Minutes 2.24.09

Agenda

Tuesday February 24^th, 2009

6:30 p.m. Mills Library

I. Call to Order 

III. Special Business

• Meeting will be adjourned by 7:15 to support ECC in the Burrow!
• Changes to the election code have been passed! Filing will open next Tuesday, March 3 throughout the week and Spring Break, closing Monday at 5 upon our return. Elections will be held the following Tuesday. Filing for Committee Chair positions will open two weeks after elections. E-mail Mac to file when it is time! 

IV. Announcements and Constituent Concerns

• Chair in the Mills computer lab?
• Someone took a plant and damaged the light near Galloway and Mills. Acts of vandalism like this does cost money, so if you suspect any of these acts, please report them to Dean Wiltgen.
• Send message to students about construction on Hardrider—not the best way to get to Wal-Mart if you walk. Go through neighborhood near Cloyd’s place since it is safer. Not totally safe to use the cross-walk anymore—try to use the footbridge more!

V. Departmental Liaison Reports

• Fake DNS entries in computer… spread to about 40 different computers. If you are having problems sending e-mails from a computer, report that computer to IT and move to another computer.
• Problem in Hardin—turning up AC bathrooms. Can we install block boxes to thermostat? These high temperatures are unnecessary.

VI. Committee Reports

• Financial Committee with Alex Graddy-Reed
• ECC: $417.90 for reimbursement of Burrow cups. PASSED: $417.90! (see the full propoal below)
• Environmental Concerns Committee with Wendell Cathcart and Katherine Roehm
• Burrow Cup event happening at 7:00 p.m. tonight!!!
• Media Committee with Fraser Holmes
• Profile is being released the Wednesday, March 4!
• If there is an artist coming and you want to broadcast the song or the artist, holler at KHDX to get him/her aired.
• Yearbook is progressing. Get ready. 
• Multicultural Development Committee with Ronni Laizure
• Black Voice at Friday 7:00 PM in Reves Auditorium—featuring SBC Steppers and Gospel Choir!
• Any racial concerns should be directed to Dean Wiltgen. 
• Social Committee with Jake Eddington
• Natalie Stoval this Friday at 8:00 PM in Staples!
• Ronnie Jordan (comedian) next Wednesday 8:00 in Burrow!
• Volunteer Action Committee with Larnie Campbell
• Invisible Children this Thursday at 7:00 PM in Hulen. Collecting money in jars—available all over campus/town. Help fill them up with any donations!
• Service Saturday was a success! It was an advertising event for Thursday with plastic children.
• Residence Life Committee With Mac Barnes
• If anyone is interested in serving in CRL, Mac needs a vice chair. Shoot an e-mail to Mac if interested.
• Same for the elections commissioning team. Shoot an e-mail to Mac if you can help!
• Campus Kitty with Alex Graddy-Reed
• CK week is only 5 weeks away! Full Event Passes are $40 with a t-shirt, $35 without a shirt. Get yours. Goal to raise this year is $45,000!
• Academic Policy with Samantha Bode
• E-mail concerns to BJ or Sam.
• Student and Academic Concerns Committee with Samantha Bode and Jayce Hafner
• Constitutional Review Committee be on the look out for an e-mail from Jayce! 
• Communications Committee with Kristi Vo
• Rotational meeting in the Burrow March 17!
• ComCom needs to fix the Senate Wall… Meeting at the wall at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday! Please be there. 
• Congratulations to Alex Graddy-Reed, Becca Mayeux, and Ellen Wagoner for correctly guessing that senator! (Featured senators in Table Talk were LaRonda Mitchell, Becca Mayeux, and Alex Graddy-Reed).
• Committee on Committees with Will Green 
• Executive Committee with BJ Fogleman
• Transition—normally under CoC. We want to change it to where exec takes care of it since we just went to this big conference and have lots of ideas. It passes!
• New Binders for some of you!
• BJ is meeting with the President soon. Holler at him if you need to relay any information, issues, or concerns to President Cloyd. 

VII. Unfinished Business

• Southwestern Energy: Where do we go from here?
• Why? To educate the community, distribution of information; letter-writing to Southwester/administration/Log Cabin on Thursday to voice concerns. VAC and ECC will be there too!
• Volumes of letters probably will not be read by Southwestern. These letters will just make them aware that they are not wanted here at Hendrix. The administration is aware of how we feel—we need to show up in large numbers to the forum.
• Derek’s letter would express his concern for their practices in general as a Hendrix student and a Conway civilian.
• The papers in Conway are pretty supportive of the Village probably since it is bringing in new jobs and opportunities. These letters are taken into account in some regards—if good working relationships with students are important to Southwestern, maybe they will see what we are proposing and look to another school where such relationships will flourish.
• Tiny changes can make a big difference.
• Perhaps one very well-written letter can be drafter instead of so many individual letters with errors and whatnot? Chance says such a letter will be drafted, and individual letters will still be sent. However, Becca thinks a more intelligent and professional way to do this instead of demonstrating a bunch of whiny kids by having one well crafted letter with signatures.
• If you write a letter, you cannot say it is from Student Senate, but you may say you are a senator.
• Have you considered writing letters to the Hendrix alum? Mrs. Owen is a good contact person for this.
• What is really effective and what is not? The letters were recommended by some faculty as an effective way.
• BJ thinks it will be best to continue this after the forum. It is time to adjourn (7:15 pm as motioned above). The official letter + the big individual letter-writing sounds like a great way to handle this.
• Lydia will issue a meeting about this and welcome anyone to come. Sunday at her place.

VIII. New Business

• March 30-April 30—Hendrix College is up for accreditation review by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC/NCA). NCA has two independent corporations, one of which is the HLC located in Chicago. The HLC has the “legal authority to conduct accrediting activities” for “degree granting higher education organizations” like Hendrix College.
• Hendrix College is a member of the NCA and has maintained official accreditation since 1924, the year it was eligible. The two types of accreditation are institutional and specialized. Voluntary accreditation “has two fundamental purposes: quality assurance and institutional and program improvement.” In support of these purposes, the HLC requires (and Hendrix has completes) a “self evaluation” that has been sent to the HLC. Please not the location of the Self-Student on the Hendrix College web page.
• So getting a favorable review (and make judgments about whether we should or should not retain our accredited status) from the reviewing team of “expert…trained peers” consisting of 4 people (including 2 faculty members, a president, and an administrator of another college) is important! Degrees are valued and so are receiving financial aid. A 249 page report covering the criteria; statement of purpose will be reviewed as well.
• A visiting team will meet with Hendrix College students Tuesday March 30 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 pm. All organizations need to send at least one student (but the meeting is open to all students). No faculty, administration, or staff will be there.
• When the team finishes its report, the team leader will send a formal copy of the team’s evaluation to President Cloyd. Thereafter, Hendrix College personnel will have an opportunity to respond to the team’s findings.

VIX. Adjournment until March 3^rd, 2009

Clean up: Galloway, Raney, Veasey

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