the institutions in the state
- Also have students do work in groups based on institution type
- An agenda for the retreat will be sent to the RACSL listserve for final input
Student Health Insurance
Tonya Lam, BOR
- Student insurance will be the same as insurance as used by the USG
- It will be made available, particularly to schools with graduate programs and graduate assistants
- The RFP included: 1. Mandatory that the insurance be provided for all graduate students receiving stipends (how it is paid for is up to individual institutions). 2. For other graduate students and undergraduate students the insurance is optional for them to pay for on their own
- Purpose of providing insurance is to promote practice of good health care
- Suggestions have been made to widen the plan to include dental care and immunization costs
- As the number of mandatory people covered rises, the cost should decrease
- Later, certain other group s of students may be required to have the insurance
- There is also a current RFP for health insurance for international students (there is a state contract for this, but not all institutions elect to use it)
- Next year, these health insurances will be rolled together
- The RFP will probably go out the week of June 20-21 with hopes to have the plan in place by January 2006 and students can utilize in Fall 2006
- The campus contacts regarding this plan will be the RACSL members
Next Board of Regents' Meeting is May 17.
Constitution Day
- Congress has passed a bill stating that all schools that receive federal funding must hold a constitutional educational program on September 17 (since this is on a Saturday, the event can be held on Friday or Monday)
- Financial Aid directors received information about this
- Erin Howle will follow-up to with more information and send it out to the listserve
- See the website at www.constitutionday@cs.com
- Basic guidelines are to recite the preamble and to dress in red, white, and blue
Film and License Agreement
- Discussion was held regarding license agreement for showing films and the different between entertainment and education purpose
- According to a representative from SWANK, anytime a movie is shown on campus, you have to pay the rights
- Even if you are using the activity fee to pay for the use of the film, the fee must still be paid
- If the showing is open to the public, whether or not admissions is charged, the rights have to be paid
- There is a fine of $25,000 for violating the viewing agreements
- Rich Steele indicated he had an ACUI document showing the exemptions to this law (regarding showing films in class, face-to-face instruction) that he would send to the listeserve
- New Yorker Films is a source for International Films
Liability for Events and Activities Open to the Public
- A question was asked regarding liability for events held on campus that are open to the public
- It was suggested such events be approved by legal counsel
- Additionally, those providing the activities must provide proof of liability insurance
- Students can be asked to sign waiver
- Outside groups sponsoring events on campus should be coordinated through Continuing Education
- A risk management assessment should occur for all such events
- Make sure touring group riders name your school/BOR as the additional insured on their certificate of insurance
Multi-campus Clubs and Organization
- Discussion was held regarding allowing students of legal drinking age to consume alcohol at college-sponsored off-campus trips/events
- Policies vary from campus to campus
- Tonya Lam indicated her office may create a guidebook summarizing these policies and others across the system
Alcohol Policies for College Sponsored Trips
- Multi-campus institutions indicated that some student groups exist on both campuses and others have separate groups on each campus
- Discussion about which groups are funded and which are not was also held
- Al Harris indicated his website has a policy about funding for events, vs. individual groups
- It was then decided to move discussion about fee allocation to later in the day
Lunch - Sponsored by Jen-Tek Graphics and Allied Healthcare Clinics
Fee Allocations
- Discussion was held regarding how Student Activity Fee surplus money is handled on different campuses. Institutions shared their processes, including using approval from the allocation committee to spend the funds, and holding back 10% of revenue for contingency funds
Student Information System Consolidation
Tonya Lam
- The Board of Regents is looking at how technology is being used in the system
- They authorized a review of Student Information Systems (Banner and all programs related to it)
- In a January report they indicated they would like the system to be centralized, like PeopleSoft.
- Next year, 5 smaller campuses have volunteered to have Banner hosted from a single point
- This will then be reviewed to determine if it will become system-wide
- Plan is designed to help campuses who don't have the financial or human resources to meet the needs. These needs may be better provided by consolidation
- In the process, services provided by other campuses will be reviewed and these services may be provided from the single point for all campuses within the consolidation
- From a user perspective, this will hopefully provide improved services and security
- 3 campuses that will for sure undergo consolidation in the fall are Bainbridge, the new university in Gwinnett and Fort Valley State
- Other services may be looked at in the future for consolidation
Mascot Programs
- Discussion was held regarding campus mascots - how they are funded and managed
- Many institutions indicated this program is run out of Athletics
- At Clayton State, student activities fees paid for the costume
Activity Fee Increases
- Clayton State - increase of $2
- Floyd - increase of ½ of what was requested
- A suggestion was made when adding new fees for student center construction to include money to cover all involved with increased hours of operation (if applicable)
- A suggestion was also made to ask budget directors who have relationships with the BOR to have a discussion regarding why fees are not approved
On-Line Text Book Exchanges
- Occurring at Georgia Tech through SGA (unofficial)
- GSU (unofficial)
- GC&SU - SGA is working with OIIT to create an e-bay type system
- Armstrong Atlantic - SGA is looking into sponsoring one hosted at a server off-campus which involves a licensing fee
Student Assistant Pay
- Georgia Tech is looking at linking student assistant pay scales with those for other classified part-time staff
- Armstrong Atlantic- HR provides ranges for student pay
- Clayton State - has a student assistant pay scale - one for regular student positions and one for technology-based positions. Scale is done by class status vs. years on campus
- Participants also indicated there is a mixture of policies regarding SGA officers being paid stipends, scholarship, or an hourly wage
- Many use evaluation programs and contracts for SGA officers
Discussion of Upcoming Programming
- Participants shared the upcoming programs coming to their campus for potential opportunities to build blocks for booking
Elections
- Garret Burgner, Dalton State College, was elected chair for 2005-2006
- Janea Johnson, GPC, was elected secretary for 2005-2006
Upcoming Meetings
- Fall meeting - November 15 at Georgia Highlands College/Cartersville Campus
- Spring meeting - May 15 at either Augusta State University or Atlanta Metropolitan College
Upcoming Conferences
- NACA Regional, Sept. 9-Oct. 2 in Chattanooga
- NODA, begins November 7 in Miami
- GCPA, begins Feb. 22 in Augusta
- APCA, March 1-5 in Atlanta
- NASPA, March 10-15 in Washington, DC
- ACUI, March 17-20
- ACPA, begins March 20 in Indianapolis